Skip to main content

2017 AMC 12B Problem 23

Problem 23 of 25HarderAlgebra

The graph of y=f(x),y = f(x), where f(x)f(x) is a polynomial of degree 3,3, contains points A(2,4),A(2, 4), B(3,9),B(3, 9), and C(4,16).C(4, 16). Lines AB,AB, AC,AC, and BCBC intersect the graph again at points D,D, E,E, and F,F, respectively, and the sum of the xx-coordinates of D,D, E,E, and FF is 24.24. What is f(0)?f(0)?

Answer choices

Show solution

Solution

The points A,B,CA, B, C lie on y=x2,y = x^2, so g(x)=f(x)x2g(x) = f(x) - x^2 has roots 2,3,4:2, 3, 4: g(x)=a(x2)(x3)(x4)g(x) = a(x-2)(x-3)(x-4) for some a0.a \ne 0. The coefficients of x3x^3 and x2x^2 in ff are aa and 19a,1 - 9a, so by Vieta the three roots of f(x)L(x)f(x) - L(x) (for any linear LL) sum to 91a.9 - \tfrac1a. The lines AB,AC,BCAB, AC, BC meet the cubic in triples {2,3,xD},\{2, 3, x_D\}, {2,4,xE},\{2, 4, x_E\}, {3,4,xF},\{3, 4, x_F\}, so xD+xE+xF=3(91a)2(2+3+4)=93a=24, \begin{aligned} &x_D + x_E + x_F \\ &\quad {}= 3\left(9 - \tfrac1a\right) \\ &\quad {}- 2(2 + 3 + 4) \\ &\quad {}= 9 - \tfrac3a = 24, \end{aligned} giving a=15.a = -\tfrac15. Then f(x)=x2f(x) = x^2 15(x2)(x3)(x4),- \tfrac15(x-2)(x-3)(x-4), so f(0)=015(2)(3)(4)f(0) = 0 - \tfrac15(-2)(-3)(-4) =245.= \tfrac{24}{5}. Thus, the correct answer is D.

More practice

Concepts: Vieta’s Formulas · polynomial

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