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2003 AMC 12A Problem 7

Problem 7 of 25EasierGeometryCombinatorics

How many non-congruent triangles with perimeter 77 have integer side lengths?

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Solution

Let the sides be a≤b≤ca\le b\le c with a+b+c=7.a+b+c=7. The triangle inequality requires c<a+b,c\lt a+b, so c<3.5,c\lt3.5, forcing c=3.c=3. Then a+b=4a+b=4 with a≤b≤3,a\le b\le3, giving the triangles 1-3-31\text{-}3\text{-}3 and 2-2-3.2\text{-}2\text{-}3. Thus, the correct answer is B.
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Tagged: triangle inequality · partitions and compositions

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