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Algebra Difficulty 4.3 AIME Find the answer

Determine the number of ordered pairs (a,b)(a,b) of integers such that logab+6logba=5,2a2005,\log_a b + 6\log_b a=5, 2 \leq a \leq 2005, and 2b2005.2 \leq b \leq 2005.

A number or a short expression. Spacing and $ signs are ignored.

Solution

The equation can be rewritten as logbloga+6logalogb=(logb)2+6(loga)2logalogb=5\frac{\log b}{\log a} + 6 \frac{\log a}{\log b} = \frac{(\log b)^2+6(\log a)^2}{\log a \log b}=5 Multiplying through by logalogb\log a \log b and factoring yields (logb3loga)(logb2loga)=0(\log b - 3\log a)(\log b - 2\log a)=0. Therefore, logb=3loga\log b=3\log a or logb=2loga\log b=2\log a, so either b=a3b=a^3 or b=a2b=a^2.

For the case b=a2b=a^2, note that 442=193644^2=1936 and 452=202545^2=2025. Thus, all values of aa from 22 to 4444 will work.
For the case b=a3b=a^3, note that 123=172812^3=1728 while 133=219713^3=2197. Therefore, for this case, all values of aa from 22 to 1212 work.
There are 442+1=4344-2+1=43 possibilities for the square case and 122+1=1112-2+1=11 possibilities for the cube case. Thus, the answer is 43+11=05443+11= \boxed{054}.
Note that Inclusion-Exclusion does not need to be used, as the problem is asking for ordered pairs (a,b)(a,b), and not for the number of possible values of bb. Were the problem to ask for the number of possible values of bb, the values of b6b^6 under 20052005 would have to be subtracted, which would just be 22 values: 262^6 and 363^6. However, the ordered pairs where b is to the sixth power are distinct, so they are not redundant. (For example, the pairs (4, 64) and (8, 64).)

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Source: NuminaMath-1.5, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.