Thread: Ordered Pairs Question

Hi, I've started solving this problem, but I don't know how to finish it off.

Find all ordered pairs of integers (x,y) such that:

so far i have completed the square to get the following:



Thanks!

You have a difference of squares. What differences of squares can give you 17?

would (y+x+1)(y-x-1) = 17
work?

Originally Posted by hsidhu

would (y+x+1)(y-x-1) = 17
work?

Yes, you have transformed the problem into one of integer factorization, which is rather easy here since 17 is prime.

Four candidate solutions:

y+x+1 = 1 AND y-x-1 = 17
y+x+1 = 17 AND y-x-1 = 1
y+x+1 = -1 AND y-x-1 = -17
y+x+1 = -17 AND y-x-1 = -1