Name:

Grade:

2015 BCA Mock AMC 12

There are 25 questions to be answered over a period of 75 minutes. This mimics the format of the AMC
10/12.
Each question has 5 answer choices, exactly one of which is correct.
You will receive 6 points for every correct answer and 1.5 points for every question you leave blank. Thus
blind guessing is not in your favor. If you are able to eliminate 2 or more answer choices, it is generally
favorable for you to guess.

ANSWERS (circle at most one per question):

11

12

13

14

10

15

16

21

17

22

18

23

19

24

20

25

Name:

Grade:

1. Kelvin the Frog can butter 3 pieces of bread in 4 minutes and can pour 6 drinks in 2.5 minutes. How long
does it take him to prepare a meal for 12 people if all of them want a drink but only half of them want a
piece of bread?
(A) 9 (B) 13 (C) 15.5 (D) 18 (E) 21
2. Kelvin the Frog has 32 nickels and Alex the Kat has 2 quarters. Kelvin gives Alex a certain amount of
his nickels so they have the same amount of money. How many coins does Alex now have?
(A) 11 (B) 12 (C) 13 (D) 14 (E) 15
3. Kelvin the Frog loves flies. In the deepest part of the jungle, there are blue flies, green flies, gooey flies,
and mean flies. How many flies must Kelvin eat to guarantee that he eats at least two of the same type
of fly?
(A) 2 (B) 4 (C) 5 (D) 8 (E) 9
4. AJ the Dennis is at the center of a 2 ft by 2 ft square. He runs to one vertex and then to another vertex,
both times in a straight line. What is the maximum distance he could have traveled?

(A) 2 (B) 2 (C) 2 2 (D) 2 + 2 (E) 3 2

5. There are 10 members on a math team, but only 8 of them compete in any given competition. Given any
two members of the team, there was exactly one competition that they both did not compete in. How
many competitions did each math team member compete in?
(A) 27 (B) 28 (C) 36 (D) 45 (E) 55
6. In the land of dystopia, people use a different currency than in America. In dystopia, 7 Despair s equals
15 Orwell s and 3 Huxleys equals 5 Despair s. Which of the following is greatest?
(A) 3 Despair s (B) 3 Huxleys (C) 3 Orwell s (D) 2 Huxleys and 1 Orwell (E) 2 Despair s and 1 Huxley
7. Kelvin the Frog must wait in the jungle until Alex the Kat rolls two dice and ends up with a sum of 5 or
a sum of 8. If Alex the Kat rolls both dice exactly once, what is the probability that Kelvin can leave the
jungle?
(A)

1
6

(B)

1
4

(C)

1
3

(D)

1
2

(E)

2
3

8. The math team is putting together a 2-person team for a competition. 8 members will only do Algebra, 5
members will only do Geometry, and 2 members are willing to do either. If the 2-person team must include
one person doing Algebra and one person doing Geometry, how many different teams can be formed?
(A) 42 (B) 43 (C) 56 (D) 66 (E) 67
9. Points E and F lie inside quadrilateral ABCD such that DAE = EAF = F AB and ADE =
EDF = F DC. If ABC = 120 and BCD = 90 , find AED + AF D in degrees.
(A) 150 (B) 180 (C) 210 (D) 240 (E) 270
10. Mr. Roboto takes a number, squares each of its digits, and adds the resulting numbers. So if the Styx
handed Mr. Roboto the number 23, Mr. Roboto would give them 13, because 13 = 22 + 32 . One day, Mr.
Roboto malfunctions and, instead of handing back the number hes supposed to, repeats the process 2014
more times (for a total of 2015 operations). If the Styx handed Mr. Roboto 292, what number would they
be handed back?
(A) 37 (B) 42 (C) 58 (D) 89 (E) 292
11. Let P (x) be a quadratic polynomial satisfying P (1) = 1, P (2) = 8, P (3) = 27. Find P (4).
(A) 46 (B) 54 (C) 58 (D) 64 (E) 81
12. Kelvin the Frogs favorite number, n, is a perfect square when 42 is added to it and a perfect fourth power
when 1337 is added to it. Compute the sum of the digits of n2 .
(A) 12 (B) 14 (C) 16 (D) 18 (E) 20
13. Kelvin the Frog starts at the upper left dot in a 6x6 grid of dots. Kelvin wishes to reach the opposite
corner through a series of hops, each either down or to the right. However, Ryan the Ryan will eat Kelvin
if Kelvin hops to any of the central 4 dots. How many different paths can Kelvin take without being
eaten?
(A) 34 (B) 52 (C) 70 (D) 132 (E) 252
14. The roots of the quadratic x2 + ax + b are r and s, and the roots of the quadratic x2 + bx + a are r + 1
and s + 1. Find ab.
(A) -3 (B) -1 (C) 0 (D) 1 (E) 3

