2015 AMC 10A Problems
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1.
What is the value of
Answer: C
Difficulty rating: 560
Solution:
We can evaluate it as follows.
Thus, C is the correct answer.
2.
A box contains a collection of triangular and square tiles. There are tiles in the box, containing edges total. How many square tiles are there in the box?
Answer: D
Difficulty rating: 870
Solution:
Let be the number of triangular tiles and be the number of square tiles. We then have that and Multiplying the first equation by gives us and subtracting this from the other equation gives us
Thus, D is the correct answer.
3.
Ann made a -step staircase using toothpicks as shown in the figure. How many toothpicks does she need to add to complete a -step staircase?
Answer: D
Difficulty rating: 960
Solution:
Let us try to find a pattern between the number of toothpicks needed for the staircases.
For a -step staircase, we would only need toothpicks (just a square).
For a -step staircase, we would need toothpicks according to the diagram.
Similarly, we would need toothpicks for a -step staircase.
A -step staircase needs more toothpicks than a -step staircase. A -step staircase needs more toothpicks than a -step staircase.
Following this pattern, we can see that a -step staircase will need toothpicks, and a -step staircase will need toothpicks.
This means that Ann would need to add more toothpicks.
Thus, D is the correct answer.
4.
Pablo, Sofia, and Mia got some candy eggs at a party. Pablo had three times as many eggs as Sofia, and Sofia had twice as many eggs as Mia. Pablo decides to give some of his eggs to Sofia and Mia so that all three will have the same number of eggs. What fraction of his eggs should Pablo give to Sofia?
Answer: B
Difficulty rating: 1020
Solution:
Let be the number of candy eggs that Mia had. Then had eggs and had eggs.
The total number of eggs is then For all of them to have the same number of eggs, they each must have eggs.
Sofia needs more eggs. This means Pablo must give of his eggs to Sofia.
Thus, B is the correct answer.
5.
Mr. Patrick teaches math to students. He was grading tests and found that when he graded everyone's test except Payton's, the average grade for the class was After he graded Payton's test, the test average became What was Payton's score on the test?
Answer: E
Difficulty rating: 870
Solution:
The total for the first graded tests was .
After Payton's test was included, the total became . Therefore Payton's score was .
Thus, E is the correct answer.
6.
The sum of two positive numbers is times their difference. What is the ratio of the larger number to the smaller number?
Answer: B
Difficulty rating: 900
Solution:
Let and be the two numbers. Then we have that Note that we are assuming This gives us
Dividing through yields
Thus, B is the correct answer.
7.
How many terms are in the arithmetic sequence
Answer: B
Difficulty rating: 870
Solution:
Recall that the th term of an arithmetic sequence is where is the first term and is the common difference.
For us, and Plugging these in, we get that Thus, B is the correct answer.
8.
Two years ago Pete was three times as old as his cousin Claire. Two years before that, Pete was four times as old as Claire. In how many years will the ratio of their ages be
Answer: B
Difficulty rating: 1280
Solution:
Let and be Pete's and Claire's current ages respectively.
Then we have that and Simplifying both equations gives us and Setting them equal, we have
This means that
Now, we need to find the number of years () until which gives us Thus, B is the correct answer.
9.
Two right circular cylinders have the same volume. The radius of the second cylinder is more than the radius of the first. What is the relationship between the heights of the two cylinders?
The second height is less than the first.
The first height is more than the second.
The second height is less than the first.
The first height is more than the second.
The second height is of the first.
Answer: D
Difficulty rating: 1220
Solution:
Let and be the radius and height of the first cylinder and similarly define and for the second cylinder.
We know that and
Substituting and simplifying gives us which tells us that
Thus, D is the correct answer.
10.
How many rearrangements of are there in which no two adjacent letters are also adjacent letters in the alphabet? For example, no such rearrangements could include either or
Answer: C
Difficulty rating: 1370
Solution:
The forbidden adjacent pairs are
If an arrangement starts with its second letter must be or
After either remaining order contains or After the remaining and must be adjacent. Thus no valid arrangement starts with
By symmetry, no valid arrangement starts with
If an arrangement starts with it must continue with then then giving
Similarly, starting with gives only Therefore there are valid rearrangements.
Thus, C is the correct answer.
11.
The ratio of the length to the width of a rectangle is If the rectangle has diagonal of length then the area may be expressed as for some constant What is
Answer: C
Difficulty rating: 1070
Solution:
Let the side lengths be and Then the diagonal has length
The area of the rectangle is Then we get that
Thus, C is the correct answer.
12.
Points and are distinct points on the graph of What is
Answer: C
Difficulty rating: 1140
Solution:
Substitute . Then and , so the equation becomes
Hence , giving the two possible values and . Their distance is .
Thus, C is the correct answer.
13.
Claudia has coins, each of which is a -cent coin or a -cent coin. There are exactly different values that can be obtained as combinations of one or more of his coins. How many -cent coins does Claudia have?
Answer: C
Difficulty rating: 1480
Solution:
Let the number of -cent coins be and the number of -cent coins be
Then we have that any multiple of between and can be achieved by a combination of coins.
There are such multiples of which means that to get possible different values.
The number of -cent coins is therefore
Thus, C is the correct answer.
14.
The diagram below shows the circular face of a clock with radius cm and a circular disk with radius cm externally tangent to the clock face at o' clock. The disk has an arrow painted on it, initially pointing in the upward vertical direction. Let the disk roll clockwise around the clock face. At what point on the clock face will the disk be tangent when the arrow is next pointing in the upward vertical direction?
o' clock
o' clock
o' clock
o' clock
o' clock
Answer: C
Difficulty rating: 1790
Solution:
The disk of radius rolls externally around the clock face of radius . If the point of tangency moves through central angle around the clock, the disk rotates through relative to its original direction.
