2014 AMC 12A Problems/Problem 25
Problem
The parabola has focus and goes through the points and . For how many points with integer coordinates is it true that ?
Solution
The parabola is symmetric through , and the common distance is , so the directrix is the line through and . That's the line Using the point-line distance formula, the parabola is the locus which rearranges to .
Let , . Put to obtain
\[25k^2 &= 6x-8y+25\] (Error compiling LaTeX. Unknown error_msg)
\[25k &= 4x+3y.\] (Error compiling LaTeX. Unknown error_msg)
and accordingly we find by solving the system that and .
One can show that the values of that make an integer pair are precisely odd integers . For this is , so values work and the answer is .
(Solution by v_Enhance)
See Also
2014 AMC 12A (Problems • Answer Key • Resources) | |
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Followed by Last Question |
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All AMC 12 Problems and Solutions |
The problems on this page are copyrighted by the Mathematical Association of America's American Mathematics Competitions.
1) The line of symmetry is NOT y= -x but 4x + 3y = 0
2) In the expression for x, it is NOT 8 but 8k.
With these minor corrections, the solution still holds good.