Name:

Grade:

15. What is the last digit of 12015 + 22015 + . . . + 20152015 ?

(A) 0 (B) 2 (C) 4 (D) 6 (E) 8
16. Find the number of ordered tuples (a, b, c, d) of positive integers satisfying a + b + c + d = ab + cd and
a, b, c, d 10.
(A) 76 (B) 77 (C) 80 (D) 81 (E) 82
17. Let ABC be a triangle with AB = 8 and AC = 10. Point E lies on BC such that AB = AE. Let point
F be the intersection of AE and the circumcircle of ABC, and let point K be the intersection of AE and
the tangent of the circumcircle of ABC at C. If KC = 5 and CKA = BCA, find EF .
(A) 2.5 (B) 3 (C) 3.5 (D) 4 (E) 4.5
2015
2015
= bxc +
, where bxc denotes the largest
x
bxc
m
integer not exceeding x. Then x2 can be written in the form , where m, n are relatively prime integers.
n
Compute n.

18. Let x be a non-integral real number satisfying x +

(A) 9 (B) 36 (C) 81 (D) 484 (E) 1936

k
of an
k + 10
incoming attack. For example, 40 armor would block 80% of an incoming attack. Kelvin the Frog notices
that, after buying some integer amount of additional armor, he now blocks 10% more damage than he
would before his purchase. What is the largest possible amount of armor that Kelvin could have bought?
For example, Kelvin might have started with 40 armor and bought an additional 50, thus going from 80%
damage reduction to 90% damage reduction.

19. In a certain fantasy game, all characters begin with a positive integer k armor, which blocks

(A) 5 (B) 50 (C) 810 (D) 9801 (E) 9890

20. How many pairs of integers (a, b) with 0 a < 2015 satisfy a2 = 2015b + 1?
(A) 4 (B) 8 (C) 12 (D) 24 (E) 36
k

21. Define the mosaic of a number n, m(n) as follows. First, prime factorize n as pe11 pe22 pek , then prime
factorize each of e1 , e2 , , en in the same way, and continue until all the exponents are prime. Then the
2
mosaic of n is the product of all the resulting primes. For example, m(48) = 24 is as 48 = 22 3 and
3
2 2 2 3 = 24, and m(256) = 12 as 256 = 22 . Find the number of n such that m(n) = 36.
(A) 12 (B) 16 (C) 20 (D) 24 (E) 28
22. Kelvin the Frog and Alex the Kat stand at two distinct vertices of an equilateral triangle, the sides of
which are perfect mirrors with length 1. Kelvin the Frog shoots a laser at some angle 0 < < 60 (i.e.
within the interior of the triangle), and hits Alex the Kat after some finite amount of bounces. What is
the length of the shortest path that the laser could have traveled?

(A) 3 (B) 5 (C) 6 (D) 7 (E) 2 3

23. We say a b (mod m) if and only if m | a b. Suppose a, b, c are positive integers less than 13 such that
2ab + bc + ca abc

(mod 13)

ab + 2bc + ca 3abc (mod 13)

ab + bc + 2ca 5abc (mod 13)
Find the remainder when a + b + c is divided by 13.
(A) 2 (B) 4 (C) 6 (D) 8 (E) 10
24. 2015 of Kelvin the Frogs relatives stand in a circle. Starting from position 1, Kelvin the Frog moves
clockwise around the circle, alternately ignoring the frog in his position and eating the frog in his position.
For example, he eats the frogs in position 2, 4, 6, ..., 2014, 1 then the frog in position 5 (as the frogs in
positions 2 and 4 have already been eaten). What position must his relative, Daniel the distinctly-not-Frog,
stand in order to be the last remaining frog?
(A) 1983 (B) 1984 (C) 1985 (D) 1986 (E) 1987
25. Let n be the smallest positive integer such that n divides 2n + 1 and n is not a power of 3. Find the
number of factors of n.
(A) 4 (B) 6 (C) 8 (D) 12 (D) 18

2015 BCA Mock AMC 12 Solutions

ANSWER KEY:

