2005 AMC 12A Problem 9

Below is the professionally curated solution for Problem 9 of the 2005 AMC 12A, from LIVE by Po-Shen Loh. You can also try the full timed exam, view all 2005 AMC 12A solutions, or check the answer key.

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Concepts:quadratic Vieta’s Formulas

Difficulty rating: 1380

There are two values of $a$ for which the equation $4x^2 + ax + 8x + 9 = 0$ has only one solution for $x.$ What is the sum of those values of $a?$

$-16$

$-8$

$0$

$8$

$20$

Solution:

The equation is $4x^2 + (a+8)x + 9 = 0.$ It has one solution when the discriminant vanishes: $(a+8)^2 - 4 \cdot 4 \cdot 9 = 0,$ so $(a+8)^2 = 144$ and $a + 8 = \pm 12.$

Thus $a = 4$ or $a = -20,$ and their sum is $-16.$

Thus, the correct answer is A.

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