OMMC 2024 MOCK AMC 10 Solutions

The OMMC Staff

November 2024
 SOLUTIONS

1. What is the value of

22 + 20
?
22 + 24

1 3 5 1 1
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)
4 10 16 3 2

1
Answer: (A) 4

4+1 5 1
Solution: The fraction simplifies to 4+16
= 20 = (A)
4

2. The positive integers are colored red, blue, and yellow so that 1 is red, 2 is blue, 3 is
yellow, 4 is red, 5 is blue, 6 is yellow, and this red-blue-yellow pattern continues infinitely.
What color could the sum of a red number and a blue number be?

(A) Red or Blue (B) Only Yellow (C) Yellow or Red (D) Yellow or Blue
(E) Any Color

Answer: (B) Only Yellow

Solution: Red numbers are 3k + 1 for some integer k, blue numbers are 3k + 2 for some
integer k, and yellow numbers are 3k for some integer k. Thus, the sum of the red
number 3a + 1 and 3b + 2 is 3a + 3b + 3 = 3(a + b + 1), which can be (B) Only Yellow .

3. Jared takes a positive integer and raises it to the 2024th power. How many possible
values are there for the last digit of the new number?

(A) 2 (B) 3 (C) 4 (D) 5 (E) 6

Answer: (C) 4
Solution 1: The last digit of the new number only depends on the last digit of the
original number. Suppose the last digit of Jared’s original number is a. The last digits of
a, a 2 , a 3 , a 4 , . . . repeat every four powers of a, so the last digit of a 2024 is the same as the
last digit of a 4 . The last digit of 04 is 0, the last digit of 14 , 34 , 74 , and 94 is 1, the last digit
of 54 is 5, and the last digit of 24 , 44 , 64 , and 84 is 6. Therefore, there are (C) 4 different
possible last digits.
 Solution 2: By Fermat’s Little Theorem, a 2024 ≡ 1 (mod 5) when 5 ∤ a and 0 when 5 | a.
Similarly, a 2024 ≡ 1 (mod 2) when 2 ∤ a and 0 when 2 | a. Therefore, by the Chinese
Remainder Theorem, there are 2 · 2 = (C) 4 different possible last digits.

4. Elise buys 1 raffle ticket for her school’s fundraiser. To determine the winner of the raffle,
a ticket is randomly selected among all raffle tickets purchased, and Elise wins the raffle
if her ticket is selected. If Elise had instead bought 100 raffle tickets, she would be 82
times more likely to win the raffle. What are Elise’s chances of winning the raffle if she
buys only 1 raffle ticket?
1 1 1 1 1
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)
492 451 428 420 361

1
Answer: (B) 451
Solution: Let x be the number of raffle tickets other than Elise’s. Then we have that
1 100
· 82 =
x +1 x + 100
=⇒ 41(x + 100) = 50(x + 1)
=⇒ 9x = 4050
=⇒ x = 450.

1 1
The answer is therefore x+1
= (B) .
451

5. The x-axis and the graphs of f (x) = 2 − x 2 and g (x) = −x 2 + 1 divide the coordinate plane
into how many regions?

(A) 7 (B) 8 (C) 9 (D) 10 (E) 11

Answer: (B) 8
Solution: Draw a diagram.

Since the parabolas never intersect, the total number of regions is (B) 8 .
6. What is the number of integral solutions to
¯ 2 ¯
¯ x − 16 ¯
¯ x ¯ ≤ 6?
¯ ¯

(A) 8 (B) 10 (C) 12 (D) 14 (E) 16

Answer: (D) 14
Solution: If x is a solution, then −x is also a solution because the left hand side remains
unchanged. Clearly, 0 is also not a solution. Therefore, each positive solution has a
corresponding negative solution. When x is positive, the inequality is equivalent to
|x 2 − 16| ≤ 6x. If x ≥ 4, then x 2 − 16 ≤ 6x implies x 2 − 6x − 16 = (x − 8)(x + 2) ≤ 0, so x ≤ 8. If
x ≤ 4, then 16 − x 2 ≤ 6x implies x 2 + 6x − 16 = (x + 8)(x − 2) ≥ 0, so x ≥ 2. This means that
the solution set for positive x is 2 ≤ x ≤ 8, which gives seven positive values of x. Thus,
the solution set for negative x is −8 ≤ x ≤ −2, which also gives seven negative values of x.
The total number of integral solutions is 7 + 7 = (D) 14 .

