2019 AMC 10B Exam Problems
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All of the real AMC 8 and AMC 10 problems in our complete solution collection are used with official permission of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA).
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1.
Alicia had two containers. The first was full of water and the second was empty. She poured all the water from the first container into the second container, at which point the second container was full of water. What is the ratio of the volume of the first container to the volume of the second container?
Answer: D
Solution:
The ratio is equal to the ratio of the recipricols of how much they are filled. This makes the ratio
Thus, the answer is D.
2.
Consider the statement, "If is not prime, then is prime." Which of the following values of is a counterexample to this statement?
Answer: E
Solution:
We need to not be prime, so can only be Then, must be not prime, leaving just
Thus, the answer is E.
3.
In a high school with students, of the seniors play a musical instrument, while of the non-seniors do not play a musical instrument. In all, of the students do not play a musical instrument. How many non-seniors play a musical instrument?
Answer: B
Solution:
Let the number of seniors be Then, people aren't seniors. We know of seniors don't play an instrument. Then, the number of students who don't play an instrument can be represented as and Thus, This makes the number of non-seniors equal to Since of non seniors play instruments, we have the total number as
Thus, the answer is B.
4.
All lines with equation such that form an arithmetic progression pass through a common point. What are the coordinates of that point?
Answer: A
Solution:
Let
Then, we have Thus, If we match the parts of and we get and for all Therefore, we have implying that This makes the pair
Thus, the answer is A.
5.
Triangle lies in the first quadrant. Points and are reflected across the line to points and respectively. Assume that none of the vertices of the triangle lie on the line Which of the following statements is not always true?
Triangle lies in the first quadrant.
Triangles and have the same area.
The slope of line is
The slopes of lines and are the same.
Lines and are perpendicular to each other.
Answer: E
Solution:
Choice A must be true since the reflection of the first quadrant is itself, so anything inside stays inside after a reflection.
Choice B must be true as a reflection keeps the same area.
Choice C must be true as a reflection will have a perpendicular slope to the line its reflected about, so its slope is
Choice D must be true as they both have the slope of
Choice E can be false as if then and its reflection both have slope making them parallel. Therefore, they can be not perpendicular.
Thus, the answer is E.
6.
A positive integer satisfies the equation What is the sum of the digits of
Answer: C
Solution:
We can rewrite the left side as so Therefore, so The sum of its digits is
Thus, the answer is C.
7.
Each piece of candy in a store costs a whole number of cents. Casper has exactly enough money to buy either pieces of red candy, pieces of green candy, pieces of blue candy, or pieces of purple candy. A piece of purple candy costs cents. What is the smallest possible value of
Answer: B
Solution:
Let the number of cents she has be Then, is a multiple of and Thus, it must be a multiple of
Let for some Also, so making Since is a whole number, the minimum possible value of is
Thus, the answer is B.
8.
The figure below shows a square and four equilateral triangles, with each triangle having a side lying on a side of the square, such that each triangle has side length and the third vertices of the triangles meet at the center of the square. The region inside the square but outside the triangles is shaded. What is the area of the shaded region?
Answer: B
Solution:
The altitude of the triangle is using triangles, so the total base is The total amount of the base on each side that isn't in the white region is so the amount from each triangle is
This makes total triangles with base and altitude so the combined area is
Thus, the answer is B.
9.
The function is defined by for all real numbers where denotes the greatest integer less than or equal to the real number What is the range of
The set of nonpositive integers
The set of nonnegative integers
Answer: A
Solution:
If was an integer, then
If was positive, then
Now, we must look at negative non-integers. If we have a negative non-integer, then would negate and then round down, while would round down then negate it, effectively negating it and rounding up.
The first one rounds down and the second one rounds up, the second one is larger than the first, making
Therefore, the range is
Thus, the answer is A.
10.
In a given plane, points and are units apart. How many points are there in the plane such that the perimeter of is units and the area of is square units?
