2020 AMC 12B Problem 17

Below is the professionally curated solution for Problem 17 of the 2020 AMC 12B, from LIVE by Po-Shen Loh. You can also try the full timed exam, view all 2020 AMC 12B solutions, or check the answer key.

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Concepts:roots of unitycomplex numberpolynomial

Difficulty rating: 1960

17.

How many polynomials of the form x5+ax4+bx3+cx2+dx+2020,x^5 + ax^4 + bx^3 + cx^2 + dx + 2020, where a,b,c,a, b, c, and dd are real numbers, have the property that whenever rr is a root, so is 1+i32r?\dfrac{-1 + i\sqrt3}{2}\cdot r? (Note that i=1.i = \sqrt{-1}.)

00

11

22

33

44

Solution:

Here ω=1+i32\omega = \tfrac{-1 + i\sqrt3}{2} is a primitive cube root of unity. Since 00 is not a root, the set of distinct roots is closed under multiplication by ω,\omega, so it consists of triples {r,ωr,ω2r}\{r, \omega r, \omega^2 r\} equally spaced in argument. Five roots cannot fill two such triples, so there is exactly one triple, with multiplicities m1,m2,m31m_1, m_2, m_3 \ge 1 summing to 5.5.

Real coefficients require the root multiset to be closed under conjugation. This is possible only when the triple's arguments are symmetric about the real axis, which happens for the two configurations {0,120,240}\{0^\circ, 120^\circ, 240^\circ\} and {60,180,300}.\{60^\circ, 180^\circ, 300^\circ\}.

The product of the roots must equal 2020.-2020. In the first configuration the real root is positive, forcing a positive product, which is impossible. In the second, the real root is negative and the product is ρ5;-\rho^5; setting ρ5=2020\rho^5 = 2020 works, and the two conjugate-symmetric multiplicity patterns (1,3,1)(1, 3, 1) and (2,1,2)(2, 1, 2) each give a valid polynomial. Hence there are 2.2.

Thus, the correct answer is C.

Problem 17 in Other Years