Ans

Ans

Ans

Ans

Ans

11

16

21

12

17

22

13

18

23

14

19

24

10

15

20

25

1. B . Each of the 12 people want a drink, but only 6 of them want a piece of bread. Since Kelvin can
pour 6 drinks in 2.5 minutes, he can pour 12 drinks in 5 minutes, and since Kelvin can butter 3 pieces of
bread in 4 minutes, he butters 6 pieces of bread in 8 minutes. Thus, it takes Kelvin 5 + 8 = 13 minutes
to prepare the meal.
2. C .
Solution 1: Kelvin begins with 32 5 = 160 cents and Alex begins with 2 25 = 50 cents. Suppose
Kelvin gives n nickels to Alex. Then 160 5x = 50 + 5x = 110 = 10x = x = 11, and so Alex
has 11 + 2 = 13 coins.
Solution 2: Since Kelvin begins with 160 cents and Alex begins with 50 cents, the total value of all
the coins is 210 cents. Hence, after the exchange, both Kelvin and Alex will have 105 cents. This is
equivalent to 2 quarters and 11 nickels, so Alex has 13 coins.
3. C . If Kelvin eats at least 5 flies, some two of them will be the same type by the Pigeonhole principle. If
Kelvin only eats 4 flies, he might have eaten 1 fly of each time, resulting in no two flies being of the same
type. Therefore, the answer is at most 5 and at least 5, making the answer 5 .
4. E . Call the square ABCD and the center O. Without loss of generality, we can assume that AJ travels
from O to A and then from A to some other vertex. As AC > AB = AD, the longest possible path occurs

when AJ travels from O to A and then from A to C, which is a distance of 12 + 12 + 22 + 22 = 3 2 .

5. C . There are 10
2 = 45 pairs of math team members, so there are 45 competitions in total. Of those,
each member skips exactly 9, so each member attends 45 9 = 36 competitions.
6. B . Suppose Despair = 15k for some k. Then Orwell = 7k and Huxley = 25k, hence 3 Huxleys is the
greatest amount of currency. Alternatively, we can find that Despair >Orwell from the first relation, and
that Huxley>Despair from the second. Hence Huxley>Despair >Orwell, so the maximum possible value
from 3 bills occurs when they are all Huxleys.
7. B . There are 4 possible ways that Alex could roll a 5 ({(1, 4), (2, 3), (3, 2), (4, 1)}) and 5 possible ways
that he could roll an 8 ({(2, 6), . . . , (6, 2)}), so there are 9 possible ways that Alex could roll a 5 or an 8.
9
1
=
There are 62 = 36 total possibilities, making the probability of Kelvin leaving
.
36
4
8. E .
Solution 1: The team could consist of one member who does only Algebra and one who does only
Geometry, which there are 8 5 = 40 ways to choose. The team could also consist of one member
who is willing to do either and any subject-specific member, which there are 2 (8 + 5) = 26 ways to
choose. Finally, the team could consist of the two members who are willing to do either subject. In
total, there are 40 + 26 + 1 = 67 possibilities.


Solution 2: Without restrictions, there are 15
must subtract
2 = 105 possible teams. Of those, we


off the teams containing two members who do only Algebra, of which there are 82 = 28, and the


teams containing two members who do only Geometry, of which there are 52 = 10. In total, there
are 105 28 10 = 67 possible teams.
9. C . Let DAE = EAF = F AB = and ADE = EDF = F DC = . Then 3+3 +90+120 =
360 = 3 + 3 = 150 by considering quadrilateral ABCD. We also have AED = 180 and
AF D = 180 2 2, hence AED + AF D = 360 3 3 = 360 150 = 210 .
10. A . Let an be the result after n iterations of the process. We have

an

an

22 + 9 2 + 2 2

89

82 + 92

145

12 + 4 2 + 5 2

42

42 + 22

20

22 + 02

42

16

12 + 62

37

32 + 72

58

52 + 82

89

At this point we can stop, as a9 = a1 . As a result, an = an+8 for all n 1. Since 2015 7 (mod 8), we
have a2015 = a7 = 37 .
11. C .
Solution 1: Let the quadratic be P (x) = ax2 + bx + c. We have
P (1) = a + b + c = 1
P (2) = 4a + 2b + c = 8
P (3) = 9a + 3b + c = 27
Hence P (3)P (2) = 5a+b = 19 and P (2)P (1) = 3a+b = 7, hence (5a+b)(3a+b) = 2a = 12 =
a = 6. Thus b = 11 = c = 6, making P (x) = 6x2 11x + 6. Then P (4) = 96 44 + 6 = 58 .
Solution 2: We use the method of finite differences. Since P (x) is quadratic, this guarantees that the
second row will be constant. Therefore,
P (1)