The arrow next points upward when is a positive multiple of . The first time this happens is , which is one-third of the way around the clock from 12 o'clock, namely 4 o'clock.
Thus, C is the correct answer.
15.
Consider the set of all fractions where and are relatively prime positive integers. How many of these fractions have the property that if both numerator and denominator are increased by the value of the fraction is increased by
Answer: B
Difficulty rating: 1860
Solution:
The condition is Cross-multiplying gives , or .
Factoring by grouping after subtracting gives Since are positive, the useful negative factor pairs are , , and , producing .
Only has relatively prime numerator and denominator, so exactly one fraction works.
Thus, B is the correct answer.
16.
If we have that and what is the value of
Answer: B
Difficulty rating: 1420
Solution:
Adding the two equations gives us We can rearrange this equation to get We can then subtract them to get Once again rearranging, we can find We have that which means that we can divide both sides by This gives us
Thus, B is the correct answer.
17.
A line that passes through the origin intersects both the line and the line The three lines create an equilateral triangle. What is the perimeter of the triangle?
Answer: D
Difficulty rating: 1540
Solution:
Since one of the sides of the equilateral triangle is a vertical line, the line of symmetry perpendicular to this side must be horizontal.
This means that the slope of the third side must be opposite the slope of the second side, which would be
To find the perimeter, we only need to find the length of one of the sides of the triangle.
We can plug in into the two other equations to get the two vertices on the vertical line.
The two -values are and Their difference is which makes the perimeter Thus, D is the correct answer.
18.
Hexadecimal (base-16) numbers are written using numeric digits through as well as the letters through to represent through Among the first positive integers, there are whose hexadecimal representation contains only numeric digits. What is the sum of the digits of
Answer: E
Difficulty rating: 1660
Solution:
Note that converted to hexadecimal is Now we need to count the number of numbers that have only numerical digits in their hexadecimal.
The first digit can be or The second and third digits can be any number from This gives us numbers. This, however, includes which is not a positive integer so we have to subtract one.
The sum of the digits in is
Thus, E is the correct answer.
19.
The isosceles right triangle has right angle at and area The rays trisecting intersect at and What is the area of
Answer: D
Difficulty rating: 1880
Solution:
Since is isosceles right with area , its legs have length . The trisectors make and , so and have equal area.
Drop a perpendicular from to with foot Since lies on and is isosceles right. Let Then and the angle gives Thus , so .
Therefore Subtracting the two congruent corner triangles from ,
Thus, D is the correct answer.
20.
A rectangle with positive integer side lengths in has area and perimeter Which of the following numbers cannot equal
Answer: B
Difficulty rating: 1540
Solution:
Let the side lengths be positive integers and . Then Hence must factor into two integers both at least .
The answer choices plus are . All except have a factorization with both factors at least : But , so it cannot equal .
Thus, B is the correct answer.
21.
Tetrahedron has and What is the volume of the tetrahedron?
Answer: C
Difficulty rating: 2010
Solution:
We claim that triangles and are perpendicular to each other.
We can show this be dropping the altitudes from to and from to in each triangle.
Since and we have that the feet of these altitudes will coincide at point
Then we have that We then have that which shows that is an isosceles right triangle.
This proves the above claim. Finally, the volume of the tetrahedron is
Thus, C is the correct answer.
22.
Eight people are sitting around a circular table, each holding a fair coin. All eight people flip their coins and those who flip heads stand while those who flip tails remain seated. What is the probability that no two adjacent people will stand?
Answer: A
Difficulty rating: 1970
Solution:
Count the possible sets of people who stand. For and people standing, there are and possibilities.
For people standing, choose any pair and subtract the adjacent pairs: .
For people standing, first choose one standing person. Among the remaining five non-neighbor seats, pairs are possible, but of those pairs are adjacent, leaving . This counts each final set three times, so there are possibilities.
For people standing, the only possibilities are the two alternating sets. Thus the number of favorable coin-flip outcomes is . Since all outcomes are equally likely, the probability is .
Thus, A is the correct answer.
23.
The zeroes of the function are integers. What is the sum of the possible values of
Answer: C
Difficulty rating: 1660
Solution:
Let the zeroes be and Using Vieta's formulas, we have that and
Then we get that which rearranges to
The only possible pairs that work are For any of these pairs, we have that We want all the such unique values of We get that they are The sum of these values is
Thus, C is the correct answer.
24.
For some positive integers there is a quadrilateral with positive integer side lengths, perimeter right angles at and and How many different values of are possible?
Answer: B
Difficulty rating: 2300
Solution:
Let and . Dropping the altitude from to gives a right triangle with legs and , and hypotenuse . Therefore so .
Since is an integer, write . Then , and the perimeter is
We need , or . This holds for , while is too large. Thus there are possible perimeters.
Thus, B is the correct answer.
25.
Let be a square of side length Two points are chosen independently at random on the sides of The probability that the straight-line distance between the points is at least is where and are positive integers with What is
Answer: A
Difficulty rating: 2390
Solution:
Fix one of the two points. The second point is on the same side with probability , on an adjacent side with probability , and on the opposite side with probability .
On the same side, two coordinates are at distance at least when . This region consists of two right triangles with total area .
On adjacent sides, the distance has the form . The failing region is a quarter circle of radius , so the success probability is .
On opposite sides, the distance is always at least , so the success probability is . Therefore the desired probability is Hence .
Thus, A is the correct answer.