Difference between revisions of "2002 AMC 12P Problems/Problem 21"

Revision as of 14:45, 10 March 2024

Let $a$ and $b$ be real numbers greater than $1$ for which there exists a positive real number $c,$ different from $1$ , such that

$2(\log_a{c} + \log_b{c}) = 9\log_{ab}{c}.$

Find the largest possible value of $\log_a b.$

$\text{(A) }\sqrt{2} \qquad \text{(B) }\sqrt{3} \qquad \text{(C) }2 \qquad \text{(D) }\sqrt{6} \qquad \text{(E) }3$

We may rewrite the given equation as

2002 AMC 12P (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

@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 == Solution ==
-If <math>\log_{b} 729 = n</math>, then <math>b^n = 729</math>. Since <math>729 = 3^6</math>, <math>b</math> must be <math>3</math> to some [[factor]] of 6. Thus, there are four (3, 9, 27, 729) possible values of <math>b \Longrightarrow \boxed{\mathrm{E}}</math>.
+We may rewrite the given equation as
 == See also ==
 {{AMC12 box|year=2002|ab=P|num-b=20|num-a=22}}
 {{MAA Notice}}