1997 AJHSME Problems/Problem 14
Problem
There is a set of five positive integers whose average (mean) is 5, whose median is 5, and whose only mode is 8. What is the difference between the largest and smallest integers in the set?
Solution
When these numbers are ordered in ascending order, 5, the median, falls right in the middle, which is the third integer from the left. Since there is a unique mode of 8, both integers to the right of 5 must be 8s. Since the mean is 5, the sum of the integers is 25, which means the 2 leftmost integers have to sum to 4. 2 and 2 does not work because that would result in two modes. However, 1 and 3 does, and so our answer is 8-1=7. (D) 7
See also
| 1997 AJHSME (Problems • Answer Key • Resources) | ||
| Preceded by Problem 13 |
Followed by Problem 15 | |
| 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 AJHSME/AMC 8 Problems and Solutions | ||
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