2015 AMC 12B Problem 23
Problem 23 of 25HarderAlgebraNumber Theory
A rectangular box measures where and are integers and The volume and the surface area of the box are numerically equal. How many ordered triples are possible?
Answer choices
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Solution
Numerically equal volume and surface area means Dividing by gives so The cases and give no positive solutions. For set The equation then factors as
For gives For gives For the congruence of the two factors modulo leaves only the valid pair and for leaves only Thus there are triples.
Thus, the correct answer is B.