1987 AJHSME Problems/Problem 21

Problem

Suppose $n^{*}$ means $\frac{1}{n}$ , the reciprocal of $n$ . For example, $5^{*}=\frac{1}{5}$ . How many of the following statements are true?

i) 
ii) 
iii) 
iv)

$\text{(A)}\ 0 \qquad \text{(B)}\ 1 \qquad \text{(C)}\ 2 \qquad \text{(D)}\ 3 \qquad \text{(E)}\ 4$

Solution

We can just test all of these statements: $\begin{align*} 3^*+6^* &= \frac{1}{3}+\frac{1}{6} \\ &= \frac{1}{2} \neq 9^* \\ 6^*-4^* &= \frac{1}{6}-\frac{1}{4} \\ &= \frac{-1}{12} \neq 2^* \\ 2^*\cdot 6^* &= \frac{1}{2}\cdot \frac{1}{6} \\ &= \frac{1}{12} = 12^* \\ 10^* \div 2^* &= \frac{1}{10}\div \frac{1}{2} \\ &= \frac{1}{5} = 5^* \end{align*}$

The last two statements are true and the first two aren't, so $\boxed{\text{C}}$

1987 AJHSME (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by Problem 20	Followed by Problem 22
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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1987 AJHSME Problems/Problem 21

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