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2007 AMC 10B Problems/Problem 8

Revision as of 16:11, 25 March 2023 by Trex226 (talk | contribs) (→‎Solution)

Problem 8

On the trip home from the meeting where this AMC10 was constructed, the Contest Chair noted that his airport parking receipt had digits of the form $bbcac,$ where $0 \le a < b < c \le 9,$ and $b$ was the average of $a$ and $c.$ How many different five-digit numbers satisfy all these properties?

$\textbf{(A) } 12 \qquad\textbf{(B) } 16 \qquad\textbf{(C) } 18 \qquad\textbf{(D) } 20 \qquad\textbf{(E) } 25$

Solution

For the average, $b,$ to be an integer, $a$ and $c$ have to either both be odd or both be even. There are $\frac{5 \times 4}{2 \times 1} = 10$ ways to choose a set of two even numbers and $\frac{5 \times 4}{2 \times 1} = 10$ ways to choose a set of two odd numbers.

Therefore, the number of five-digit numbers that satisfy these properties is $10+10=\boxed{\textbf{(D) }20}$

Solution 2

Case $1$: The numbers are separated by $1$.

We start our pattern with $a=0, b=1,$ and $c=2$. Following this logic, the last set we can get is $a=7, b=8,$ and $c=9$. We have $8$ sets of numbers in this case.


Case $2$: The numbers are separated by $2$.

This case starts with $a=0, b=2,$ and $c=2$. It ends with $a=5, b=7,$ and $c=9$. There are $6$ sets of numbers in this case.


Case $3$: The numbers start with $a=0, b=3,$ and $c=6$. It ends with $a=3, b=6,$ and $c=9$. This case has $4$ sets of numbers.

It's pretty clear that there's a pattern: $8$ sets, $6$ sets, $4$ sets. The amount of sets per case decreases by $2$, so it's obvious Case $4$ has $2$ sets. The total amount of possible five-digit numbers is $8+6+4+2=\boxed{\textbf{(D)}\ 20}$.

See Also

2007 AMC 10B (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by
Problem 7 		Followed by
Problem 9
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

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