7. Aarav, Brian, and Corey are standing in a line on an empty field so that Aarav is 133
meters away from Brian and 397 meters away from Corey. Brian and Corey are told to
clap immediately after hearing Aarav clap once. After Aarav claps once, he hears two
claps from Brian and Corey, one 1.6 seconds after the other.
Which of the following is closest to the speed at which sound traveled during this
experiment, in meters per second?

(A) 330 (B) 335 (C) 340 (D) 345 (E) 350

Answer: (A) 330

Solution: After Aarav claps once, he hears the clap from Brian after sound travels
133 + 133 = 266 meters and hears the clap from Corey after sound travels 397 + 397 = 794
meters. Therefore sound traveled 794 − 266 = 528 meters in 1.6 seconds, which is a speed
of 528
1.6 = (A) 330 meters per second.

8. Rosemary has a peculiar analog clock that chimes when its hour and minute hands are
perpendicular to each other. Her clock currently displays the time 7:00 PM. The next
time her clock chimes occurs between x and (x + 1) minutes from now, where x is a
positive integer. What is x?

(A) 5 (B) 6 (C) 16 (D) 21 (E) 22

 Answer: (D) 21
Solution: Notice that every minute, the minute hand travels 6 degrees clockwise. The
hour hand makes one revolution in the time the minute hand makes 12, so it is 12 times
slower, traveling at 0.5 degrees clockwise per minute. This means that the angle between
the two hands changes by 5.5 degrees every minute. At 7 pm, the hour hand is 210
degrees clockwise from the minute hand. Therefore the amount of minutes required for
the hour hand to be 90 degrees clockwise from the minute hand is 210−90
11/2
= 240
11
9
= 21 + 11
which means x = (D) 21 .

9. Rectangle ABC D has side lengths AB = 14 and BC = 9. For some point P on side BC , the
circle with diameter AP is tangent to C D. If AP = m
n for relatively prime positive integers
m and n, what is m + n ?

(A) 139 (B) 141 (C) 143 (D) 145 (E) 147

Answer: (A) 139

Solution:

D M C

A B

The circle with diameter AP passes through B because ∠ AB P = 90◦ . Therefore, if a circle
passes through A and B and is tangent to C D, then it must be tangent to C D at M , the
midpoint of C D. By Power of a Point, C M 2 = C P · C B , so C P = 49
9
, which means
2 2
B P = 9 − 49 32 2 2 2 2 32 130 130
9 = 9 . Therefore, AP = AB + B P = 14 + 92 = 92 , so AP = 9 , and
m + n = 130 + 9 = (A) 139 .
10. In the addition
MO CK
A MC
+ 1 0
O MMC
the letters A, M , O, C , and K represent distinct digits between 0 and 9, inclusive. What is
the value of A?

(A) 5 (B) 6 (C) 7 (D) 8 (E) 9

Answer: (D) 8
Solution: Starting from the units digit, K +C + 0 = C , so K must equal 0. Now, the tens
digit implies C + M + 1 = M , so C = 9 and there is a carry. Now, we can rewrite this as
MO + A + 1 = OM , so 10M + O + A + 1 = 10O + M . This rearranges to 9M − 9O + A + 1 = 0,
which implies A + 1 is a multiple of 9, so A = (D) 8 .

x+y
11. Let λ(x, y) = 2 denote the average of x and y. What is

λ(1, λ(2, λ(3, λ(4, λ(5, . . . ) ) ) ) )?