P (2)

P (3)

P (4)

27

7
(Constant:)

19
12

?
12

and working our way back up the table gives us

P (1)

P (2)

P (3)

P (4)

27

58

7
(Constant:)

19
12

31
12

12. C . We have n + 42 = a2 and n + 1337 = b4 for some integers a, b. Then b4 a2 = 1295 =

(b2 a)(b2 + a) = 1295 = 5 7 37. We can assume, without loss of generality, that a is positive, and hence
b2 a < b2 + a. This allows us to check only (b2 a, b2 + a) = (1, 1295), (5, 259), (7, 185), (35, 37). The
last pair is the only one which gives integer solutions, and this gives b = 6, a = 1 = n = 41. Hence
n2 = 1681, the sum of whose digits is 1 + 6 + 8 + 1 = 16 .

13. B . Suppose Kelvin is at point A and he wants to get to point B. We can label each point X in the grid
with the number of ways to get from X to B using only down and right moves (avoiding, of course, the
central four dots); our answer will then be the label of point A. Clearly there is only one way to reach B
from the rightmost or the bottom edge (successive down moves or successive right moves, respectively),
so our original grid looks like
A

Now, from each point, we can either go to the right or down. Hence we know that
# of ways to get from X to B = # of ways to get from point below X to B
+ # of ways to get from point to right of X to B
and so we can fill in our table, starting from points closer to B and working our way backwards:
52

26

16

11

26

10

16

11

14. E . By Vietas formulas, we have r + s = a, rs = b, (r + 1) + (s + 1) = b, (r + 1)(s + 1) = a. Since

(r + 1) + (s + 1) = r + s + 2 = a + 2 = b = a = b + 2 and (r + 1)(s + 1) = rs + r + s + 1 = b a + 1 =
a = b = 2a 1, we have a = 2a + 1 = a = 1 = b = 3 = ab = 3 .
15. A . We say that a b (mod m) if m | a b; in this case a b (mod 10) means that a, b have the same
last digit. Note that nk+4 nk (mod 10), or less technically last digits of successive powers repeat every
4 terms. For example, 342 32 (mod 10).
Solution 1:
2015
X

2015

i=1

2015 2016
2

2015
X
i=1

2

i =

2015
X

!2
i

i=1

02 0

(mod 10)

.
Solution 2: We have 12015 + 22015 + . . . + 20152015 13 + 23 + . . . + 20153 (mod 10). Also, since
13 113 213 . . . (mod 10), we know that this is also equivalent to 201(13 + 23 + . . . + 103 ) +
13 + 23 + 33 + 43 + 53 (mod 10). Straightforward calculation yields that 13 + 23 + 33 + 43 + 53 5
(mod 10) and 13 + 23 + . . . + 103 5 (mod 10), hence our answer is 5 + 5 0 (mod 10).
16. B . Rearrange a + b + c + d = ab + cd to ab a b + cd c d = 0 = (a 1)(b 1) + (c 1)(d 1) = 2.
We can assume, without loss of generality, that a b, c d, a c (otherwise swap the offending pair).
We will need to account for the fact that we can swap a and b, c and d, or a, c and b, d later. Note that
this implies a b, c, d. There are two cases:

 a = 1. In this case, we have (c 1)(d 1) = 2 = c 1 = 1, d 1 = 2 = c = 2, d = 3 (as c d),

and b can be anything from 1 to 10. If b = 1 then there are 2 possible swaps we can do: either c and
d or a, c and b, d, so there are 4 possible tuples. Otherwise there are 3 possible swaps we can do: a, b,
c, d, or a, c and b, d, so there are 8 9 = 72 possible tuples. Thus, there are a total of 4 + 72 = 76
possible tuples in this case.
a > 1. In this case, we have a1, b1, c1, d1 1, hence (a1)(b1)+(c1)(d1) 1+1 = 2,
with equality only when a 1 = b 1 = c 1 = d 1 = 1 = (a, b, c, d) = (1, 1, 1, 1). Hence there
is one possible tuple in this case.
Thus, there are a total of 76 + 1 = 77 possible tuples.
17. A . Because AB = BE, we have ABC = ABE = AEB = CF K. We also have CKF = ACB
as given in the problem, hence ABC CEK. As a result,
BC
CA
AB
=
=
CE
EK
KC
8
BC
10
=
=
= 2 = CE = 4
CE
EK
5
Furthermore, as CKE = ACE, we have ACE AKC. As a result,
=

