Problema Solution

a boy puts the same number of penniesneach week into a money box. the weekly amount is more than one penny and the box startes empty. after a few weeks there was a total of 65p in the box, an a few weeks later there was a total of £1.04. How many pennies does he put into the box each week?

Answer provided by our tutors

let


p = the number of pennies the boy puts into the money box each week, p>1, p is integer


£1.04 = 104 p


after a few weeks (lets say n weeks) there was a total of 65p


pn = 65


an a few weeks (lets say m weeks) later there was a total of £1.04


pn + pm = 104


65 + pm = 104


pm = 39


now we have


pn = 65 => p|65


pm = 39 => p|39


p|65, p|39, p>1


since 39 = 3*13 we have the following possibilities:


if p = 3 then 3 does not divide 65 follows p is not 3.


Of p = 13 and 13|65 follows the solution is p = 13 p.


Every week the boy puts 13 pennies into the money box.