2011 AMC 10A Problems/Problem 19

Problem 19

In 1991 the population of a town was a perfect square. Ten years later, after an increase of 150 people, the population was 9 more than a perfect square. Now, in 2011, with an increase of another 150 people, the population is once again a perfect square. Which of the following is closest to the percent growth of the town's population during this twenty-year period?

$\textbf{(A)}\ 42 \qquad\textbf{(B)}\ 47 \qquad\textbf{(C)}\ 52\qquad\textbf{(D)}\ 57\qquad\textbf{(E)}\ 62$

Solution

Let the population of the town in $1991$ be $p^2$ . Let the population in $2001$ be $q^2+9$ . Let the population in 2011 be $r^2$ . It follows that $p^2+150=q^2+9$ . Rearrange this equation to get $141=q^2-p^2=(q-p)(q+p)$ . Since $q$ and $p$ are both positive integers with $q>p$ , $(q-p)$ and $(q+p)$ also must be, and thus, they are both factors of $141$ . We have two choices for pairs of factors of $141$ : $1$ and $141$ , and $3$ and $47$ . Assuming the former pair, since $(q-p)$ must be less than $(q+p)$ , $q-p=1$ and $q+p=141$ . Solve to get $p=70, q=71$ . Since $p^2+300$ is not a perfect square, this is not the correct pair. Solve for the other pair to get $p=22, q=25$ . This time, $p^2+300=22^2+300=784=28^2$ . This is the correct pair. Now, we find the percent increase from $22^2=484$ to $28^2=784$ . Since the increase is $300$ , the percent increase is $\frac{300}{484}\times100\%\approx\boxed{\textbf{(E)}\ 62\%}$ .

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2011 AMC 10A Problems/Problem 19

Problem 19

Solution