2023 AMC 10B Problem 15

Below is the professionally curated solution for Problem 15 of the 2023 AMC 10B, from LIVE by Po-Shen Loh. You can also try the full timed exam, view all 2023 AMC 10B solutions, or check the answer key.

All of the real AMC 8, AMC 10, AMC 12, and AIME problems in our complete solution collection are used with official legal permission of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA).

Concepts:perfect squareprime factorizationfactorialpairing and grouping

Difficulty rating: 1730

15.

What is the least positive integer mm such that m2!3!4!5!16!m \cdot 2! \cdot 3! \cdot 4! \cdot 5! \cdots 16! is a perfect square?

3030

3003030030

7070

14301430

10011001

Solution:

Group the product as (2!3!)(4!5!)(14!15!)16!.(2!\,3!)(4!\,5!)\cdots(14!\,15!)\cdot 16!. Since (2k)!(2k+1)!=((2k)!)2(2k+1),(2k)!(2k+1)! = \bigl((2k)!\bigr)^2(2k+1), each pair is a perfect square times an odd number. Those odd numbers 3,5,7,9,11,13,153, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15 multiply to 345271113,3^4 \cdot 5^2 \cdot 7 \cdot 11 \cdot 13, with squarefree part 71113.7 \cdot 11 \cdot 13. And 16!=215365372111316! = 2^{15} 3^6 5^3 7^2 \cdot 11 \cdot 13 has squarefree part 251113.2 \cdot 5 \cdot 11 \cdot 13. Multiply the two: the squarefree part of the whole thing is 257.2 \cdot 5 \cdot 7. That's the smallest m,m, namely 257=70.2 \cdot 5 \cdot 7 = 70. Thus, C is the correct answer.

Problem 15 in Other Years