Skip to main content

2006 AMC 12A Problem 10

Problem 10 of 25EasierAlgebraCombinatorics

For how many real values of xx is 120−x\sqrt{120 - \sqrt{x}} an integer?

Answer choices

Show solution

Solution

Let k=120−xk = \sqrt{120 - \sqrt{x}} be an integer. Then k≥0k \ge 0 and k2=120−x≤120,k^2 = 120 - \sqrt{x} \le 120, so 0≤k≤10.0 \le k \le 10. Each such kk gives x=120−k2≥0,\sqrt{x} = 120 - k^2 \ge 0, hence a distinct value x=(120−k2)2.x = (120 - k^2)^2. That is 1111 values. Thus, the correct answer is E.
AoPS wiki

Tagged: radical · counting integers in a range

More practice