Maths Olympiad Prep

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Algebra Difficulty 5.0 AIME, harder Find the answer

Among all polynomials P(x)P(x) with integer coefficients for which P(10)=145P(-10)=145 and P(9)=164P(9)=164, compute the smallest possible value of P(0)|P(0)|.

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

Solution

Since abP(a)P(b)a-b \mid P(a)-P(b) for any integer polynomial PP and integers aa and bb, we require that 10P(0)P(10)10 \mid P(0)-P(-10) and 9P(0)P(9)9 \mid P(0)-P(9). So, we are looking for an integer aa near 0 for which a5mod10,a2mod9a \equiv 5 \bmod 10, a \equiv 2 \bmod 9 The smallest such positive integer is 65, and the smallest such negative integer is -25. This is achievable, for example, if P(x)=2x2+3x25P(x)=2 x^{2}+3 x-25, so our answer is 25.

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