Problem

Source: IMO Shortlist 2017 N4

Tags: IMO Shortlist, number theory, decimal representation, Digits, IMO, IMO 2017



Call a rational number short if it has finitely many digits in its decimal expansion. For a positive integer $m$, we say that a positive integer $t$ is $m-$tastic if there exists a number $c\in \{1,2,3,\ldots ,2017\}$ such that $\dfrac{10^t-1}{c\cdot m}$ is short, and such that $\dfrac{10^k-1}{c\cdot m}$ is not short for any $1\le k<t$. Let $S(m)$ be the set of $m-$tastic numbers. Consider $S(m)$ for $m=1,2,\ldots{}.$ What is the maximum number of elements in $S(m)$?