1985 AIME Problems/Problem 1
Contents
Problem
Let 
, and for 
, let 
. Calculate the product 
.
Solution
Since , 
. Setting 
and 
in this equation gives us respectively 
, 
, 
and 
so ![\[x_1x_2x_3x_4x_5x_6x_7x_8 = 2\cdot4\cdot6\cdot8 = \boxed{384}.\]](http://latex.artofproblemsolving.com/d/c/5/dc517b8bd93adf1e5d719d491779824034848b4b.png)
Notice that the value of 
was completely unneeded!
Solution 2
Another way to do this is to realize that most of our numbers will be canceled out in the multiplication in the end, and to just list out the terms of our product and cancel:
![\[x_1x_2x_3x_4x_5x_6x_7x_8=x_1\cdot\dfrac{2}{x_1}\cdot\dfrac{3}{\dfrac{2}{x_1}}\cdot\dfrac{4}{\dfrac{3}{\dfrac{2}{x_1}}}\cdot\dfrac{5}{\dfrac{4}{\dfrac{3}{\dfrac{2}{x_1}}}}\cdot\dfrac{6}{\dfrac{5}{\dfrac{4}{\dfrac{3}{\dfrac{2}{x_1}}}}}\cdot\dfrac{7}{\dfrac{6}{\dfrac{5}{\dfrac{4}{\dfrac{3}{\dfrac{2}{x_1}}}}}}\cdot\dfrac{8}{\dfrac{7}{\dfrac{6}{\dfrac{5}{\dfrac{4}{\dfrac{3}{\dfrac{2}{x_1}}}}}}}\]](http://latex.artofproblemsolving.com/e/e/2/ee28058600058588c838b75861ca15558b7a4b6b.png)
![\[=(x_1\cdot\dfrac{2}{x_1})\cdot(\dfrac{3}{\dfrac{2}{x_1}}\cdot\dfrac{4}{\dfrac{3}{\dfrac{2}{x_1}}})\cdot(\dfrac{5}{\dfrac{4}{\dfrac{3}{\dfrac{2}{x_1}}}}\cdot\dfrac{6}{\dfrac{5}{\dfrac{4}{\dfrac{3}{\dfrac{2}{x_1}}}}})\cdot(\dfrac{7}{\dfrac{6}{\dfrac{5}{\dfrac{4}{\dfrac{3}{\dfrac{2}{x_1}}}}}}\cdot\dfrac{8}{\dfrac{7}{\dfrac{6}{\dfrac{5}{\dfrac{4}{\dfrac{3}{\dfrac{2}{x_1}}}}}}})=2\cdot 4\cdot 6\cdot 8=\boxed{384}\]](http://latex.artofproblemsolving.com/3/e/e/3ee045cee484da56ff081d9a5da46a31d94acc66.png)
See also
| 1985 AIME (Problems • Answer Key • Resources) | ||
| Preceded by First Question |
Followed by Problem 2 | |
| 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 | ||
| All AIME Problems and Solutions | ||
