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2010 AMC 10B Problem 13

Problem 13 of 25IntermediateAlgebra

What is the sum of all the solutions of the equation below? x=2x602xx = |2x-|60-2x||

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Solution

We first take care of the outer absolute value. We have either x=2x602x x = 2x - |60 - 2x| or x=2x+602x. x = -2x + |60 - 2x|. These simplify to x=602x x = |60 - 2x| and 3x=602x. 3x = |60 - 2x|. We have 22 cases for each equation. For the first one, we have x=602xx = 60 - 2x and x=2x60.x = 2x - 60. Solving both gives us 3x=60 3x = 60 x=20 x = 20 and x=60 -x = -60 x=60. x = 60. For the other equation, we have 3x=602x3x = 60 - 2x and 3x=2x60.3x = 2x - 60. Again solving both, we have 5x=60 5x = 60 x=12 x = 12 and x=60.x = -60. Note that xx cannot be negative since the right side of the original equation is nonnegative. Adding up all the solutions gives us 20+60+12=92. 20 + 60 + 12 = 92. Thus, C is the correct answer.

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Concepts: absolute value · casework

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