2018 AMC 10A Problems/Problem 22

Let $a, b, c,$ and $d$ be positive integers such that $\gcd(a, b)=24$ , $\gcd(b, c)=36$ , $\gcd(c, d)=54$ , and $70<\gcd(d, a)<100$ . Which of the following must be a divisor of $a$ ?

$\textbf{(A)} \text{ 5} \qquad \textbf{(B)} \text{ 7} \qquad \textbf{(C)} \text{ 11} \qquad \textbf{(D)} \text{ 13} \qquad \textbf{(E)} \text{ 17}$

Solution 1

We can say that $a$ and $b$ 'have' $2^3 * 3$ , that $b$ and $c$ have $2^2 * 3^2$ , and that $c$ and $d$ have $3^3 * 2$ . Combining $1$ and $2$ yields $b$ has (at a minimum) $2^3 * 3^2$ , and thus $a$ has $2^3 * 3$ (and no more powers of $3$ because otherwise $gcd(a,b)$ would be different). In addition, $c$ has $3^3 * 2^2$ , and thus $d$ has $3^3 * 2$ (similar to $a$ , we see that $d$ cannot have any other powers of $2$ ). We now assume the simplest scenario, where $a = 2^3 * 3$ and $d = 3^3 * 2$ . According to this base case, we have $gcd(a, d) = 2 * 3 = 6$ . We want an extra factor between the two such that this number is between $70$ and $100$ , and this new factor cannot be divisible by $2$ or $3$ . Checking through, we see that $6 * 13$ is the only one that works. Therefore the answer is $\boxed{\textbf{(D) } 13}$

Solution by JohnHankock

Solution 2 (Better notation)

First off, note that $24$ , $36$ , and $54$ are all of the form $2^x\times3^y$ . The prime factorizations are $2^3\times 3^1$ , $2^2\times 3^2$ and $2^1\times 3^3$ , respectively. Now, let $a_2$ and $a_3$ be the number of times $2$ and $3$ go into $a$ ,respectively. Define $b_2$ , $b_3$ , $c_2$ , and $c_3$ similiarly. Now, translate the $lcm$ s into the following: $\min(a_2,b_2)=3$ $\min(a_3,b_3)=1$ $\min(b_2,c_2)=2$ $\min(b_3,c_3)=2$ $\min(a_2,c_2)=1$ $\min(a_3,c_3)=3$ .

(Unfinished) ~Rowechen Zhong

2018 AMC 10A (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by Problem 21	Followed by Problem 23
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2018 AMC 10A Problems/Problem 22

Solution 1

Solution 2 (Better notation)

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