2024 AMC 10A Problem 11

Attempt Problem 11 of the 2024 AMC 10A 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 2024 AMC 10A solutions, or check the answer key.

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

11.

How many ordered pairs of integers (m,n)(m, n) satisfy

n249=m?\sqrt{n^2 - 49} = m?

11

22

33

44

Infinitely many

Answer: D
Concepts:Diophantine Equationdifference of squaresradical
Difficulty rating: 1440
Solution:

Note m=n2490m = \sqrt{n^2 - 49} \ge 0 has to be an integer, so n249=m2,n^2 - 49 = m^2, which means (nm)(n+m)=49.(n - m)(n + m) = 49. The factorizations of 4949 give n=25,m=24|n| = 25, m = 24 or n=7,m=0.|n| = 7, m = 0. So the ordered pairs (m,n)(m, n) are (24,25),(24, 25), (24,25),(24, -25), (0,7),(0, 7), (0,7).(0, -7). That's 44 of them. Thus, D is the correct answer.

← Problem 10#10
Full Exam

Problem 11 in Other Years