2009 AMC 10B Problem 6

Below is the professionally curated solution for Problem 6 of the 2009 AMC 10B, from LIVE by Po-Shen Loh. You can also try the full timed exam, view all 2009 AMC 10B solutions, or check the answer key.

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Concepts:prime factorizationpower of 2ages

Difficulty rating: 960

6.

Kiana has two older twin brothers. The product of their three ages is 128.128. What is the sum of their three ages?

1010

1212

1616

1818

2424

Solution:

Since 128=27,128=2^7, every age is a power of 2.2. Writing the twins' common age as tt and Kiana's as k,k, we need t2k=128t^2k=128 with k<t.k\lt t.

Taking t=8t=8 gives k=2,k=2, which works. The sum is 8+8+2=18.8+8+2=18.

Thus, the correct answer is D.

Problem 6 in Other Years