2008 AMC 10B Problem 15

Attempt Problem 15 of the 2008 AMC 10B 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 2008 AMC 10B solutions, or check the answer key.

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15.

How many right triangles have integer leg lengths aa and bb and a hypotenuse of length b+1,b+1, where b<100?b\lt 100?

66

77

88

99

1010

Answer: A
Concepts:Pythagorean Tripleperfect square
Difficulty rating: 1310
Solution:

From a2+b2=(b+1)2a^2+b^2=(b+1)^2 we get a2=2b+1,a^2=2b+1, so aa is odd and a2a^2 is an odd perfect square.

Since b<100,b\lt 100, we need a2=2b+1<201,a^2=2b+1\lt 201, and a29a^2\ge 9 for b4.b\ge 4. The odd squares 9,25,49,81,121,1699,25,49,81,121,169 give a=3,5,7,9,11,13,a=3,5,7,9,11,13, which is 66 triangles.

Thus, the correct answer is A.

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