Answer: A
Solution:
If the perimeter was then This means that their average is so either both of them are or at least one of them is less than
If the area was and the altitude from was then The altitude can't be less than a side, leaving However, this would also yield an altitude less than as neither nor are perpendicular with making the altitude less than the lengths of the legs.
This leaves no way to make such a triangle.
Thus, the answer is A.
11.
Two jars each contain the same number of marbles, and every marble is either blue or green. In Jar the ratio of blue to green marbles is and the ratio of blue to green marbles in Jar is There are green marbles in all. How many more blue marbles are in Jar than in Jar
Answer: A
Solution:
Let be the number of green marbles in Jar and let be the number of green marbles in Jar
Then, the total number of marbles is implying The only possible is making There are green marbles in Jar and green marbles in Jar Therefore, the difference is
Thus, the answer is A.
12.
What is the greatest possible sum of the digits in the base-seven representation of a positive integer less than
Answer: C
Solution:
First, Therefore, the th digit from the left is at most If that digit was and every other digit was maximized, then we get with a digit sum of If that digit was we can only have a sum greater than by making which is too large.
Therefore, the largest digit sum is
Thus, the answer is C.
13.
What is the sum of all real numbers for which the median of the numbers and is equal to the mean of those five numbers?
Answer: A
Solution:
Since there are numbers, the median rd largest numbers. That would be if if and if
In addition, the mean is equal to
If the mean is then so
If the mean is then so which isn't in the required range.
If the mean is then which isn't in the required range.
Therefore, the only possible is making the mean
Thus, the answer is A.
14.
The base-ten representation for is where and denote digits that are not given. What is
Answer: C
Solution:
We know is a multiple of and so its a multiple of Therefore,
We know it is a multiple of so its digit sum must be a multiple of As such, is a multiple of WIth this in mind, we know that leaving just and
We also know its a multiple of which means that when alternating between adding and subtracting digits, we get is a multiple of so
The only way to satisfy both is Their sum is
Thus, the answer is C.
15.
Right triangles and have areas of 1 and 2, respectively. A side of is congruent to a side of and a different side of is congruent to a different side of What is the square of the product of the lengths of the other (third) sides of and
Answer: A
Solution:
Let the congruent sides be such that None of the triangles can have hypotenues since
Then, in one triangle (say, ), we have side lengths and in we have Thus, the product of the other sides would be making its square
The area of the smaller triangle is and the area of the larger triangle is Thus, and That implies We can also get so
Therefore,
Thus, the answer is A.
16.
In with a right angle at point lies in the interior of and point lies in the interior of so that and the ratio What is the ratio
Answer: A
Solution:
Let From this, we get
Notice that so Thus, From the Pythagorean Theorem, we get Therefore, This makes
Now, we can get and Thus,
Thus, the answer is A.
17.
A red ball and a green ball are randomly and independently tossed into bins numbered with the positive integers so that for each ball, the probability that it is tossed into bin is for What is the probability that the red ball is tossed into a higher-numbered bin than the green ball?
Answer: C
Solution:
Given that at the two balls were tossed into seperate balls, the probability that ball in the higher-numbered bin is red is Thus we must find by complementary counting.
The probability that both balls are in bin is
The probability that they are both in the same bin is therefore Using the geometric sequence formula, we get this to be
Therefore, our answer is
Thus, the answer is C.
18.
Henry decides one morning to do a workout, and he walks of the way from his home to his gym. The gym is kilometers away from Henry's home. At that point, he changes his mind and walks of the way from where he is back toward home. When he reaches that point, he changes his mind again and walks of the distance from there back toward the gym. If Henry keeps changing his mind when he has walked of the distance toward either the gym or home from the point where he last changed his mind, he will get very close to walking back and forth between a point kilometers from home and a point kilometers from home. What is
Answer: C
Solution:
Suppose he starts miles from home and then goes in the direction of the gym before coming back. The current distance between him and the gym is so he would have a distance of miles from the gym after walking. This would put him miles from home.
Then, when he walks home, he becomes miles from home.
If Henry is at one of the points, then his position would remain the same, so As such, we know that Thus, one of the steady state points is miles from the house.
