The 147 Puzzle
February 5, 2013
Today’s exercise comes to us from the world of recreational mathematics:
Find all possible solutions to the equation 1/a + 1/b + 1/c + 1/d + 1/e = 1 where all of a, b, c, d and e are positive integers.
One solution is the trivial 1/5 + 1/5 + 1/5 + 1/5 + 1/5. Another solution, based on the perfect number 1 + 2 + 4 + 7 + 14 = 28, is 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/7 + 1/14 + 1/28. The minimum distinct solution is 1/3 + 1/4 + 1/5 + 1/6 + 1/20, where all the denominators are distinct and the sum of the denominators 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 20 = 38 is minimum over all solutions.
Your task is to write a program to enumerate all possible solutions to the equation. When you are finished, you are welcome to read or run a suggested solution, or to post your own solution or discuss the exercise in the comments below.
Programming Praxis 