AoPSWiki
Try our innovative online adaptive learning system, Alcumus.
Over 1100 problems and 60+ video lessons. FREE!

2008 AIME I Problems/Problem 3

From AoPSWiki

Problem

Ed and Sue bike at equal and constant rates. Similarly, they jog at equal and constant rates, and they swim at equal and constant rates. Ed covers 74 kilometers after biking for 2 hours, jogging for 3 hours, and swimming for 4 hours, while Sue covers 91 kilometers after jogging for 2 hours, swimming for 3 hours, and biking for 4 hours. Their biking, jogging, and swimming rates are all whole numbers of kilometers per hour. Find the sum of the squares of Ed's biking, jogging, and swimming rates.

Contents

Solution

Solution 1

Let the biking rate be b, swimming rate be s, jogging rate be j, all in km/h.

We have 2b + 3j + 4s = 74,2j + 3s + 4b = 91. Subtracting the second from twice the first gives 4j + 5s = 57. Mod 4, we need s\equiv1\pmod{4}. Thus, (j,s) = (13,1),(8,5),(3,9).

(13,1) and (3,9) give non-integral b, but (8,5) gives b = 15. Thus, our answer is 15^{2} + 8^{2} + 5^{2} = \boxed{314}.

Solution 2

Let b, j, and s be the biking, jogging, and swimming rates of the two people. Hence, 2b + 3j + 4s = 74 and 4b + 2j + 3s = 91. Subtracting gives us that 2b - j - s = 17. Adding three times this to the first equation gives that 8b + s = 125\implies b\le 15. Adding four times the previous equation to the first given one gives us that 10b - j = 142\implies b > 14\implies b\ge 15. This gives us that b = 15, and then j = 8 and s = 5. Therefore, b^2 + s^2 + j^2 = 225 + 64 + 25 = \boxed{314}.

See also

2008 AIME I (ProblemsResources)
Preceded by
Problem 2
Followed by
Problem 4
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Want to learn how to tackle those tough AMC/AIME/Olympiad counting and probability problems? Check out Art of Problem Solving's Intermediate Counting & Probability by David Patrick.
© Copyright 2008 AoPS Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. • FoundationPrivacyContact Us