CE
EA
AC
=
=
AK
KC
CA
=

10
4
=
= AK = 12.5 = EK = 4.5
AK
5

Finally, by Power of a Point, we have KC 2 = KF KA = 52 = KF 12.5 = KF = 2, and so

EF = EK F K = 4.5 2 = 2.5 .
18. C . Let {x} denote the fractional part of x. Since x = bxc + {x}, we have
2015
2015
= bxcx + {x} +
x
x
2015
= bxc +
bxc
2015
2015
=
= {x} +
x
bxc
2015{x}
= {x} =
xbxc
= xbxc = 2015
x+

Since bxc x < bxc + 1, we have two cases:

Case 1: bxc > 0. Then bxc2 2015 < bxc(bxc + 1). But there are no solutions here, as we have
45 bxc < 45.
Case 2: bxc < 0. Then bxc2 2015 > bxc(bxc + 1). Then bxc = 45, implying that x = 2015
45 =
403
162409
2
9 . Hence x = 81 , making n = 81 .
19. D . Suppose Kelvin began with k armor and now has n. We wish to maximize n k. We have
k
1
n

=
n + 10 k + 10
10
10n 10k
1
=
(n + 10)(k + 10)
10
100n 100k = nk + 10n + 10k + 100
nk 90n + 110k + 100 = 0
(n + 110)(k 90) = 10000
(n + 110)(90 k) = 10000

It is easy to see that we wish to minimize 90k, which gives us k = 89 = n+110 = 10000 = n = 9890,
hence the maximum armor Kelvin could have bought is 9890 89 = 9801 .

20. B . We require 2015 | a2 1 = 2015 | (a 1)(a + 1). Since 2015 = 5 13 31, we require
5 | (a 1)(a + 1), 13 | (a 1)(a + 1), 31 | (a 1)(a + 1). Thus a 1 (mod 5, 13, 31). By the Chinese
Remainder Theorem (or common sense), each of these combinations leads to exactly one solution, so there
are a total of 2 2 2 = 8 such pairs.
21. C . Define the function g(n) to be the number of k satisfying m(k) = n; we seek g(36). We can quickly
establish that:
g(p) = 1 for prime p, as the only possible n with m(n) = p is p.
g(p2 ) = 1 for prime p, as the only possible n with m(n) = p2 is pp .
g(pq) = 3 for prime p, q, as the only possible n with m(n) = pq are pq, pq , q p .
We first notice that, with the contention m(1) = 1 (and hence g(1) = 1), the function m(n) satisfies the
relation
m(pe11 pe22 . . . penn ) = p1 p2 . . . pn m(e1 )m(e2 ) . . . m(en )
hence, if m(n) = 36, the only primes dividing n can be 2 or 3. We have 3 cases for n:
n = 2k . Then m(n) = 2 m(k) = m(k) = 18, hence there are g(18) possibilities.
n = 3k . Then m(n) = 3 m(k) = m(k) = 12, hence there are g(12) possibilities.
n = 2a 3b . Then m(n) = 2 3 m(a) m(b) = m(a)m(b) = 6, hence there are 2g(6)g(1) + 2g(3)g(2)
possibilities. From the above, we have g(1) = g(2) = g(3) = 1 and g(6) = 3, hence there are 8
possibilities here.
In an analogous way, we can calculate g(18) = g(9) + g(6) + 2g(1)g(3) = 1 + 3 + 2(1)(1) = 6 and
g(12) = g(6) + g(4) + 2g(1)g(2) = 3 + 1 + 2(1)(1) = 6, hence there are a total of 6 + 6 + 8 = 20
possibilities.
k

Remark: There is, in fact, a relatively simple closed form formula for m(n). If n = pe11 pe22 . . . pek , we
have
k  
1Y
m(n) =
i=1 ei

2
Pn
where = 1+ i=1 ei . In the case of n = 36, since n = 22 32 , we have m(n) = 15 52 = 20. Unfortunately,
the proof is extremely complicated.
22. D . Suppose Kelvin stands at point A and Alex stands at point B. Instead of having the laser bounce
off the mirrors, imagine instead it continuing on in a straight line path. Tile the plane with equilateral
triangles as follows:
B

