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Algebra Difficulty 3.5 AMC 10/12 Find the answer

If xn=yx^{n}=y, then we define (x,y)=n\left(x,y\right)=n. For example, since 32=93^{2}=9, we have (3,9)=2\left(3,9\right)=2.
(1)(1) According to the above definition, fill in the blanks: (2,8)=\left(2,8\right)=______, (2,14)=(2, \frac{1}{4})=______;
(2)(2) Let (4,12)=a\left(4,12\right)=a, (4,5)=b\left(4,5\right)=b, (4,60)=c\left(4,60\right)=c. Prove that a+b=ca+b=c.

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

Solution

### Problem Solution:

#### Part 1:
Given the definition, we need to find the values of (2,8)\left(2,8\right) and (2,14)\left(2, \frac{1}{4}\right).

- For (2,8)\left(2,8\right), we are looking for an nn such that 2n=82^{n}=8. Since 23=82^{3}=8, we have (2,8)=3\left(2,8\right)=3.
- For (2,14)\left(2, \frac{1}{4}\right), we are looking for an nn such that 2n=142^{n}=\frac{1}{4}. Since 22=142^{-2}=\frac{1}{4}, we have (2,14)=2\left(2, \frac{1}{4}\right)=-2.

Therefore, the answers are: 3\boxed{3}, 2\boxed{-2}.

#### Part 2:
Given (4,12)=a\left(4,12\right)=a, (4,5)=b\left(4,5\right)=b, (4,60)=c\left(4,60\right)=c, we need to prove that a+b=ca+b=c.

- Since (4,12)=a\left(4,12\right)=a, we have 4a=124^{a}=12.
- Since (4,5)=b\left(4,5\right)=b, we have 4b=54^{b}=5.
- Since (4,60)=c\left(4,60\right)=c, we have 4c=604^{c}=60.

Given that 12×5=6012\times 5=60, we can write:

4a×4b=12×5=60=4c 4^{a}\times 4^{b}=12\times 5=60=4^{c}

Using the property that xm×xn=xm+nx^{m}\times x^{n}=x^{m+n}, we get:

4a+b=4c 4^{a+b}=4^{c}

Since the bases are the same, the exponents must be equal, thus:

a+b=c a+b=c

Therefore, we have proven that a+b=c\boxed{a+b=c}.

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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.