2024 AMC 10A Problems/Problem 7
- The following problem is from both the 2024 AMC 10A #7 and 2024 AMC 12A #6, so both problems redirect to this page.
Contents
[hide]Problem
The product of three integers is . What is the least possible positive sum of the three integers?
Solution 1
We notice that the optimal solution involves two negative numbers and a positive number. Thus we may split into three factors and choose negativity. We notice that , and trying other combinations does not yield lesser results so the answer is .
~eevee9406
Solution 2
We have . Let be positive, and let and be negative. Then we need . If , then is at least , so this doesn't work. If , then works, giving
~ ~pog,~mathkiddus
Solution 3
We can see that the most optimal solution would be positive integer and negative ones (as seen in solution 1). Let the three integers be , , and , and let be positive and and be negative. If we want the optimal solution, we want the negative numbers to be as large as possible. so the answer should be , where ... right?
No! Our sum must be a positive number, so that would be invalid! We see that -, and are too far negative to allow the sum to be positive. For example, , so . For to be the most positive, we will have and . Yet, is still less than . After , the next factor of would be . if = , . This might be positive! Now, if we have , and . It cannot be smaller because and would result in being negative. Therefore, our answer would be .
~Moonwatcher22
Video Solution by Pi Academy
https://youtu.be/6qYaJsgqkbs?si=K2Ebwqg-Ro8Yqoiv
Video Solution 1 by Power Solve
https://youtu.be/j-37jvqzhrg?si=aggRgbnyZ3QjYwZF&t=806
Video Solution by Daily Dose of Math
~Thesmartgreekmathdude
See also
2024 AMC 10A (Problems • Answer Key • Resources) | ||
Preceded by Problem 6 |
Followed by Problem 8 | |
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 |
2024 AMC 12A (Problems • Answer Key • Resources) | |
Preceded by Problem 5 |
Followed by Problem 7 |
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 |
The problems on this page are copyrighted by the Mathematical Association of America's American Mathematics Competitions.