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2019 AMC 10A Problems/Problem 12

Revision as of 20:20, 17 February 2019 by Sevenoptimus (talk | contribs) (Cleaned up formatting)
The following problem is from both the 2019 AMC 10A #12 and 2019 AMC 12A #7, so both problems redirect to this page.

Problem

Melanie computes the mean $\mu$, the median $M$, and the modes of the $365$ values that are the dates in the months of $2019$. Thus her data consist of $12$ $1\text{s}$, $12$ $2\text{s}$, . . . , $12$ $28\text{s}$, $11$ $29\text{s}$, $11$ $30\text{s}$, and $7$ $31\text{s}$. Let $d$ be the median of the modes. Which of the following statements is true?

$\textbf{(A) } \mu < d < M \qquad\textbf{(B) } M < d < \mu \qquad\textbf{(C) } d = M =\mu \qquad\textbf{(D) } d < M < \mu \qquad\textbf{(E) } d < \mu < M$

Solution 1

First of all, $d$ obviously has to be smaller than $M$, since when calculating $M$, you must take into account the $29$s, $30$s, and $31$s. So we can eliminate $(B)$ and $(C)$. The median, $M$, is $16$, but the mean ($\mu$) must be smaller than $16$ since there are many fewer $29$s, $30$s, and $31$s. $d$ is less than $\mu$, because when calculating $\mu$, you include $29$, $30$, and $31$. Thus the answer is $\boxed{\textbf{(E) } d < \mu < M}$.

Solution 2

Notice that there are $365$ total entries, so the median has to be the $183\text{rd}$ one. Then, realize that $12 \cdot 15$ is $180$, so $16$ has to be the median (because $16$ is from $181$ to $192$). Then, look at the modes $(1-28)$ and realize that even if you have $12$ of each, the median of those remains the same and you have $14.5$. When trying to find the mean, you realize that the mean of the first $28$ is simply the same as the median of them, which is $14.5$. Then, when you see $29$'s, $30$'s, and $31$'s, you realize that the mean has to be higher. On the other hand, since there are fewer $29$'s, $30$'s, and $31$'s than the rest of the numbers, the mean has to be lower than $16$ (the median). Then, you compare those values and you get the answer, which is $\boxed{\textbf{(E)}}$.

Solution 3 (Calculating)

Calculate each of the values. The values should be $M=16$, $d=14.5$, $\mu \approx 15.7\implies\boxed{\textbf{(E)}}$.

See Also

2019 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
All AMC 10 Problems and Solutions
2019 AMC 12A (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
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

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