Maths Olympiad Prep

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Algebra Difficulty 2.8 Junior Find the answer Canada

The values 2,3,4,2,3,4, and 5 are each assigned to exactly one of the letters V,W,XV, W, X, and YY to give YXWVY^{X} -W^{V} the greatest possible value. The value of X+VX + V is equal to

Pick one

Solution

The units digit of the product 1ABCDE×31ABCDE\times3 is 1, and so the units digit of E×3E\times3 must equal 1.

Therefore, the only possible value of EE is 7.

Substituting E=7E=7, we get

[[IMAGE0]]

Since 7×3=217\times3=21, 2 is carried to the tens column.

Thus, the units digit of D×3+2D\times3+2 is 7, and so the units digit of D×3D\times3 is 5.

Therefore, the only possible value of DD is 5.

Substituting D=5D=5, we get

[[IMAGE1]]

Since 5×3=155\times3=15, 1 is carried to the hundreds column.

Thus, the units digit of C×3+1C\times3+1 is 5, and so the units digit of C×3C\times3 is 4.

Therefore, the only possible value of CC is 8.

Substituting C=8C=8, we get


[[IMAGE2]]

Since 8×3=248\times3=24, 2 is carried to the thousands column.

Thus, the units digit of B×3+2B\times3+2 is 8, and so the units digit of B×3B\times3 is 6.

Therefore, the only possible value of BB is 2.

Substituting B=2B=2, we get


[[IMAGE3]]

Since 2×3=62\times3=6, there is no carry to the ten thousands column.

Thus, the units digit of A×3A\times3 is 2.

Therefore, the only possible value of AA is 4.

Substituting A=4A=4, we get

[[IMAGE4]]

Checking, we see that the product is correct and so A+B+C+D+E=4+2+8+5+7=26A+B+C+D+E=4+2+8+5+7=26.

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Source: CEMC, University of Waterloo, licensed CC-BY-NC-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.