Difference between revisions of "2007 AMC 12A Problems/Problem 7"

(wikify)
(Solution)
Line 8: Line 8:
  
 
* <math>a=c-2f</math>
 
* <math>a=c-2f</math>
* <math>b\displaystyle =c-f</math>
+
* <math>b=c-f</math>
* <math>c\displaystyle =c</math>
+
* <math>c=c</math>
* <math>d\displaystyle =c+f</math>
+
* <math>d=c+f</math>
 
* <math>e=c+2f</math>
 
* <math>e=c+2f</math>
<math>a+b+c+d+e=5c=30</math>, so <math>c=6</math>. But we can't find any more variables, because we don't know what <math>f</math> is. So the answer is <math>\textrm{A}</math>.
+
<math>a+b+c+d+e=5c=30</math>, so <math>c=6</math>. But we can't find any more variables, because we don't know what <math>f</math> is. So the answer is <math>\textrm{C}</math>.
  
 
==See also==
 
==See also==
 
{{AMC12 box|year=2007|num-b=6|num-a=8|ab=A}}
 
{{AMC12 box|year=2007|num-b=6|num-a=8|ab=A}}

Revision as of 11:05, 22 November 2007

Problem

Let $a, b, c, d$, and $e$ be five consecutive terms in an arithmetic sequence, and suppose that $a+b+c+d+e=30$. Which of $a, b, c, d,$ or $e$ can be found?

$\textrm{(A)} \ a\qquad \textrm{(B)}\ b\qquad \textrm{(C)}\ c\qquad \textrm{(D)}\ d\qquad \textrm{(E)}\ e$

Solution

Let $f$ be the common difference between the terms.

  • $a=c-2f$
  • $b=c-f$
  • $c=c$
  • $d=c+f$
  • $e=c+2f$

$a+b+c+d+e=5c=30$, so $c=6$. But we can't find any more variables, because we don't know what $f$ is. So the answer is $\textrm{C}$.

See also

2007 AMC 12A (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 6
Followed by
Problem 8
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