3 5
(A) 1 (B) 2
(C) 2 (D) 2
(E) Infinity

Answer: (C) 2
x+y+2
Solution 1: Since λ(x + 1, y + 1) = 2
= λ(x, y) + 1, we get that
λ(2, λ(3, λ(4, λ(5, . . .)))) = 1 + λ(1, λ(2, λ(3, λ(4, . . .)))) since all of the numbers in the left
side are one more than the corresponding numbers in the right side. Therefore, if
x = λ(1, λ(2, λ(3, λ(4, . . .)))), then x = λ(1, x + 1), so x = x+2 2 , which means x = (C) 2 .
Solution 2: Rewrite the expression as

2+λ(3,...) 2+ 3+···
1 + λ(2, λ(3, . . .)) 1 + 2
1+ 2
2

= = ··· = .
2 2 2
This simplifies to
1 2 3 4
+ 2 + 3 + 4 +··· .
2 2 2 2
Using the geometric series formula twice, this can be written as
µ ¶ µ ¶
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
+ + + · · · + + + · · · + · · · = 1 + + + + · · · = (C) 2 .
2 4 8 4 8 2 4 8
12. Let x and y be positive integers such that y is a factor of 143x , and y has exactly x 2 + 143
positive factors. What is the sum of the digits of the sum of all possible values of x?

(A) 6 (B) 7 (C) 8 (D) 9 (E) 10

Answer: (B) 7
Solution: We must have that y = 11p · 13q where p, q ≤ x. Then y has (p + 1)(q + 1)
factors. If both p, q < x then (p + 1)(q + 1) ≤ x 2 < x 2 + 143. If p < x − 1 or q < x − 1 then
(p + 1)(q + 1) ≤ (x − 1)(x + 1) = x 2 − 1 < x 2 + 143. Therefore p and q are either x − 1 and x
in some order or are both x. In the first case we have that x 2 + x = x 2 + 143 → x = 143. In
the second case we have that x 2 + 2x + 1 = x 2 + 143 → x = 71. The sum of these
possibilities is 214 and the sum of the digits is (B) 7 .

13. Ana has a four digit number, and assigns each digit to one of the variables a, b, c, or d .
She notices that no matter how she assigns the digits to a, b, c, and d , the value of
ab + bc + cd + d a is always even. Given that Ana’s friend Bailey now selects a four digit
number at random, what is the probability his number also satisfies this property?
1 7 5 13 3
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)
2 12 8 18 4

5
Answer: (C) 8
Solution: We can first factor ab + bc + cd + d a to a(b + d ) + c(b + d ) = (a + c)(b + d ).
Notice that if exactly two of a, b, c, d are odd, and the other two digits are even, then
(odd + even)(odd + even) = odd, which doesn’t work. In any other case, we are
guaranteed to have either odd + odd or even + even as one of the two factors, causing
(a + c)(b + d ) to be guaranteed to be even.
Now, we can do complementary counting. There are 4 even values of a and five odd
values of a. The other three variables have 5 possible even or odd values. The number of
possibilities with a even and one of b, c, and d even is 3 · 5 · 53 , and the number of
possibilities with a odd and one of b, c, and d odd is 3 · 4 · 53 . Therefore, the probability
that two of a, b, c, d are even, and the other two are odd is

3 · 5 · 53 + 3 · 4 · 53 3
= .
9000 8

5
So, our answer is 1 − 38 = (C) .
8
p p p p p p
14. The maximum real solution to x + x − x − x = x is q , where p and q are
relatively prime positive integers. What is p + q?

(A) 5 (B) 7 (C) 8 (D) 9 (E) 10

 Answer: (B) 7
Solution: Squaring the equation gives
p p p p
q
(x + x) + (x − x) − 2 (x + x)(x − x) = x
p
x = 2 x2 − x
x 2 = 4x 2 − 4x
4
x= .
3

Therefore, p + q = (B) 7 .