C
B

C
B

B
A

Then a would-be path can be viewed as a line between point A and the image of any point other than A.
One of the closest ones is bolded above. Thus we seek only the length of AC 0 . Since AB 0 = 2, B 0 C 0 = 1,
and AB 0 C 0 = 120 , we have
AC 02 = AB 02 + B 0 C 02 2AB 0 B 0 C 0 cos 120


1
02
2
1
AC = 2 + 1 4
=7
2

AC 0 = 7
by the Law of Cosines.
23. A . Because 13 is prime and a, b, c are positive, there exist a1 , b1 , c1 such that aa1 bb1 cc1
(mod 13) with 1 a0 , b0 , c0 < 13. Then
a1 b1 c1 (2ab + bc + ca) 1

(mod 13)

1 1 1

(ab + 2bc + ca) 3

(mod 13)

1 1 1

(ab + bc + 2ca) 5

(mod 13)

a
a

b
b

c
c

as a result,
2c1 + a1 + b1 1
1

+ 2a

+a

(mod 13)

+b

(mod 13)

+ 2b

(mod 13)

Adding these gives us 4(a1 + b1 + c1 ) 9 (mod 13), hence a1 + b1 + c1 1 (mod 13). Therefore
(a1 , b1 , c1 ) = (4, 6, 2) (mod 13), making (a, b, c) = (10, 11, 7). Then a + b + c = 28 2 (mod 13).
24. A . Let f (n) be the last frog remaining when the operation is carried out of a circle of n frogs.
Lemma: If n is a power of 2, then f (n) = 1.
Proof: If there are 2 frogs, clearly 1 is the last frog remaining as 2 is immediately eaten. We proceed by
induction. Suppose 1 is the last frog remaining when the operation is carried out on 2k frogs for some k.
Then, if there are 2k+1 frogs, Kelvin first eats the frogs in positions 2, 4, 6, . . . , 2k+1 before returning to 1.
At this point, he starts from position 1, alternately ignoring the frog in his position and eating the frog
in his position, hence carrying out the exact same operation, and there are 2k frogs remaining. Hence 1
is the last frog remaining, completing the inductive step.
From the lemma, if there are 2048 frogs in the circle, 1 will be the last remaining frog. Let us examine
the situation just after Kelvin has eaten the frog in position 66, thus eating exactly 33 (2, 4, . . . , 66) frogs.
Then there are 2015 frogs remaining, and the last frog to survive will be the one in position 1 from the
lemma. Relabel the frogs from 1 to 2015 starting from Kelvins current position; the frog previously
labeled 1 (who will survive) is now labeled 1983 . From there, Kelvin executes the same operation as
before (start from position 1, alternatively ignore and eat), so 1983 will be the last surviving frog.
25. B .
Lemma: 3 divides n or n = 1
Proof: Clearly, n must be odd. Let p be the smallest prime factor of n, and define ordn (a) to be the
smallest k such that ak 1 (mod n). Then 2n + 1 (mod p) = 22n 1 (mod p), hence ordp (2) | p 1
and ordp (2) | 2n. If ordp (2) | n, then ordp (2) p as p is the smallest prime factor of n, but ordp (2) | p 1,
contradiction. Hence ordp (2) | 2, implying p = 1 (implying n = 1) or p = 3. Therefore 3 | n.
n

Lemma: Suppose n | 2n + 1. Then 2n + 1 | 22 +1 + 1.

n
Proof: Let 2n + 1 = kn. Then 2n + 1 | 2( kn) + 1 = 22 +1 + 1 as desired.
Lemma: Suppose n | 2n + 1 and p is a prime satisfying p | 2n + 1, p - n. Then pn | 2pn + 1.
Proof: We have 2n + 1 | 2( pn) + 1, hence as (p, n) = 1 and p, n | 2n + 1, we have pn | 2n + 1 | 2( pn + 1).
Clearly, 3 | 23 + 1. Thus, by the second lemma, 9 | 29 + 1. Since 19 | 29 + 1 and 19 - 9, from the third
lemma 171 | 2171 + 1. I claim that 171 is indeed the smallest possible n. Unfortunately, it appears that
my proof is completely wrong and needs revision; fortunately it is indeed the smallest possible n. Hence
n = 171 = 32 19, which has 3 2 = 6 factors.