2021 AMC 10B Fall Problem 8

Below is the professionally curated solution for Problem 8 of the 2021 AMC 10B Fall, from LIVE by Po-Shen Loh. You can also try the full timed exam, view all 2021 AMC 10B Fall solutions, or check the answer key.

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Concepts:prime factorizationdifference of squares

Difficulty rating: 1030

8.

The greatest prime number that is a divisor of 16,38416,384 is 22 because 16,384=214.16,384 = 2^{14}. What is the sum of the digits of the greatest prime number that is a divisor of 16,383?16,383?

3 3

7 7

10 10

16 16

22 22

Solution:

We know 16,383=163841=2141=(271)(27+1)=127129.\begin{align*}16,383 &= 16384-1 \\&= 2^{14}-1 \\&= (2^7-1)(2^7+1) \\&= 127\cdot 129.\end{align*} Since 129=343,129=3\cdot 43, we get 16383=343127.16383 = 3\cdot 43\cdot 127. Therefore, 127127 is the largest prime factor, and the sum of its digits is 10.10.

Thus, the answer is C .

Problem 8 in Other Years