15. A tromino is a polygon made up of 3 unit squares joined edge-to-edge. The two unique
trominoes are shown below. How many ways are there to place two (not necessarily
distinct) non-overlapping trominos in a 3 × 3 square grid?

(A) 44 (B) 48 (C) 52 (D) 56 (E) 60

Answer: (E) 60
Solution: Call the tromino on the left an L-tromino, and call the tromino on the right an
I-tromino. There are two main cases:

• There is an I-tromino. With two I-trominos, we have 2 × 32 = 6 cases. If we use one

¡¢

of each tromino, the I-tromino must be on the edge (so there are 4 ways to place it),
creating 8 options for the L-tromino. In total, there are 6 + 4 · 8 = 38 ways in this case.
• We use two L-trominos. If neither contain the center, there are only two ways. Now,
if the center of the square is the center of one L-tromino, there are 4 ways to
position this L-tromino and only one way for the other one. Finally, if the center of
the square is the end of an L-tromino, there are 8 ways to place this L-tromino and 2
ways to place the other one. In this case, there are a total of 2 + 4 · 1 + 8 · 2 = 22.

The final answer is 38 + 22 = (E) 60 .

16. Two circles are inscribed in triangle ABC as shown. If the radii of the circles are 1 and 4
and the bottom side of the triangle has length 10, what is the area of △ABC ?

B 10 C

184 188 196

(A) 60 (B) (C) (D) 64 (E)
3 3 3

184
Answer: (B) 3
Solution:

E
1 O

D
4
I

B 10 C

Let I be the center of the larger circle and let O be the center of the smaller circle. Let the
larger circle be tangent to AB at D, and let the smaller circle be tangent to AB at E . Then,
AO
OI = 4 + 1 = 5. Since △AEO ∼ △AD I , we get EO = DAII , so AO = AO+5
4 , which means
q¡
2
AO = 35 . Therefore, AD = 5 16 16 46
¢
2
3 + 5 − 4 = 3 . The perimeter of ABC is 3 + 10 = 3 , so the
184
area of ABC is the inradius times the semiperimeter, which is 4 · 46
3
= (B) .
3
17. Let the sequence (an ) satisfy a1 = 5 and

a1 + a2 + . . . + an = n 2 an

for all integers n > 1. What is a 25 ?

1 1 1
(A) (B) (C) (D) 625 (E) 1625
625 120 65

1
Answer: (C) 65
Solution 1: Write the equations for n = m and n = m + 1.

a1 + a2 + · · · + am = m 2 am
a 2 + a 2 + · · · + a m + a m+1 = (m + 1)2 a m+1 .

Subtracting the first equation from the second equation yields

m
a m+1 = (m + 1)2 a m+1 − m 2 a m and then rearranging yields a m+1 = m+2 a m . Therefore,

1 2 23 24
a 25 = 5 × × ×···× × .
3 4 25 26

5·1·2 1
This telescopes into the answer, 25·26
= (C) .
65
10
Solution 2: We claim that an = n(n+1) for all n ≥ 1. We will prove this by induction on n.
Base Case: n = 1
10
Then, a 1 = 5 = 1(2) .
Inductive Step:
Using the equation, we need to show
n 10 10
= n2
X
.
i =1 i (i + 1) n(n + 1)

10
Indeed, i (i +1)
= 10
i
− i10
+1
so the left hand side telescopes into

n 10
X 10 10 10n
− = 10 − = ,
i =1 i i +1 n +1 n +1

which is equal to the right hand side.

