2019 AMC 12A Problems/Problem 17

Problem

Let $s_k$ denote the sum of the $\textit{k}$ th powers of the roots of the polynomial $x^3-5x^2+8x-13$ . In particular, $s_0=3$ , $s_1=5$ , and $s_2=9$ . Let $a$ , $b$ , and $c$ be real numbers such that $s_{k+1} = a \, s_k + b \, s_{k-1} + c \, s_{k-2}$ for $k = 2$ , $3$ , $....$ What is $a+b+c$ ?

$\textbf{(A)} \; -6 \qquad \textbf{(B)} \; 0 \qquad \textbf{(C)} \; 6 \qquad \textbf{(D)} \; 10 \qquad \textbf{(E)} \; 26$

Solution 1

Applying Newton's Sums (see this link), we get the answer as $10$ .

Solution 2

Let $p, q$ , and $r$ be the roots of the polynomial. Then,

$p^3 - 5p^2 + 8p - 13 = 0$

$q^3 - 5q^2 + 8q - 13 = 0$

$r^3 - 5r^2 + 8r - 13 = 0$

Adding these three equations, we get

$(p^3 + q^3 + r^3) - 5(p^2 + q^2 + r^2) + 8(p + q + r) - 39 = 0$

$s_3 - 5s_2 + 8s_1 = 39$

$39$ can be written as $13s_0$ .

$s_3 = 5s_2 - 8s_1 + 13s_0$

We are given that $s_{k+1} = a \, s_k + b \, s_{k-1} + c \, s_{k-2}$ is satisfied for $k = 2$ , $3$ , $....$ , meaning it must be satisfied when $k = 2$ , giving us $s_3 = a \, s_2 + b \, s_1 + c \, s_0$ .

Therefore, $a = 5, b = -8$ , and $c = 13$ by matching coefficients.

$5 - 8 + 13 = \boxed{\textbf{(D)}10}$ .

Video Solution

For those who want a video solution: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAS_DbKmtzI

2019 AMC 12A (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
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All AMC 12 Problems and Solutions

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2019 AMC 12A Problems/Problem 17

Contents

Problem

Solution 1

Solution 2

Video Solution

See Also