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2015 AMC 10B Problem 25

Problem 25 of 25HarderAlgebraNumber TheoryProblem-Solving Techniques

A rectangular box measures a×b×c,a \times b \times c, where a,a, b,b, and cc are integers and 1≤a≤b≤c.1\leq a \leq b \leq c. The volume and the surface area of the box are numerically equal. How many ordered triples (a,b,c)(a,b,c) are possible?

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Solution

The condition is abc=2(ab+ac+bc).abc=2(ab+ac+bc). Since abc≤6bcabc\le6bc, we have a≤6a\le6. Also a=1a=1 and a=2a=2 give no positive solutions, so test a=3,4,5,6a=3,4,5,6. For a=3a=3, (b−6)(c−6)=36(b-6)(c-6)=36, giving (b,c)=(7,42),(b,c)=(7,42), (8,24),(8,24), (9,18),(9,18), (10,15),(10,15), (12,12)(12,12). For a=4a=4, (b−4)(c−4)=16(b-4)(c-4)=16, giving (5,20),(6,12),(8,8)(5,20),(6,12),(8,8). For a=5a=5, (3b−10)(3c−10)=100(3b-10)(3c-10)=100, and the only solution with a≤b≤ca\le b\le c is (b,c)=(5,10)(b,c)=(5,10). For a=6a=6, (b−3)(c−3)=9(b-3)(c-3)=9, and the only solution with a≤b≤ca\le b\le c is (6,6)(6,6). The total number of triples is 5+3+1+1=105+3+1+1=10. Thus, the correct answer is B.
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