2021 AIME I Problem 5

Attempt Problem 5 of the 2021 AIME I 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 2021 AIME I solutions, or check the answer key.

All problems are used with official legal permission of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA).

5.

Call a three-term strictly increasing arithmetic sequence of integers special if the sum of the squares of the three terms equals the product of the middle term and the square of the common difference. Find the sum of the third terms of all special sequences.

Answer: 31
Concepts:arithmetic sequenceDiophantine Equationdivisibility
Difficulty rating: 2390
Solution:

Write the terms as ad,a - d, a,a, a+da + d with integer d1.d \ge 1. The condition is (ad)2+a2+(a+d)2=ad23a2+2d2=ad2, \begin{aligned} &(a-d)^2 + a^2 \\ &\quad {}+ (a+d)^2 = ad^2 \\ &\quad\Longleftrightarrow\quad 3a^2 + 2d^2 = ad^2, \end{aligned} so d2(a2)=3a2d^2(a - 2) = 3a^2 and d2=3a2a2.d^2 = \frac{3a^2}{a - 2}. For d2d^2 to be positive we need a>2.a \gt 2. Indeed, a=0a = 0 forces d=0,d = 0, while for any nonzero integer a<2a \lt 2 the right side is negative; a=2a = 2 makes the original equation impossible.

Substituting t=a21t = a - 2 \ge 1 gives d2=3(t+2)2t=3t+12+12t,d^2 = \frac{3(t+2)^2}{t} = 3t + 12 + \frac{12}{t}, so t12.t \mid 12. Testing t=1,2,3,4,6,12t = 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 12 gives d2=27,24,25,27,32,49:d^2 = 27, 24, 25, 27, 32, 49: only t=3t = 3 and t=12t = 12 yield perfect squares.

These give (a,d)=(5,5)(a, d) = (5, 5) with sequence 0,5,10,0, 5, 10, and (a,d)=(14,7)(a, d) = (14, 7) with sequence 7,14,21.7, 14, 21. The sum of the third terms is 10+21=31.10 + 21 = 31.

← Problem 4#4
Full Exam

Problem 5 in Other Years