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2019 AMC 10A Problem 19

Problem 19 of 25HarderAlgebra

What is the least possible value of (x+1)(x+2)(x+3)(x+4)+2019, \begin{aligned} &(x+1)(x+2)(x+3)(x+4)\\ &\quad+2019, \end{aligned} where xx is a real number?

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Solution

Multiplying the first two terms and the last terms yields (x2+5x+4)(x2+5x+6). (x^2 + 5x + 4)(x^2 + 5x + 6). Note that these two terms differ by 2.2. We can try to express this as a difference of squares, which is (x2+5x+5)21. (x^2 + 5x + 5)^2 - 1. Adding 20192019 to this gets us (x2+5x+5)2+2018. (x^2 + 5x + 5)^2 + 2018. Squares are non-negative, so as long as we find a way to make the inner expression 0,0, we can make the square 0.0. The discriminant is 5245=5,5^2 - 4 \cdot 5 = 5, which is positive meaning that there is a value that makes the square 0.0. This means that the minimum value would be 02+2018=2018. 0^2 + 2018 = 2018. Thus, B is the correct answer.

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Concepts: difference of squares · optimization · substitution

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