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1997 PMWC Problems/Problem T8

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Problem

Among the integers 1, 2, ..., 1997, what is the maximum number of integers that can be selected such that the sum of any two selected numbers is not a multiple of 7?

Solution

In this list, there are 286 numbers that are 1\bmod{7}, 286 numbers that are 2\bmod{7}, and 285 numbers for each of the other residues. From the Greedy Algorithm, we can take all the numbers that are 1\bmod{7}, then take all the numbers that are 2\bmod{7}, then all the numbers that are 3\bmod{7}. The inverses of these are 6, 5, and 4 modulo 7, respectively. Now we can take exactly one number that is 0\bmod{7}, but no more, because the inverse of 0 is 0. Therefore we can take a maximum of 286+286+285+1=\boxed{858} numbers.

See also

1997 PMWC (Problems)
Preceded by
Problem T7
Followed by
Problem T9
I: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
T: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
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