2005 AMC 8 Problems/Problem 24

Problem

A certain calculator has only two keys [+1] and [x2]. When you press one of the keys, the calculator automatically displays the result. For instance, if the calculator originally displayed "9" and you pressed [+1], it would display "10." If you then pressed [x2], it would display "20." Starting with the display "1," what is the fewest number of keystrokes you would need to reach "200"?

$\textbf{(A)}\ 8\qquad\textbf{(B)}\ 9\qquad\textbf{(C)}\ 10\qquad\textbf{(D)}\ 11\qquad\textbf{(E)}\ 12$

Solution 1 (Unrigorous)

We can start at $200$ and work our way down to $1$ . We want to press the button that multiplies by $2$ the most, but since we are going down instead of up, we divide by $2$ instead. If we come across an odd number, then we will subtract that number by $1$ . Notice

,  
,  
,
,  
,  
,  
,  
, 
.

Since we've reached $1$ , it's clear that the answer should be $\boxed{\textbf{(B)}\ 9}$ - $\boxed{\textbf{Javapost}}$ .

2005 AMC 8 (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by Problem 23	Followed by Problem 25
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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2005 AMC 8 Problems/Problem 24

Problem

Solution 1 (Unrigorous)

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