2022 AMC 8 Problems/Problem 15
Problem
Laszlo went online to shop for black pepper and found thirty different black pepper options varying in weight and price, shown in the scatter plot below. In ounces, what is the weight of the pepper that offers the lowest price per ounce?
![[asy] //diagram by pog size(5.5cm); usepackage("mathptmx"); defaultpen(mediumgray*0.5+gray*0.5+linewidth(0.63)); add(grid(6,6)); label(scale(0.7)*"$1$", (1,-0.3), black); label(scale(0.7)*"$2$", (2,-0.3), black); label(scale(0.7)*"$3$", (3,-0.3), black); label(scale(0.7)*"$4$", (4,-0.3), black); label(scale(0.7)*"$5$", (5,-0.3), black); label(scale(0.7)*"$1$", (-0.3,1), black); label(scale(0.7)*"$2$", (-0.3,2), black); label(scale(0.7)*"$3$", (-0.3,3), black); label(scale(0.7)*"$4$", (-0.3,4), black); label(scale(0.7)*"$5$", (-0.3,5), black); label(scale(0.75)*rotate(90)*"Price (dollars)", (-1,3.2), black); label(scale(0.75)*"Weight (ounces)", (3.2,-1), black); dot((1,1.2),black); dot((1,1.7),black); dot((1,2),black); dot((1,2.8),black); dot((1.5,2.1),black); dot((1.5,3),black); dot((1.5,3.3),black); dot((1.5,3.75),black); dot((2,2),black); dot((2,2.9),black); dot((2,3),black); dot((2,4),black); dot((2,4.35),black); dot((2,4.8),black); dot((2.5,2.7),black); dot((2.5,3.7),black); dot((2.5,4.2),black); dot((2.5,4.4),black); dot((3,2.5),black); dot((3,3.4),black); dot((3,4.2),black); dot((3.5,3.8),black); dot((3.5,4.5),black); dot((3.5,4.8),black); dot((4,3.9),black); dot((4,5.1),black); dot((4.5,4.75),black); dot((4.5,5),black); dot((5,4.5),black); dot((5,5),black); [/asy]](http://latex.artofproblemsolving.com/7/d/7/7d71d9a640e769adf70fdb85c37de28767346517.png)
Solution
![[asy] //diagram by pog size(5.5cm); usepackage("mathptmx"); defaultpen(mediumgray*0.5+gray*0.5+linewidth(0.63)); add(grid(6,6)); label(scale(0.7)*"$1$", (1,-0.3), black); label(scale(0.7)*"$2$", (2,-0.3), black); label(scale(0.7)*"$3$", (3,-0.3), black); label(scale(0.7)*"$4$", (4,-0.3), black); label(scale(0.7)*"$5$", (5,-0.3), black); label(scale(0.7)*"$1$", (-0.3,1), black); label(scale(0.7)*"$2$", (-0.3,2), black); label(scale(0.7)*"$3$", (-0.3,3), black); label(scale(0.7)*"$4$", (-0.3,4), black); label(scale(0.7)*"$5$", (-0.3,5), black); label(scale(0.75)*rotate(90)*"Price (dollars)", (-1,3.2), black); label(scale(0.75)*"Weight (ounces)", (3.2,-1), black); dot((1,1.2),black); dot((1,1.7),black); dot((1,2),black); dot((1,2.8),black); dot((1.5,2.1),black); dot((1.5,3),black); dot((1.5,3.3),black); dot((1.5,3.75),black); dot((2,2),black); dot((2,2.9),black); dot((2,3),black); dot((2,4),black); dot((2,4.35),black); dot((2,4.8),black); dot((2.5,2.7),black); dot((2.5,3.7),black); dot((2.5,4.2),black); dot((2.5,4.4),black); dot((3,2.5),blue); dot((3,3.4),black); dot((3,4.2),black); dot((3.5,3.8),black); dot((3.5,4.5),black); dot((3.5,4.8),black); dot((4,3.9),black); dot((4,5.1),black); dot((4.5,4.75),black); dot((4.5,5),black); dot((5,4.5),black); dot((5,5),black); [/asy]](http://latex.artofproblemsolving.com/9/8/f/98fc63aa47313214b152ffb0e565fa7427fe2151.png)
We are looking for a black point, that when connected to the origin, yields the lowest slope. The slope represents the price per ounce. It is clearly the blue point, which can be found visually. Also, it is the only one with a price per once significantly less than 
. Finally, we see that the blue point is over the category with a weight of 
ounces.
~MathFun1000
See Also
| 2022 AMC 8 (Problems • Answer Key • Resources) | ||
| Preceded by Problem 14 |
Followed by Problem 16 | |
| 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 | ||
The problems on this page are copyrighted by the Mathematical Association of America's American Mathematics Competitions. 
