2021 Fall AMC 12A Problems/Problem 1

Revision as of 22:38, 23 November 2021 by MRENTHUSIASM (talk | contribs) (Great alternate solution by Ehuang0531. Made some small fixes on titles. Also, complete sentences will be nice, so added "we have" up front.)
The following problem is from both the 2021 Fall AMC 10A #1 and 2021 Fall AMC 12A #1, so both problems redirect to this page.

Problem

What is the value of $\frac{(2112-2021)^2}{169}$?

$\textbf{(A) } 7 \qquad\textbf{(B) } 21 \qquad\textbf{(C) } 49 \qquad\textbf{(D) } 64 \qquad\textbf{(E) } 91$

Solution 1 (Laws of Exponents)

We have \[\frac{(2112-2021)^2}{169}=\frac{91^2}{169}=\frac{91^2}{13^2}=\left(\frac{91}{13}\right)^2=7^2=\boxed{\textbf{(C) } 49}.\] ~MRENTHUSIASM

Solution 2 (Difference of Squares)

We have \[\frac{(2112-2021)^2}{169}=\frac{91^2}{169}=\frac{(10^2-3^2)^2}{169}=\frac{(10+3)^2(10-3)^2}{169}=\frac{13^2 \cdot 7^2}{13^2}=7^2=\boxed{\textbf{(C) } 49}.\] ~Ehuang0531

See Also

2021 Fall AMC 12A (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
First Problem
Followed by
Problem 2
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
2021 Fall AMC 10A (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
First Problem
Followed by
Problem 2
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 10 Problems and Solutions

The problems on this page are copyrighted by the Mathematical Association of America's American Mathematics Competitions. AMC logo.png