2022 AMC 10B Problems/Problem 21

Problem

Let $P(x)$ be a polynomial with rational coefficients such that when $P(x)$ is divided by the polynomial $x^2 + x + 1$ , the remainder is $x+2$ , and when $P(x)$ is divided by the polynomial $x^2+1$ , the remainder is $2x+1$ . There is a unique polynomial of least degree with these two properties. What is the sum of the squares of the coefficients of that polynomial?

Solution 1 (Experimentation)

Given that all the answer choices and coefficients are integers, we hope that $P(x)$ has positive integer coefficients.

Throughout this solution, we will express all polynomials in base $x$ . E.g. $x^2 + x + 1 = 111_{x}$ .

We are given:

$111a + 12 = 101b + 21 = P(x)$ .

We add $111$ and $101$ to each side and balance respectively:

$111(a - 1) + 123 = 101(b - 1) + 122 = P(x)$

We make the units digits equal:

$111(a - 1) + 123 = 101(b - 2) + 223 = P(x)$

We now notice that:

$111(a - 11) + 1233 = 101(b - 12) + 1233 = P(x)$ .

Therefore $a = 11_{x} = x + 1$ , $b = 12_{x} = x + 2$ , and $P(x) = 1233_{x} = x^3 + 2x^2 + 3x + 3$ . $3$ is the minimal degree of $P(x)$ since there is no way to influence the $x$ ‘s digit in $101b + 21$ when $b$ is an integer. The desired sum is $1^2 + 2^2 + 3^2 + 3^2 = \boxed{\textbf{(E) 23}}$

P.S. The 4 computational steps can be deduced through quick experimentation.

~ numerophile

Video Solutions

https://youtu.be/yGUur4vP_6k

~ ThePuzzlr

https://youtu.be/ELdhkqVyB9E

~Steven Chen (Professor Chen Education Palace, www.professorchenedu.com)

2022 AMC 10B (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by Problem 20	Followed by Problem 22
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2022 AMC 10B Problems/Problem 21

Contents

Problem

Solution 1 (Experimentation)

Video Solutions

See Also