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Algebra Difficulty 5.0 AIME Find the answer

Let a,ba, b, and cc be real numbers such that a+b+c=100a+b+c=100, ab+bc+ca=20ab+bc+ca=20, and (a+b)(a+c)=24(a+b)(a+c)=24. Compute all possible values of bcbc.

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

Solution

We first expand the left-hand-side of the third equation to get (a+b)(a+c)=a2+ac+ab+bc=24(a+b)(a+c)=a^{2}+ac+ab+bc=24. From this, we subtract the second equation to obtain a2=4a^{2}=4, so a=±2a=\pm 2. If a=2a=2, plugging into the first equation gives us b+c=98b+c=98 and plugging into the second equation gives us 2(b+c)+bc=202(98)+bc=20bc=1762(b+c)+bc=20 \Rightarrow 2(98)+bc=20 \Rightarrow bc=-176. Then, if a=2a=-2, plugging into the first equation gives us b+c=102b+c=102, and plugging into the second equation gives us 2(b+c)+bc=202(102)+bc=20bc=224-2(b+c)+bc=20 \Rightarrow -2(102)+bc=20 \Rightarrow bc=224. Therefore, the possible values of bcbc are 224,176224,-176.

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