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2012 AMC 10B Problem 8

Problem 8 of 25EasierAlgebra

What is the sum of all integer solutions to the following inequality? 1<(x2)2<251 < (x-2)^2 < 25

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Solution

Suppose we have x=2+kx=2+k as a solution. Then, x=2kx=2-k would also be a solution as ((2+k)2)2=((2k)2)2((2+k)-2)^2 = ((2-k)-2)^2 The sum of these two solutions would be 4.4. Thus, the sum of all integer solutions to the above equation is four times the number of positive kk’s that work. To find the number of kk’s, we need to find the number of positive solutions to: 1<k2<25,1 < k^2 < 25, which would be 3,3, as k=2,3,4.k=2,3,4. Therefore, the sum of all the solutions is 43=12.4\cdot3=12. Thus, the correct answer is B .

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Concepts: inequality · absolute value · symmetry

Problem text and solution from the LIVE past-contest archive. See also the AoPS wiki page for community solutions.