2013 AIME I Problem 1

Attempt Problem 1 of the 2013 AIME I below, then check your answer against the professionally curated solution from LIVE by Po-Shen Loh. You can also try the full timed exam, view all 2013 AIME I solutions, or check the answer key.

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1.

The AIME Triathlon consists of a half-mile swim, a 3030-mile bicycle ride, and an eight-mile run. Tom swims, bicycles, and runs at constant rates. He runs five times as fast as he swims, and he bicycles twice as fast as he runs. Tom completes the AIME Triathlon in four and a quarter hours. How many minutes does he spend bicycling?

Answer: 150
Concepts:distance rate and timeratio and proportionunit conversion
Difficulty rating: 1840
Solution:

Let Tom's swimming speed be ss miles per hour. Then he runs at 5s5s and bicycles at 10s.10s. The total time in hours is 0.5s+3010s+85s=0.5+3+1.6s=5.1s=4.25, \begin{aligned} &\frac{0.5}{s} + \frac{30}{10s} + \frac{8}{5s} \\ &= \frac{0.5 + 3 + 1.6}{s} \\ &= \frac{5.1}{s} = 4.25, \end{aligned} so s=5.14.25=1.2s = \frac{5.1}{4.25} = 1.2 miles per hour.

He bicycles at 1212 miles per hour, so the ride takes 3012=2.5\frac{30}{12} = 2.5 hours, which is 150150 minutes.

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