Difference between revisions of "2023 AMC 10B Problems/Problem 12"

(redirect)
(Tag: New redirect)
 
(11 intermediate revisions by 3 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
When the roots of the polynomial
+
#redirect[[2023 AMC 12B Problems/Problem 6]]
 
 
<math>P(x)  = (x-1)^1 (x-2)^2 (x-3)^3 \cdot \cdot \cdot (x-10)^{10}</math>
 
 
 
are removed from the number line, what remains is the union of 11 disjoint open intervals. On how many of these intervals is <math>P(x)</math> positive?
 
 
 
==Solution==
 
 
 
The interval of the alternating signs. <math>P(x)</math> is a product of <math>(x-r_n) or 10 terms</math>. When <math>x < 1</math>, all terms are <math>< 0</math>, but <math>P(x) > 0</math> because they are even number of terms. The sign keep alternates +,-,+,-,....,+.  There are 11 intervals, so there are 6 positives and 5 negatives.
 
 
 
~Technodoggo
 

Latest revision as of 19:33, 15 November 2023