2010 AMC 12B Problem 15

Below is the professionally curated solution for Problem 15 of the 2010 AMC 12B, from LIVE by Po-Shen Loh. You can also try the full timed exam, view all 2010 AMC 12B solutions, or check the answer key.

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Concepts:complex numbercaseworkbasic counting

Difficulty rating: 2070

15.

For how many ordered triples (x,y,z)(x, y, z) of nonnegative integers less than 2020 are there exactly two distinct elements in the set {ix,(1+i)y,z},\{i^x, (1+i)^y, z\}, where i=1?i=\sqrt{-1}?

149149

205205

215215

225225

235235

Solution:

We need exactly two of ix,i^x, (1+i)y,(1+i)^y, zz equal, with the third different. The three cases are the three possible equal pairs.

Case ix=(1+i)y:i^x=(1+i)^y: since ix=1|i^x|=1 but (1+i)y=2y/2>1|(1+i)^y|=2^{y/2}\gt1 for y1,y\ge1, we need y=0,y=0, so (1+i)0=1(1+i)^0=1 and ix=1,i^x=1, i.e. x{0,4,8,12,16}.x\in\{0,4,8,12,16\}. Then zz is any of the 1919 values other than 1.1. This gives 519=955\cdot19=95 triples.

Case ix=z:i^x=z: the only nonnegative-integer value of ixi^x is 11 (with xx a multiple of 44), so z=1z=1 and (1+i)y1,(1+i)^y\ne1, meaning y1.y\ge1. This gives 519=955\cdot19=95 triples.

Case (1+i)y=z:(1+i)^y=z: since (1+i)2=2i,(1+i)^2=2i, the power (1+i)y(1+i)^y is a nonnegative integer below 2020 only for y=0y=0 (value 11) or y=8y=8 (value 1616). If y=0, z=1,y=0,\ z=1, we need ix1,i^x\ne1, so xx is not a multiple of 44 (1515 values). If y=8, z=16,y=8,\ z=16, then ixi^x is never 16,16, so xx is free (2020 values). This gives 15+20=3515+20=35 triples.

Altogether 95+95+35=225.95+95+35=225.

Thus, the correct answer is D.

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