2010 AMC 10B Problems/Problem 13

Revision as of 21:13, 24 January 2011 by Jexmudder (talk | contribs) (Solution)

Problem

What is the sum of all the solutions of $x = \left|2x-|60-2x|\right|$?

$\mathrm{(A)}\ 32 \qquad \mathrm{(B)}\ 60 \qquad \mathrm{(C)}\ 92 \qquad \mathrm{(D)}\ 120 \qquad \mathrm{(E)}\ 124$

Solution

Case 1:

$2x-|60-2x|=x x=|60-2x|$

Case 1a:

$x=60-2x 3x=60 x=20$

Case 1b:

$-x=60-2x x=60$

Case 2:

$2x-|60-2x|=-x 3x=|60-2x|$

Case 2a:

$3x=60-2x 5x=60 x=12$

Case 2b:

$-3x=60-2x -x=60 x=-60$

Since an absolute value cannot be negative, we exclude $x=-60$. The answer is $20+60+12=92$