What is the greatest integer, which when divided into 383, 527, or 815
leaves the same remainder?
Let the greatest integer be d, and the common remainder be r. Then
Let q1, q2, q3 be the quotients. Then
Solving the first two equations for r:
That tells us that the most d can be is 144, and it can be 144 if we can get
the denominator q2-q1 to equal 1.
Solving the first and third equations for r:
Solving the second and third equations for r:
So d can be 144 if we can have
q2-q1 = 1
q3-q1 = 3
q3-q2 = 2
Solving that dependent system, we get
So if we let q3=4, we have
We can have the maximum of
Edwin