Question

Alice, Bob, and Charlie were on a hike and were wondering how far away the nearest town was. When Alice said, "We are at least $6$ miles away," Bob replied, "We are at most $5$ miles away." Charlie then remarked, "Actually the nearest town is at most $4$ miles away." It turned out that none of the three statements was true. Let $d$ be the distance in miles to the nearest town. Which of the following intervals is the set of all possible values of $d?$

$(0,4)$

$(4,5)$

$(4,6)$

$(5,6)$

$(5,\infty)$

Solution:

Alice's statement tells us that $d \lt 6.$ Bob's statement tells us that $d \gt 5.$ Charlie's statement tells us that $d \gt 4.$

Combining all of these tells us that $5 \lt d$ and $d \lt 6,$ which means $d$ is in the interval $(5, 6).$

Thus, D is the correct answer.

2018 AMC 10A Problem 5

Solution:

Problem 5 in Other Years