2017 AMC 10A Problems/Problem 4

Problem

Mia is "helping" her mom pick up $30$ toys that are strewn on the floor. Mia’s mom manages to put $3$ toys into the toy box every $30$ seconds, but each time immediately after those $30$ seconds have elapsed, Mia takes $2$ toys out of the box. How much time, in minutes, will it take Mia and her mom to put all $30$ toys into the box for the first time?

$\textbf{(A)}\ 13.5\qquad\textbf{(B)}\ 14\qquad\textbf{(C)}\ 14.5\qquad\textbf{(D)}\ 15\qquad\textbf{(E)}\ 15.5$

Solution

Every $30$ seconds, $3$ toys are put in the box and $2$ toys are taken out, so the number of toys in the box increases by $3-2=1$ every $30$ seconds. Then after $27 \times 30 = 810$ seconds (or $13 \frac{1}{2}$ minutes), there are $27$ toys in the box. Mia's mom will then put the remaining $3$ toys into the box after $30$ more seconds, so the total time taken is $27\times 30+30=840$ seconds, or $\boxed{(\textbf{B})\ 14}$ minutes.

Note: During the last time Mia's mom will complete picking up the 30 toys(before Mia can take 2 out) which is the reason that you calculate up to 27 and then the rest.

Video Solutions

https://youtu.be/str7kmcRMY8 -Video Solution by TheBeautyOfMath

https://youtu.be/1F0IB0y6578

~savannahsolver

2017 AMC 10A (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by Problem 3	Followed by Problem 5
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 10 Problems and Solutions

The problems on this page are copyrighted by the Mathematical Association of America's American Mathematics Competitions.

Page

Toolbox

Search

2017 AMC 10A Problems/Problem 4

Contents

Problem

Solution

Video Solutions

See also