2023 AMC 10A Problems/Problem 12

Problem

How many three-digit positive integers $N$ satisfy the following properties?

The number $N$ is divisible by $7$ .

The number formed by reversing the digits of $N$ is divisible by $5$ .

$\textbf{(A) } 13 \qquad \textbf{(B) } 14 \qquad \textbf{(C) } 15 \qquad \textbf{(D) } 16 \qquad \textbf{(E) } 17$

Solution 1

Multiples of $5$ will always end in $0$ or $5$ , and since the numbers have to be a three-digit numbers (otherwise it would be a two-digit number), it cannot start with 0, narrowing our choices to 3-digit numbers starting with $5$ . Since the numbers must be divisible by 7, all possibilities have to be in the range from $7 \cdot 72$ to $7 \cdot 85$ inclusive.

$85 - 72 + 1 = 14$ . $\boxed{\textbf{(B) } 14}$ .

One thing to note is the number 560. When it is flipped, you get 065, and no one actually writes it like this. This problem doesn't specify whether or not 560 is allowed.

~walmartbrian ~Shontai ~andliu766 ~andyluo ~ESAOPS

Solution 2 (solution 1 but more thorough)

Let $N=\overline{cab}=100c+10a+b.$ We know that $\overline{bac}$ is divisible by $5$ , so $c$ is either $0$ or $5$ . However, since $c$ is the first digit of the three-digit number $N$ , it can not be $0$ , so therefore, $c=5$ . Thus, $N=\overline{5ab}=500+10a+b.$ There are no further restrictions on digits $a$ and $b$ aside from $N$ being divisible by $7$ .

The smallest possible $N$ is $504$ . The next smallest $N$ is $511$ , then $518$ , and so on, all the way up to $595$ . Thus, our set of possible $N$ is $\{504,511,518,\dots,595\}$ . Dividing by $7$ for each of the terms will not affect the cardinality of this set, so we do so and get $\{72,73,74,\dots,85\}$ . We subtract $71$ from each of the terms, again leaving the cardinality unchanged. We end up with $\{1,2,3,\cdots,14\}$ , which has a cardinality of $14$ . Therefore, our answer is $\boxed{\textbf{(B) } 14.}$

~ Technodoggo

Solution 3 (modular arithmetic)

We first proceed as in the above solution, up to $N=500+10a+b$ . We then use modular arithmetic:

$\begin{align*} 0&\equiv N \:(\text{mod }7)\\ &\equiv500+10a+b\:(\text{mod }7)\\ &\equiv3+3a+b\:(\text{mod }7)\\ 3a+b&\equiv-3\:(\text{mod }7)\\ &\equiv4\:(\text{mod }7)\\ \end{align*}$

We know that $0\le a,b<10$ . We then look at each possible value of $a$ :

If $a=0$ , then $b$ must be $4$ .

If $a=1$ , then $b$ must be $1$ or $8$ .

If $a=2$ , then $b$ must be $5$ .

If $a=3$ , then $b$ must be $2$ or $9$ .

If $a=4$ , then $b$ must be $6$ .

If $a=5$ , then $b$ must be $3$ .

If $a=6$ , then $b$ must be $0$ or $7$ .

If $a=7$ , then $b$ must be $4$ .

If $a=8$ , then $b$ must be $1$ or $8$ .

If $a=9$ , then $b$ must be $5$ .

Each of these cases are unique, so there are a total of $1+2+1+2+1+1+2+1+2+1=\boxed{\textbf{(B) } 14.}$

~ Technodoggo

Solution 4

Initially, I thought of finding that there are $142$ such numbers divisible by $7$ since $1000$ divided by $7$ gives $142$ with a remainder. But it's not relevant!

The key point is that when reversed, the number must start with a $0$ or a $5$ based on the second restriction. But numbers can't start with a $0$ .

So the problem is simply counting the number of multiples of $7 in the 500$ s.

$7 \times 72 = 504$ , so the first multiple is $7 \times 72$ .

$7 times 85 = 595$ , so the last multiple is $7 times 85$ .

Now, we just have to count $7\times 72, 7\times 73, 7\times 74,\cdots, 7\times 85$ .

We have a set that numbers 85-71 = $\boxed{\textbf{(B) 14}}$

~Dilip ~boppitybop

Video Solution

https://youtu.be/UYHCNlRDZBo

~Steven Chen (Professor Chen Education Palace, www.professorchenedu.com)

2023 AMC 10A (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by Problem 11	Followed by Problem 13
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
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