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2024 AMC 12A Problem 17

Problem 17 of 25IntermediateAlgebraProblem-Solving Techniques

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 (a−c)(b−1)=13.(a-c)(b-1)=13. Hence (a−c,b−1)∈{(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+(a−c)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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