2002 AIME II Problems/Problem 3

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Problem

It is given that $\log_{6}a + \log_{6}b + \log_{6}c = 6,$ where $a,$ $b,$ and $c$ are positive integers that form an increasing geometric sequence and $b - a$ is the square of an integer. Find $a + b + c.$

Solution

$abc=6^6$. Since they form an increasing geometric sequence, $b$ is the geometric mean of the product $abc$. $b=\sqrt[3]{abc}=6^2=36$.

Since $b-a$ is the square of an integer, we can find a few values of $a$ that work: $11, 20, 27, 32,$ and $35$. Out of these, the only value of $a$ that works is $a=27$, from which we can deduce that $c=\dfrac{36}{27}\cdot 36=\dfrac{4}{3}\cdot 36=48$.

Thus, $a+b+c=27+36+48=\boxed{111}$

See also

2002 AIME II (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 2
Followed by
Problem 4
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
All AIME Problems and Solutions

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