Difference between revisions of "2019 AMC 10B Problems/Problem 4"

(Solution 1)
m (Again deleted irrelevant attribution - please stop spamming your name everywhere, IronicNinja!)
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If all lines satisfy the condition, then we can just plug in values for <math>a</math>, <math>b</math>, and <math>c</math> that form an arithmetic progression. Let's use <math>a=1</math>, <math>b=2</math>, <math>c=3</math>, and <math>a=1</math>, <math>b=3</math>, <math>c=5</math>. Then the two lines we get are: <cmath>x+2y=3</cmath> <cmath>x+3y=5</cmath>
 
If all lines satisfy the condition, then we can just plug in values for <math>a</math>, <math>b</math>, and <math>c</math> that form an arithmetic progression. Let's use <math>a=1</math>, <math>b=2</math>, <math>c=3</math>, and <math>a=1</math>, <math>b=3</math>, <math>c=5</math>. Then the two lines we get are: <cmath>x+2y=3</cmath> <cmath>x+3y=5</cmath>
 
Use elimination to deduce <cmath>y = 2</cmath> and plug this into one of the previous line equations. We get <cmath>x+4 = 3 \Rightarrow x=-1</cmath> Thus the common point is <math>\boxed{\textbf{(A) } (-1,2)}</math>.
 
Use elimination to deduce <cmath>y = 2</cmath> and plug this into one of the previous line equations. We get <cmath>x+4 = 3 \Rightarrow x=-1</cmath> Thus the common point is <math>\boxed{\textbf{(A) } (-1,2)}</math>.
 
~IronicNinja
 
  
 
==Solution 2==
 
==Solution 2==

Revision as of 21:17, 17 February 2019

Problem

All lines with equation $ax+by=c$ such that $a,b,c$ form an arithmetic progression pass through a common point. What are the coordinates of that point?

$\textbf{(A) } (-1,2) \qquad\textbf{(B) } (0,1) \qquad\textbf{(C) } (1,-2) \qquad\textbf{(D) } (1,0) \qquad\textbf{(E) } (1,2)$

Solution 1

If all lines satisfy the condition, then we can just plug in values for $a$, $b$, and $c$ that form an arithmetic progression. Let's use $a=1$, $b=2$, $c=3$, and $a=1$, $b=3$, $c=5$. Then the two lines we get are: \[x+2y=3\] \[x+3y=5\] Use elimination to deduce \[y = 2\] and plug this into one of the previous line equations. We get \[x+4 = 3 \Rightarrow x=-1\] Thus the common point is $\boxed{\textbf{(A) } (-1,2)}$.

Solution 2

We know that $a$, $b$, and $c$ form an arithmetic progression, so if the common difference is $d$, we can say $a,b,c = a, a+d, a+2d.$ Now we have $ax+ (a+d)y = a+2d$, and expanding gives $ax + ay + dy = a + 2d.$ Factoring gives $a(x+y-1)+d(y-2) = 0$. Since this must always be true (regardless of the values of $x$ and $y$), we must have $x+y-1 = 0$ and $y-2 = 0$, so $x,y = -1, 2,$ and the common point is $\boxed{\textbf{(A) } (-1,2)}$.

See Also

2019 AMC 10B (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 3
Followed by
Problem 5
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

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