Difference between revisions of "2008 AMC 10A Problems/Problem 7"

(Solution 2)
(Solution 2)
Line 18: Line 18:
 
<math> = \frac{3^{2006}(9+1) \cdot 3^{2006}(9-1)}{3^{2005}(9+1) \cdot 3^{2005}(9-1)}</math>
 
<math> = \frac{3^{2006}(9+1) \cdot 3^{2006}(9-1)}{3^{2005}(9+1) \cdot 3^{2005}(9-1)}</math>
  
<math> = \boxed(\text{(E)}9}</math>
+
<math> = \boxed{\text{(E)}9}</math>
  
 
==See also==
 
==See also==
 
{{AMC10 box|year=2008|ab=A|num-b=6|num-a=8}}
 
{{AMC10 box|year=2008|ab=A|num-b=6|num-a=8}}
 
{{MAA Notice}}
 
{{MAA Notice}}

Revision as of 10:44, 25 December 2019

Problem

The fraction \[\frac{\left(3^{2008}\right)^2-\left(3^{2006}\right)^2}{\left(3^{2007}\right)^2-\left(3^{2005}\right)^2}\] simplifies to which of the following?

$\mathrm{(A)}\ 1\qquad\mathrm{(B)}\ \frac{9}{4}\qquad\mathrm{(C)}\ 3\qquad\mathrm{(D)}\ \frac{9}{2}\qquad\mathrm{(E)}\ 9$

Solution

Simplifying, we get \[\frac{3^{4016}-3^{4012}}{3^{4014}-3^{4010}}.\] Factoring out $3^{4012}$ on the top and factoring out $3^{4010}$ on the bottom gives us \[\frac{(3^4-1)(3^{4012})}{(3^4-1)(3^{4010})}.\] Canceling out $3^4-1$ gives us $\frac{3^{4012}}{3^{4010}}=\frac{3^2}{3^0}=9.$

Solution 2

Using Difference of Squares, $\frac{(3^{2008})^{2}-(3^{2006})^{2}}{(3^{2007})^{2}-(3^{2005}){^2}}$ becomes

$\frac{(3^{2008}+3^{2006})(3^{2008}-3^{2006})}{(3^{2007}+3^{2005})(3^{2007}-3^{2005})}$


$= \frac{3^{2006}(9+1) \cdot 3^{2006}(9-1)}{3^{2005}(9+1) \cdot 3^{2005}(9-1)}$

$= \boxed{\text{(E)}9}$

See also

2008 AMC 10A (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 6
Followed by
Problem 8
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
All AMC 10 Problems and Solutions

The problems on this page are copyrighted by the Mathematical Association of America's American Mathematics Competitions. AMC logo.png