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2024 AMC 12A Problem 17

Problem 17 of 25IntermediateAlgebra

Integers a,a, b,b, and cc satisfy ab+c=100,ab+c=100, bc+a=87,bc+a=87, and ca+b=60.ca+b=60. What is ab+bc+ca?ab+bc+ca?

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Solution

Subtracting the second equation from the first gives (ac)(b1)=13.(a-c)(b-1)=13. Hence (ac,b1){(1,13),(13,1),(1,13),(13,1)}. \begin{gathered} (a-c,b-1)\in\{(1,13),(13,1),\\ (-1,-13),(-13,-1)\}. \end{gathered} The corresponding values of bb are 14,2,12,0.14,2,-12,0. Substituting a=c+(ac)a=c+(a-c) into ab+c=100ab+c=100 eliminates the first two cases because they would require 15c=8615c=86 or 3c=74.3c=74. The case b=12b=-12 gives c=8c=-8 and a=9,a=-9, which satisfies all three equations. The case b=0b=0 gives (a,c)=(87,100),(a,c)=(87,100), which fails ca+b=60.ca+b=60. Thus the unique integer solution is (9,12,8),(-9,-12,-8), and ab+bc+caab+bc+ca =108+96+72=276.=108+96+72=276. Thus, the correct answer is D.

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Concepts: system of equations · factoring · casework

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