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2005 AMC 12A Problem 21

Problem 21 of 25HarderAlgebraNumber TheoryProblem-Solving Techniques

How many ordered triples of integers (a,b,c),(a, b, c), with a≥2,a \ge 2, b≥1,b \ge 1, and c≥0,c \ge 0, satisfy both log⁡ab=c2005\log_a b = c^{2005} and a+b+c=2005?a + b + c = 2005?

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Solution

The condition log⁡ab=c2005\log_a b = c^{2005} means b=a(c2005).b = a^{\left(c^{2005}\right)}. If c≥2,c \ge 2, then b=a(c2005)≥2(22005),b = a^{\left(c^{2005}\right)} \ge 2^{\left(2^{2005}\right)}, which vastly exceeds 2005,2005, so a+b+c=2005a + b + c = 2005 is impossible. For c=0:c = 0: b=a0=1,b = a^0 = 1, so a+1+0=2005a + 1 + 0 = 2005 gives (a,b,c)=(2004,1,0).(a, b, c) = (2004, 1, 0). For c=1:c = 1: b=a1=a,b = a^1 = a, so 2a+1=20052a + 1 = 2005 gives (a,b,c)=(1002,1002,1).(a, b, c) = (1002, 1002, 1). There are 22 such triples. Thus, the correct answer is C.
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Tagged: logarithm · Diophantine Equation · bounding to limit cases

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