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AMC 12 A

Number theory Difficulty 4.5 AIME Find the answer United States

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

A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.

Solution

Notice that the difference between 100100 and 8787 is 1313, a prime number. This fact will help to simplify the problem. Subtract the second equation from the first to get
13=(ab+c)−(bc+a)=ab−bc−a+c=b(a−c)−(a−c)=(b−1)(a−c). \begin{aligned} 13 &= (ab + c) - (bc + a) \\ &= ab - bc - a + c \\ &= b(a - c) - (a - c) \\ &= (b - 1)(a - c). \end{aligned}
Thus b−1=±1b - 1 = \pm 1 or b−1=±13b - 1 = \pm 13.

* If b−1=−1b - 1 = -1, then b=0b = 0, implying c=100c = 100, a=87a = 87, and ca=60ca = 60, which is impossible.
* If b−1=1b - 1 = 1, then b=2b = 2 and a−c=13a - c = 13, implying ca=58=2⋅29ca = 58 = 2 \cdot 29, which cannot be true if a−c=13a - c = 13.
* If b−1=13b - 1 = 13, then b=14b = 14 and a−c=1a - c = 1, implying ca=46=2⋅23ca = 46 = 2 \cdot 23, which cannot be true if a−c=1a - c = 1.
* If b−1=−13b - 1 = -13, then b=−12b = -12 and a−c=−1a - c = -1, implying ca=72ca = 72, which is satisfied when a=−9a = -9 and c=−8c = -8. In fact, a=−9a = -9, b=−12b = -12, and c=−8c = -8 satisfies all three equations.

The requested value is ab+bc+ca=(−9)(−12)+(−12)(−8)+(−8)(−9)=108+96+72=276ab + bc + ca = (-9)(-12) + (-12)(-8) + (-8)(-9) = 108 + 96 + 72 = 276.

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