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2020 AMC 10B Problem 9

Problem 9 of 25EasierAlgebraNumber Theory

How many ordered pairs of integers (x,y)(x, y) satisfy the equation x2020+y2=2y?x^{2020}+y^2=2y?

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Solution

Move all terms to one side and complete the square: x2020+y2=2yx2020+(y1)2=1. \begin{aligned} &x^{2020}+y^2=2y \\ &\quad \Longrightarrow x^{2020}+(y-1)^2=1. \end{aligned} Because (y1)20,(y-1)^2\ge 0, we must have x20201.x^{2020}\le 1. Since xx is an integer, x=1,0,1.x=-1,0,1. If x=±1,x=\pm1, then (y1)2=0,(y-1)^2=0, so y=1.y=1. If x=0,x=0, then (y1)2=1,(y-1)^2=1, so y=0y=0 or 2.2. This gives 44 ordered pairs. Thus, D is the correct answer.

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Concepts: Diophantine Equation · completing the square · bounding to limit cases

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