2020 AMC 12B Problems/Problem 6

Revision as of 19:35, 7 February 2020 by Peopl (talk | contribs) (Solution)

Problem 6

For all integers $n \geq 9,$ the value of \[\frac{(n+2)!-(n+1)!}{n!}\]is always which of the following?

$\textbf{(A) } \text{a multiple of }4 \qquad \textbf{(B) } \text{a multiple of }10 \qquad \textbf{(C) } \text{a prime number} \\ \textbf{(D) } \text{a perfect square} \qquad \textbf{(E) } \text{a perfect cube}$

Solution

We first expand the expression: \[\frac{(n+2)!-(n+1)!}{n!} = \frac{(n+2)(n+1)n!-(n+1)n!}{n!}\]

We can now divide out a common factor of $n!$ from each term of this expression:

\[(n+2)(n+1)-(n+1)\]

Factoring out $(n+1)$, we get \[(n+1)(n+2-1) = (n+1)^2\]

which proves that the answer is $\boxed{\textbf{(D) a perfect square}}$.