2005 AMC 12B Problem 13

Below is the professionally curated solution for Problem 13 of the 2005 AMC 12B, from LIVE by Po-Shen Loh. You can also try the full timed exam, view all 2005 AMC 12B solutions, or check the answer key.

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Concepts:logarithmtelescoping

Difficulty rating: 1570

13.

Suppose that 4x1=5,4^{x_1} = 5, 5x2=6,5^{x_2} = 6, 6x3=7,,127x124=128.6^{x_3} = 7, \ldots, 127^{x_{124}} = 128. What is x1x2x124?x_1 x_2 \cdots x_{124}?

22

52\dfrac{5}{2}

33

72\dfrac{7}{2}

44

Solution:

From 4x1=54^{x_1} = 5 we get x1=log45,x_1 = \log_4 5, and in general xk=logk+3(k+4).x_k = \log_{k+3}(k+4).

The product telescopes: x1x2x124=log45log56log127128=log4128. x_1 x_2 \cdots x_{124} = \log_4 5 \cdot \log_5 6 \cdots \log_{127} 128 = \log_4 128.

Since 128=27128 = 2^7 and 4=22,4 = 2^2, this equals 7log22log2=72.\dfrac{7\log 2}{2\log 2} = \dfrac72.

Thus, the correct answer is D.

Problem 13 in Other Years