Find all positive integers $x$ and $y$ such that $3x^2+2x+92=3y^2$.

elementary-number-theory

Find all positive integers $x$ and $y$ such that $3x^2+2x+92=3y^2$.

Since the RHS is a multiple of $3$, then so is the LHS. Hence, $x=3k+2$ for some non-negative integer $k$. I found that $x=2$ and $x=8$ satisfies the condition by inspection on small values of $k$. But, I didn't know to find the others if any.

Any ideas? Many thanks in advanced.

Best Answer

This is a finite problem. Since $x,y>0$ we must have $y>x$. But $(x+1)^2-x^2=2x+1$ so $3y^2-3x^2≥6x+3$.

It follows that $$6x+3≤2x+92\iff 4x≤89\iff x≤22$$

A simple search then confirms that the OP has found the only two solutions: $(x,y)=(2,6)$ and $(x,y)=(8,10)$.