1958 AHSME Problems/Problem 14

Problem

At a dance party a group of boys and girls exchange dances as follows: The first boy dances with $5$ girls, a second boy dances with $6$ girls, and so on, the last boy dancing with all the girls. If $b$ represents the number of boys and $g$ the number of girls, then:

$\textbf{(A)}\ b = g\qquad \textbf{(B)}\ b = \frac{g}{5}\qquad \textbf{(C)}\ b = g - 4\qquad \textbf{(D)}\ b = g - 5\qquad \\ \textbf{(E)}\ \text{It is impossible to determine a relation between }{b}\text{ and }{g}\text{ without knowing }{b + g.}$

Solution

After inspection, we notice a general pattern: the $nth$ boy dances with $n + 4$ girls. Since the last boy dances with all the girls, there must be four more girls than guys.

Therefore, the equation that relates them is $\fbox{(C) b = g - 4}$

1958 AHSC (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by Problem 13	Followed by Problem 15
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1958 AHSME Problems/Problem 14

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