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Conference rusure::math

Title:Mathematics at DEC
Moderator:RUSURE::EDP
Created:Mon Feb 03 1986
Last Modified:Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:2083
Total number of notes:14613

1963.0. "Crux Mathematicorum 2012" by RUSURE::EDP (Always mount a scratch monkey.) Tue Apr 11 1995 13:56

    Proposed by K.R.S. Sastry, Dodballapur, India.

    Prove that the number of primitive Pythagorean triangles (integer-sided 
    right triangles with relatively prime sides) with fixed inradius is
    always a  power of 2.
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1963.1IOSG::CARLINDick Carlin IOSG, Reading, EnglandTue Apr 18 1995 09:5328
With hypotenuse z, inradius r, some elementary geometry gives:

	x^2 + y^2 = z^2
	z = (x - r) + (y - r) = x + y - 2r

Eliminating z gives:

	(x - 2r)(y - 2r) = 2r^2

If r's prime decomposition is:

	2^A 3^B 5^C ...

then x - 2r must have the decomposition:

	2^a 3^b 5^c ... (ie powers of the SAME primes)

and to ensure that x and y are coprime we must have:

	a = 0 or 2A + 1,
	b = 0 or 2B, c = 0 or 2C ...

This gives 2^n possibilities for x - 2r, and hence x. I have assumed that we
can't turn triangles over: if we can then we just have to observe that this
enumeration of solutions will cover them all exactly twice.

Dick