2002 AMC 12P Problems/Problem 18

Problem

If $a,b,c$ are real numbers such that $a^2 + 2b =7$ , $b^2 + 4c= -7,$ and $c^2 + 6a= -14$ , find $a^2 + b^2 + c^2.$

$\text{(A) }14 \qquad \text{(B) }21 \qquad \text{(C) }28 \qquad \text{(D) }35 \qquad \text{(E) }49$

Solution

If $\log_{b} 729 = n$ , then $b^n = 729$ . Since $729 = 3^6$ , $b$ must be $3$ to some factor of 6. Thus, there are four (3, 9, 27, 729) possible values of $b \Longrightarrow \boxed{\mathrm{E}}$ .

2002 AMC 12P (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by Problem 17	Followed by Problem 19
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

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2002 AMC 12P Problems/Problem 18

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