1993 AIME Problem 4

Attempt Problem 4 of the 1993 AIME below, then check your answer against the professionally curated solution from LIVE by Po-Shen Loh. You can also try the full timed exam, view all 1993 AIME solutions, or check the answer key.

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4.

How many ordered four-tuples of integers (a,b,c,d)(a,b,c,d) with 0<a<b<c<d<5000<a<b<c<d<500 satisfy a+d=b+ca+d=b+c and bcad=93?bc-ad=93?

Answer: 870
Concepts:caseworkcounting integers in a rangefactoring
Difficulty rating: 2310
Small Hint:

The first equation implies that ba=dcb-a=d-c

Big Hint:

Set x=ba=dcx=b-a=d-c and factor bcadbc-ad in terms of xx and cac-a

Solution:

Let x=ba=dc>0x=b-a=d-c>0 and y=ca.y=c-a. Then bcad=(a+x)ca(c+x)=x(ca)=xy=93.\begin{aligned}bc-ad&=(a+x)c-a(c+x)\\&=x(c-a)=xy=93.\end{aligned} Since b<c,b<c, we need x<y.x<y. The positive factor pairs are (x,y)=(1,93)(x,y)=(1,93) and (3,31).(3,31). For the first, d=a+94<500d=a+94<500 gives 405405 choices for a.a. For the second, d=a+34<500d=a+34<500 gives 465465 choices. The total is 405+465=870.405+465=870.

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