2021 AMC 12A Spring Problem 12

Attempt Problem 12 of the 2021 AMC 12A Spring 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 2021 AMC 12A Spring solutions, or check the answer key.

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12.

All the roots of the polynomial z610z5+Az4z^6 - 10z^5 + Az^4 +Bz3+Cz2+Dz+16+ Bz^3 + Cz^2 + Dz + 16 are positive integers, possibly repeated. What is the value of B?B?

88-88

80-80

64-64

41-41

40-40

Answer: A
Concepts:Vieta’s Formulaspolynomial
Difficulty rating: 1710
Solution:

By Vieta's formulas the six roots sum to 1010 (the negative of the z5z^5 coefficient) and multiply to 16.16. Thus every root is a power 2ei,2^{e_i}, with ei=4.\sum e_i=4. Since 2ei1+ei,2^{e_i}\ge 1+e_i, the roots have sum at least 6+4=10.6+4=10. Equality holds only when every eie_i is 00 or 1,1, so the roots must be 2,2,2,2,1,1.2,2,2,2,1,1.

So the polynomial is (z1)2(z2)4.(z - 1)^2 (z - 2)^4. Expanding, (z22z+1)(z48z3+24z232z+16)=z610z5+41z488z3+104z264z+16. \begin{aligned} &(z^2 - 2z + 1) \\ &\quad {}\cdot (z^4 - 8z^3 + 24z^2 - 32z + 16) \\ &= z^6 - 10z^5 + 41z^4 \\ &\quad {}- 88z^3 + 104z^2 \\ &\quad {}- 64z + 16. \end{aligned} The coefficient of z3z^3 is B=88.B = -88.

Thus, the correct answer is A.

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