10 1
Therefore, we get that the answer is 25·26 = (C) .
65
©1
, 1 , . . . , 100
1
ª
18. Let A = 2 3
. For any subset S ⊆ A, let P (S) denote the product of the elements
of S. What is the sum of P (X ) over all subsets X of A with an even number of elements?
651 319 5051 51 20101
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)
1000 25 200 2 400
 5051
Answer: (C) 200
Solution: The expression 1 + 12 1 + 31 · · · 1 + 100
1
¡ ¢¡ ¢ ¡ ¢
includes the sum of P (X ) over all
subsets X of A because each term ¡ of the
¢ ¡ product
¢ ¡ is the ¢product of the elements of a
different subset of A. Similarly, 1 − 21 1 − 31 · · · 1 − 100
1
is the sum of P (X ) over even size
subsets minus sum of P (X ) over odd size subsets because the coefficient is negative
when an odd number of elements of X are present. Therefore, adding gives that the sum
of P (X ) over all even size subsets X is
µ ¶ µ ¶
1 3 4 101 1 2 99 1 101 1 5051
× ×···× + × ×···× = + = (C) .
2 2 3 100 2 3 100 2 2 100 200

19. 12 distinct mugs are each painted either red, white, blue, or yellow. Let n be the number
of ways to paint these mugs such that an odd number them are painted blue and an even
number of them are painted yellow. What is the remainder when n is divided by 5?

(A) 0 (B) 1 (C) 2 (D) 3 (E) 4

Answer: (E) 4
Solution: Consider all 412 possible ways to paint the mugs. Notice that half of them have
an odd total number of yellow and blue mugs, as after 11 mugs are painted half the
possibilities for the twelfth mug make the parity correct. In addition, out of the
remaining possibilities, by symmetry half of them will have an odd number of blue mugs
12
and an even number of yellow mugs. Therefore n = 44 = 411 , and modulo 5 this is
equivalent to (−1)11 ≡ −1 ≡ (E) 4 .

20. In the given cone, the diameter X Y of the base circle is 2 units.
p Point Z is positioned
directly above the center O of the base circle, such that ZO = 2. A point W lies on the
X W to W
circle such that the ratio of the arc lengths Ú Ú Y is 2:1. What is the shortest
distance between X and the line Z W ?

1 3 p p
(A) (B) (C) 3 (D) 2 (E) 2 2
2 2
 3
Answer: (B) 2
p
Solution: Note that X Z = Z W = W X = 3. Hence the distance from X to Z W is the
p 3
height of an equilateral triangle with side length 3, which is (B) .
2
21. Six distinct positive integers from 1 to 35 are chosen uniformly and independently at
random. Given that 1 is one of these six integers, and it is possible to place these integers
on the 6 vertices of a regular hexagon such that the 3 pairs of opposite vertices have the
same sum, what is the expected value of this common sum?
51 53 55 57 59
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)
2 2 2 2 2

57
Answer: (D) 2
Solution: Let the numbers be a < b < c < d < e < f . If we can pair them up to have the
same sum, these pairs must be a + f , b + e, and c + d .
Let the common sum be x. Since the smallest integer is 1, the largest integer must be
f = x − 1. We must count the number of ways to choose b, c, d , e such that
b + e = c + d = x and 1 < b < c < d < e < x − 1. The¥ number of unordered pairs of distinct
x−3
¦
integers 1 < m < n < x − 1 such that m + n = x is 2 , and (b, e) and (c, d ) correspond to
Ã¥ ¦!
x−3
2
two of these pairs, so we can choose the values of b, c, d , e inways. Note the
2
maximum value of x is 36. We can then compute the expected value as
Ã¥ ¦! Ã !
36 i −3 16
X
2
X i
i (4i + 7)
i =7 2 i =2 2
Ã¥ ¦! = Ã ! ,
36 i −3 16
X
2
X i
2
i =7 2 i =2 2
where the second sum can be derived à ! by Ãcombining
! Ãterms
! with the same combination in
i i +1 i
the initial sum. Note that (4i + 7) = 12 + 15 , so the numerator is
2 3 2
à à ! à !! à à ! à !! à ! à !
X16 i +1 i X16 i +1 i 18 17
12 + 15 = 12 + 15 = 12 + 15
i =2 3 2 i =2 3 2 4 3
à !
17
due to Hockey Stick. Also using Hockey Stick, the denominator is 2 . Therefore, the
3
answer is à ! à !
18 17
12 + 15
4 3 57
à ! = (D) .
17 2
2
3
 p p
3
p3 p
22. The sum of all real numbers a for which 2 + a + 2 − a is an integer can be written
p
as q , where p and q are relatively prime positive integers. What is p + q?

