Question

In the United States, coins have the following thicknesses: penny, $1.55$ mm; nickel, $1.95$ mm; dime, $1.35$ mm; quarter, $1.75$ mm. If a stack of these coins is exactly $14$ mm high, how many coins are in the stack?

$7$

$8$

$9$

$10$

$11$

Answer: B

Concepts:place value decimal bounding to limit cases

Difficulty rating: 1530

Solution:

Measure every thickness in hundredths of a millimeter. The four possible thicknesses are $135,155,175,195,$ all congruent to $15\pmod{20}.$ If the stack has $k$ coins and an integer height, its total in hundredths is divisible by $20,$ so $15k$ is divisible by $20.$ Therefore $k$ must be a multiple of $4.$

A stack of $4$ coins is at most $4(1.95) = 7.8$ mm, and a stack of $12$ coins is at least $12(1.35) = 16.2$ mm, so only $8$ coins can total $14$ mm.

Indeed, $8$ quarters give $8(1.75) = 14$ mm.

Thus, the correct answer is B.

2004 AMC 10B Problem 13

Answer: B

Difficulty rating: 1530

Solution:

Problem 13 in Other Years