My previous post on the topic of chains of semiprimes in arithmetic progression prompted me to investigate similar chains formed by sphenic numbers. This time we are looking for the smallest sphenic number that is at the end of an arithmetic progression of \(n\) sphenic numbers as \(n\) ranges from 1 upwards. The result for \(n\) up to 18 is as follows (permalink):
30, 42, 102, 138, 174, 442, 1010, 2278, 2422, 6494, 10322, 10586, 12694, 21434, 28466, 56426, 62902, 145930
Let's look at 28466 that is at the end of a chain of 15 sphenic numbers with a common difference of 96 (permalink):
Arithmetic Progression of 15 Sphenic NumbersCommon Difference: 96-------------------------------------------------------Term | Sphenic Number | Factorisation-------------------------------------------------------1 | 27122 | 2 x 71 x 1912 | 27218 | 2 x 31 x 4393 | 27314 | 2 x 7 x 19514 | 27410 | 2 x 5 x 27415 | 27506 | 2 x 17 x 8096 | 27602 | 2 x 37 x 3737 | 27698 | 2 x 11 x 12598 | 27794 | 2 x 13 x 10699 | 27890 | 2 x 5 x 278910 | 27986 | 2 x 7 x 199911 | 28082 | 2 x 19 x 73912 | 28178 | 2 x 73 x 19313 | 28274 | 2 x 67 x 21114 | 28370 | 2 x 5 x 283715 | 28466 | 2 x 43 x 331
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Arithmetic Progression of 16 Sphenic NumbersCommon Difference: 708-------------------------------------------------------Term | Sphenic Number | Factorisation-------------------------------------------------------1 | 45806 | 2 x 37 x 6192 | 46514 | 2 x 13 x 17893 | 47222 | 2 x 7 x 33734 | 47930 | 2 x 5 x 47935 | 48638 | 2 x 83 x 2936 | 49346 | 2 x 11 x 22437 | 50054 | 2 x 29 x 8638 | 50762 | 2 x 17 x 14939 | 51470 | 2 x 5 x 514710 | 52178 | 2 x 7 x 372711 | 52886 | 2 x 31 x 85312 | 53594 | 2 x 127 x 21113 | 54302 | 2 x 19 x 142914 | 55010 | 2 x 5 x 550115 | 55718 | 2 x 13 x 214316 | 56426 | 2 x 89 x 317-------------------------------------------------------