(A) 6 (B) 127 (C) 135 (D) 262 (E) 289

Answer: (D) 262

p
3 p p
3 p p
3
Solution: Set x = 2 + a, y = 2 − a and x + y = m, an integer. We know x y = 4 − a
and

4 = x3 + y 3
= (x + y)(x 2 − x y + y 2 )
p
= m 3 − 3m 4 − a
3

=⇒ (m 3 − 4)3 = 27m 3 (4 − a)
108m 3 − (m 3 − 4)3
=⇒ a = .
27m 3

We must have a > 0. Since x 3 + y 3 = (x + y)(x 2 − x y + y 2 ) > 0 and

¢2
x 2 − x y + y 2 = x − 12 y + 43 y 2 > 0, we must have x + y = m > 0. Therefore,
¡

108m 3 − (m 3 − 4)3 > 0, which simplifies to

m 9 − 12m 6 − 60m 3 − 64 = (m 3 − 16)(m 3 + 2)2 < 0.

Therefore, m 3 < 16, so m = 1 or m = 2.

If m = 2, then a = 100
27 , and if m = 1, then a = 5.
100
Therefore, the only possible values of a are 5 and 27
, so the sum is 5 + 100
27
= 235
27
, giving
the answer 235 + 27 = (D) 262 .

23. Let S be a (possibly empty) set chosen uniformly at random from the subsets of
{−3, −2, . . . , 3}. Define the function f as
X
f (x) = |x + a|
a∈S

for all real numbers x. What is the probability that the minimum value of f is attained at
x = 0? (If S is empty, f (x) = 0 for all real numbers x.)
29 31 33 35 37
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)
64 64 64 64 64
 35
Answer: (D) 64
¡2n+1¢
Solution: We will replace 3 with n and show that the answer is 4−n n
.
We claim that if |S| is odd then the minimum is achieved when x is the median of S,
while if |S| is even then the minimum is achieved when x is between the two middle
elements of S.
Let the elements of S be a 1 , a 2 , . . ., a m . Then,
m
X m
X
2 f (x) = 2|x + a i | = (|x + a i | + |x + a m+1−i |).
i =1 i =1

The function |x + a i | + |x + a m+1−i | has a minimum value at |a i − a m+1−i | when x is

between −a i and −a m+1−i , so f (x) is minimized when all of the terms in the sum are
minimized. When m is odd, this occurs only at x = −a m+1 , while if m is even, this occurs
2
only when x is between a m and a m +1 .
2 2

Now we will do casework on whether 0 ∈ S. If 0 ̸∈ S, then |S| must be even, so we need to

choose m numbers below 0 and m numbers above 0 for some 0 ≤ m ≤ n. By
Vandermonde, this equal to
à !2 à !
Xn n 2n
= .
m=0 m n

Now, suppose 0 ∈ S. If |S| is odd, then there must be an equal number ¡2nof¢ integers in S
greater than 0 and less than 0, so similarly to the first case, there are n ways to pick S.
Otherwise, for some 0 ≤ m ≤ n − 1, there are either m numbers below 0 and m + 1
numbers above 0, or there are m numbers above 0 and m + 1 numbers below 0. By
Vandermonde, this is equal to
à !à ! à !
n−1
X n n 2n
2 =2 .
m=0 m m − 1 n −1

Therefore, the probability is

à à ! à !! Ãà ! à !! à !
2n 2n 2n 2n 2n + 1
2−2n−1 2 +2 = 4−n + = 4−n .
n n −1 n n −1 n

35 ¡7 ¢
Evaluating for n = 3, we get that the probability is 4−3 . 3
= (D)
64
p ¦
24. For how many n ∈ {0, 1, 2, 3, 4} does the equivalence (3 + 2 2)x ≡ n (mod 5) have
¥

infinitely many positive integer solutions x?

