Difference between revisions of "1983 AIME Problems/Problem 1"

Revision as of 10:33, 25 April 2008

Problem

Let $x$ , $y$ , and $z$ all exceed $1$ , and let $w$ be a positive number such that $\log_xw=24$ , $\log_y w = 40$ , and $\log_{xyz}w=12$ . Find $\log_zw$ .

Solution

Solution 1

The logarithmic notation doesn't tell us much, so we'll first convert everything to the equivalent exponential expressions.

$x^{24}=w$ , $y^{40}=w$ , and $(xyz)^{12}=w$ . If we now convert everything to a power of $120$ , it will be easy to isolate $z$ and $w$ .

$x^{120}=w^5$ , $y^{120}=w^3$ , and $(xyz)^{120}=w^{10}$ .

With some substitution, we get $w^5w^3z^{120}=w^{10}$ and $\log_zw=\boxed{060}$ .

Solution 2

Applying the change of base formula,

$\begin{align*} \log_x w = 24 &\implies \frac{\log w}{\log x} = 24 \implies \frac{\log x}{\log w} = \frac 1 {24} \\

\log_y w = 40 &\implies \frac{\log w}{\log y} = 40 \implies \frac{\log y}{\log w} = \frac 1 {40} \\

\log_{xyz} w = 12 &\implies \frac{\log {w}}{\log {xyz}} = 12 \implies \frac{\log x +\log y + \log z}{\log w} = \frac 1 {12} \end{align*}$ (Error compiling LaTeX. Unknown error_msg)

Therefore, $\frac {\log z}{\log w} = \frac 1 {12} - \frac 1 {24} - \frac 1{40} = \frac 1 {60}$ .

Hence, $\log_z w = 60$ .

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 == Problem ==
-Let <math>x</math>,<math>y</math>, and <math>z</math> all exceed <math>1</math>, and let <math>w</math> be a [[positive number]] such that <math>\log_xw=24</math>, <math>\displaystyle \log_y w = 40</math>, and <math>\log_{xyz}w=12</math>. Find <math>\log_zw</math>.
+Let <math>x</math>,<math>y</math>, and <math>z</math> all exceed <math>1</math>, and let <math>w</math> be a [[positive number]] such that <math>\log_xw=24</math>, <math>\log_y w = 40</math>, and <math>\log_{xyz}w=12</math>. Find <math>\log_zw</math>.
+__TOC__
 == Solution ==
+=== Solution 1 ===
 The [[logarithm]]ic notation doesn't tell us much, so we'll first convert everything to the equivalent [[exponential]] [[expression]]s.
@@ Line 9: / Line 11: @@
 <math>x^{120}=w^5</math>, <math>y^{120}=w^3</math>, and <math>(xyz)^{120}=w^{10}</math>.
-With some substitution, we get <math>w^5w^3z^{120}=w^{10}</math> and <math>\log_zw=60</math>.
+With some substitution, we get <math>w^5w^3z^{120}=w^{10}</math> and <math>\log_zw=\boxed{060}</math>.
-----
+=== Solution 2 ===
+Applying the change of base formula,
-== Alternative Solution ==
+<center><math>\begin{align*} \log_x w = 24 &\implies \frac{\log w}{\log x} = 24 \implies \frac{\log x}{\log w} = \frac 1 {24} \\
-Applying Change of Base Formula:
+\log_y w = 40 &\implies \frac{\log w}{\log y} = 40 \implies \frac{\log y}{\log w} = \frac 1 {40} \\
-<cmath> \log_x w = 24 \implies \frac{\log w}{\log x} = 24 \implies \frac{\log x}{\log w} = \frac 1 {24} </cmath>
+\log_{xyz} w = 12 &\implies \frac{\log {w}}{\log {xyz}} = 12 \implies \frac{\log x +\log y + \log z}{\log w} = \frac 1 {12} \end{align*}</math></center>
-<cmath> \log_y w = 40 \implies \frac{\log w}{\log y} = 40 \implies \frac{\log y}{\log w} = \frac 1 {40} </cmath>
-<cmath> \log_{xyz} w = 12 \implies \frac{\log {w}}{\log {xyz}} = 12 \implies \frac{\log x +\log y + \log z}{\log w} = \frac 1 {12} </cmath>
 Therefore, <math> \frac {\log z}{\log
 w} = \frac 1 {12} - \frac 1 {24} - \frac 1{40} = \frac 1 {60}</math>.
 Hence, <math> \log_z w = 60</math>.
---[[User:Luimichael|Luimichael]] 22:46, 19 November 2007 (EST)
 == See also ==
 {{AIME box|year=1983|before=First Question|num-a=2}}
-* [[AIME Problems and Solutions]]
-* [[American Invitational Mathematics Examination]]
-* [[Mathematics competition resources]]
 [[Category:Intermediate Algebra Problems]]

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