2013 AMC 12B Problem 14

Below is the professionally curated solution for Problem 14 of the 2013 AMC 12B, from LIVE by Po-Shen Loh. You can also try the full timed exam, view all 2013 AMC 12B solutions, or check the answer key.

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Concepts:Fibonacci Diophantine Equation greatest common divisor

Difficulty rating: 1750

14.

Two non-decreasing sequences of nonnegative integers have different first terms. Each sequence has the property that each term beginning with the third is the sum of the previous two terms, and the seventh term of each sequence is $N.$ What is the smallest possible value of $N?$

$55$

$89$

$104$

$144$

$273$

Solution:

A sequence starting $a_1, a_2$ has seventh term $5a_1 + 8a_2.$ For the two sequences, $5a_1 + 8a_2 = 5b_1 + 8b_2,$ so $5(b_1 - a_1) = 8(a_2 - b_2).$ Since $\gcd(5, 8) = 1,$ we need $8 \mid b_1 - a_1$ and $5 \mid a_2 - b_2.$ Taking $a_1 \lt b_1$ with nondecreasing terms gives $a_1 \le b_1 - 8 \le b_2 - 8 \le a_2 - 13.$ Choosing $a_1 = 0,$ $b_1 = b_2 = 8,$ $a_2 = 13$ yields $N = 5\cdot 0 + 8\cdot 13 = 104.$ Thus, the correct answer is C.

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