Difference between revisions of "2008 AMC 12A Problems/Problem 19"

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==Problem==
 
==Problem==
 
In the expansion of
 
In the expansion of
 
 
<cmath>\left(1 + x + x^2 + \cdots + x^{27}\right)\left(1 + x + x^2 + \cdots + x^{14}\right)^2,</cmath>
 
<cmath>\left(1 + x + x^2 + \cdots + x^{27}\right)\left(1 + x + x^2 + \cdots + x^{14}\right)^2,</cmath>
 
 
what is the [[coefficient]] of <math>x^{28}</math>?
 
what is the [[coefficient]] of <math>x^{28}</math>?
  
<math>\textbf{(A)}\ 195 \qquad \textbf{(B)}\ 196 \qquad \textbf{(C)}\ 224 \qquad \textbf{(D)}\ 378 \qquad \textbf{(E)}\ 405</math>
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<math>\mathrm{(A)}\ 195\qquad\mathrm{(B)}\ 196\qquad\mathrm{(C)}\ 224\qquad\mathrm{(D)}\ 378\qquad\mathrm{(E)}\ 405</math>
  
 
==Solution==  
 
==Solution==  

Revision as of 01:48, 26 April 2008

Problem

In the expansion of \[\left(1 + x + x^2 + \cdots + x^{27}\right)\left(1 + x + x^2 + \cdots + x^{14}\right)^2,\] what is the coefficient of $x^{28}$?

$\mathrm{(A)}\ 195\qquad\mathrm{(B)}\ 196\qquad\mathrm{(C)}\ 224\qquad\mathrm{(D)}\ 378\qquad\mathrm{(E)}\ 405$

Solution

Let $A = \left(1 + x + x^2 + \cdots + x^{14}\right)$ and $B = \left(1 + x + x^2 + \cdots + x^{27}\right)$. We are expanding $A \cdot A \cdot B$.

Since there are $15$ terms in $A$, there are $15^2 = 225$ ways to choose one term from each $A$. The product of the selected terms is $x^n$ for some integer $n$ between $0$ and $28$ inclusive. For each $n \neq 0$, there is one and only one $x^{28 - n}$ in $B$. Since there is only one way to choose one term from each $A$ to get a product of $x^0$, there are $225 - 1 = 224$ ways to choose one term from each $A$ and one term from $B$ to get a product of $x^{28}$. Thus the coefficient of the $x^{28}$ term is $224 \Rightarrow C$.

See Also

2008 AMC 12A (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 18
Followed by
Problem 20
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