(A) 1 (B) 2 (C) 3 (D) 4 (E) 5

 Answer: (D) 4
p p
Solution: Consider the quantity (3 + 2 2)x + (3 − 2 2)x , for any integer x. After
expanding each p out, the irrational terms cancel out, and we are left with an integer value.
Since 0 < 3 − 2 2 < 1, we must have that
p p p
⌊(3 + 2 2)x ⌋ = (3 + 2 2)x + (3 − 2 2)x − 1

for all positive

p integersp x. To find the set of possibilities for this mod 5, we note that
a x = (3 + 2 2)x + (3 − 2 2)x is a linear recurrence with characteristic polynomial
n 2 − 6n + 1, so a x = 6a x−1 − a x−2 . Taken mod 5, we get a 1 = 6 ≡ 1 (mod 5), a 2 = 34 ≡ 4
(mod 5), followed by the terms 3, 4, 1, 2, 1, 4, 3, 4, . . .. This gives four distinct values,
which does not change when we subtract one from everything. Thus the answer is
(D) 4 .

25. Let a, b, and c be pairwise relatively prime positive integers such that
a b c
+ +
b c 364
is an integer. What is the minimum possible value of a + b + c?

(A) 42 (B) 94 (C) 138 (D) 411 (E) 728

Answer: (C) 138

Solution 1: Let p ∈ {7, 13}. If p | c, then p ∤ b, so νp ( bc ) < 0 ≤ νp ( ba ), νp ( 364
c
). This means

a b c
µ ¶
νp + + < 0,
b c 364
a
a contradiction. Thus p ∤ c, which means that the denominator of b + bc must be divisible
by p, which means p | b, so 91 | b.
If b = 91, then we know
a 91 c
+ +
91 c 364
is an integer. If c is divisible by any prime p other than 2, 7, or 13, then the p-adic
valuation of the expression is negative, a contradiction. Thus, c is a power of 2.
c
If c = 1, then 364 is the only term with even denominator, impmossible. If c ≥ 4, then 91
c
is
the only term with even denominator, also impossible. Therefore, we must have c = 2.
a
For b = 91, it remains to find a such that 91 + 91
2
1
+ 182 is an integer. This is equivalent to
a 1 1 a 46
91 + 2 + 182 = 91 + 91 being an integer. This gives a = 45 as a valid answer. We can check
that 45, 91, and 2 are pairwise relatively prime, giving the answer of 45 + 91 + 2 = (C) 138 .
If b > 91, then we must have b ≥ 182, which cannot achieve the minimum sum.
Solution 2: Suppose p k | c for some prime power p k . Since gcd(b, c) = 1, p ∤ b, so p k
divides the denominator of bc but does not divide the denominator of ba . Therefore, p k
c
must divide the denominator of 364 , implying p 2k | 364. As 364 = 22 · 7 · 13, this means
that the only possible prime power dividing c is 2, so c = 1 or c = 2.
If c = 1, then ba + 364
1
is an integer, so b = 364 and a ≡ 363 (mod 364). This gives a
minimum possible value of a + b + c of 728 in this case.
If c = 2, then ba + b2 + 182
1
is an integer, and b is odd. Therefore, ba + 91
46
is an integer, so
b = 91 and a ≡ 45 (mod 91). This gives a minimum possible value of a + b + c of
45 + 91 + 2 = (C) 138 , which is the answer because (a, b, c) = (45, 91, 2) satisfies all of the
conditions.