Difference between revisions of "2017 AMC 8 Problems/Problem 21"

Revision as of 14:34, 22 November 2017

Problem 21

Suppose $a$ , $b$ , and $c$ are nonzero real numbers, and $a+b+c=0$ . What are the possible value(s) for $\frac{a}{|a|}+\frac{b}{|b|}+\frac{c}{|c|}+\frac{abc}{|abc|}$ ?

$\textbf{(A) }0\qquad\textbf{(B) }1\text{ and }-1\qquad\textbf{(C) }2\text{ and }-2\qquad\textbf{(D) }0,2,\text{ and }-2\qquad\textbf{(E) }0,1,\text{ and }-1$

Solution

There are $2$ cases to consider:

Case $1$ : $2$ of $a$ , $b$ , and $c$ are positive and the other is negative. WLOG assume that $a$ and $b$ are positive and $c$ is negative. In this case, we have that $\frac{a}{|a|}+\frac{b}{|b|}+\frac{c}{|c|}+\frac{abc}{|abc|}=1+1-1-1=0.$

Case $2$ : $2$ of $a$ , $b$ , and $c$ are negative and the other is positive. WLOG assume that $a$ and $b$ are negative and $c$ is positive. In this case, we have that $\frac{a}{|a|}+\frac{b}{|b|}+\frac{c}{|c|}+\frac{abc}{|abc|}=-1-1+1+1=0.$

In both cases, we get that the given expression equals $\boxed{\textbf{(B)}\ 0}$ .

~nukelauncher

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+==Problem 21==
+Suppose <math>a</math>, <math>b</math>, and <math>c</math> are nonzero real numbers, and <math>a+b+c=0</math>. What are the possible value(s) for <math>\frac{a}{|a|}+\frac{b}{|b|}+\frac{c}{|c|}+\frac{abc}{|abc|}</math>?
+<math>\textbf{(A) }0\qquad\textbf{(B) }1\text{ and }-1\qquad\textbf{(C) }2\text{ and }-2\qquad\textbf{(D) }0,2,\text{ and }-2\qquad\textbf{(E) }0,1,\text{ and }-1</math>
+==Solution==
 There are <math>2</math> cases to consider:

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Difference between revisions of "2017 AMC 8 Problems/Problem 21"

Revision as of 14:34, 22 November 2017

Problem 21

Solution