Art of Problem Solving

2025 AMC 12A Problems/Problem 17: Difference between revisions

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The polynomial <imath>(z+i)(z+2i)(z+3i) + 10</imath> has three roots in the complex plane. What is the area of the triangle formed by these roots?
The polynomial <imath>(z + i)(z + 2i)(z + 3i) + 10</imath> has three roots in the complex plane, where <imath>i = \sqrt{-1}</imath>. What is the area of the triangle formed by these three roots?


<imath>\textbf{(A)}~6 \qquad \textbf{(B)}~8 \qquad \textbf{(C)}~10 \qquad \textbf{(D)}~12 \qquad \textbf{(E)}~14</imath>
==Solution 1 (Symmetry)==
==Solution 1 (Symmetry)==
Let <imath>w</imath> be a complex number such that <imath>w=z+2i,</imath> then we can change our polynomial to the following,
Let <imath>w</imath> be a complex number such that <imath>w=z+2i,</imath> then we can change our polynomial to the following,

Revision as of 17:07, 6 November 2025

The polynomial $(z + i)(z + 2i)(z + 3i) + 10$ has three roots in the complex plane, where $i = \sqrt{-1}$. What is the area of the triangle formed by these three roots?

$\textbf{(A)}~6 \qquad \textbf{(B)}~8 \qquad \textbf{(C)}~10 \qquad \textbf{(D)}~12 \qquad \textbf{(E)}~14$

Solution 1 (Symmetry)

Let $w$ be a complex number such that $w=z+2i,$ then we can change our polynomial to the following, \[(z+i)(z+2i)(z+3i) + 10 = (c-i)(c)(c+i)+10 = c^3 +c+10 = 0.\] Notice $c = -2$ is a root, and from this we get a quadratic and find the the possible values of $c = -2, 1\pm 2i.$


Now we simply subtract $2i$ from each root to get the roots to be $z = -2-2i, 1 + 0i,$ and $1 - 4i.$


Moving back to the coordinate plane our points are $(-2,-2), (1,-4),$ and $(1,0),$ and using shoelace gives us an area of $\boxed{6,\textbf{A.}}$


~mathkiddus

See Also

2025 AMC 12A (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
16
Followed by
Problem 18
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 12 Problems and Solutions

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