Difference between revisions of "2010 AMC 12B Problems/Problem 21"
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Let <math>a > 0</math>, and let <math>P(x)</math> be a polynomial with integer coefficients such that | Let <math>a > 0</math>, and let <math>P(x)</math> be a polynomial with integer coefficients such that | ||
Revision as of 15:43, 15 February 2021
Problem
Let , and let be a polynomial with integer coefficients such that
, and
.
What is the smallest possible value of ?
Solution
We observe that because , if we define a new polynomial such that , has roots when ; namely, when .
Thus since has roots when , we can factor the product out of to obtain a new polynomial such that .
Then, plugging in values of we get
Thus, the least value of must be the . Solving, we receive , so our answer is .
To complete the solution, we can let , and then try to find . We know from the above calculation that , and . Then we can let , getting . Let , then . Therefore, it is possible to choose , so the goal is accomplished. As a reference, the polynomial we get is
See also
2010 AMC 12B (Problems • Answer Key • Resources) | |
Preceded by Problem 20 |
Followed by Problem 22 |
1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 | |
All AMC 12 Problems and Solutions |
The problems on this page are copyrighted by the Mathematical Association of America's American Mathematics Competitions.