Using similar logic, but starting miles from the gym and then going home, and then to the gym, we get that another point is miles from the house.
Therefore, the points are and miles, so their diffence is miles.
Thus, correct answer is C.
19.
Let be the set of all positive integer divisors of How many numbers are the product of two distinct elements of
Answer: C
Solution:
First, note that
Therefore, any element of must be of the form with and
Suppose I have distinct with Then, Thus, This means that there are divisors. However, there are some divisors that can only exist if where
If then must be true.
If then must be true.
With any other value of we can have
Similar stucture holds for Thus, if then thus making
This means we have to eliminate choices, leaving
Thus, the answer is C.
20.
As shown in the figure, line segment is trisected by points and so that Three semicircles of radius and have their diameters on and are tangent to line at and respectively. A circle of radius has its center on The area of the region inside the circle but outside the three semicircles, shaded in the figure, can be expressed in the form where and are positive integers and and are relatively prime. What is
Answer: E
Solution:
Firstly, notice so the arc must have length Since the area under semicircles is equal to the area of the arc minus the area of that area is Then, the gray area above is a semicircle Finally, the gray area consists of four of the following shapes.
The squares have side length so it has area The quarter circle has area Therefore, the total amount of gray is We multiply this by since there are of these shapes, yielding an area of
The total area is This makes our answer
Thus, the answer is E.
21.
Debra flips a fair coin repeatedly, keeping track of how many heads and how many tails she has seen in total, until she gets either two heads in a row or two tails in a row, at which point she stops flipping. What is the probability that she gets two heads in a row but she sees a second tail before she sees a second head?
Answer: B
Solution:
If we flip heads first, then the only way to see the second tails before the next heads is with which ends without two heads.
Therefore, we must start with tails. Then we need a heads to ensure that we don't end on two tails, and then another tails to ensure a second tails is seen.
This means we must start as
Our sequence must also be alternating except the last two coins, or else there would be two consecutive flips that are the same causing it to stop. This means our sequence must be This means that there is exactly one sequence of size for all odd greater than each with a probability of Thus, the total probability is
Thus, the answer is B.
22.
Raashan, Sylvia, and Ted play the following game. Each starts with A bell rings every seconds, at which time each of the players who currently have money simultaneously chooses one of the other two players independently and at random and gives to that player. What is the probability that after the bell has rung times, each player will have
(For example, Raashan and Ted may each decide to give to Sylvia, and Sylvia may decide to give her dollar to Ted, at which point Raashan will have Sylvia will have and Ted will have and that is the end of the first round of play. In the second round Rashaan has no money to give, but Sylvia and Ted might choose each other to give their to, and the holdings will be the same at the end of the second round.)
Answer: B
Solution:
Suppose that they are sitting in a circle, where they can move the money clockwise or counterclockwise.
Also suppose that at some point, they each have one dollar. Then, they each get a dollar afterwards if they all send the dollar in the same direction. This has a probability of since there are directions and a probability of one half that they chose that direction. Otherwise, two people send it to the same person, which has a probability of
Suppose that we are at a point where one person has two dollars, one person has one dollar, and the other person has no money.
If the person with one dollar sends it to the person with two dollars, then after the person with two dollars sends money to someone, he has dollars still, and another person has one.
If both the person with one dollar and the person with two dollars send it to the other person, we will still have a configuration.
However, if the person with one dollar sends it to the person with no money and the person with two dollars sends it to the person with one dollar, we get a configuration. This happens with probability
Therefore, the only possible configurations are or and each has a probability that the next one is
As such, whatever the configuration is after rings, the probability of the next one being is
Thus, the answer is B.
23.
Points and lie on circle in the plane. Suppose that the tangent lines to at and intersect at a point on the -axis. What is the area of
Answer: C
Solution:
If the radius has radius and the distance to some point outside the circle is then the distance from the point to some tangent point must be making it a constant value. Therefore, it is equidistant from and so it must lie on its perpendicular bisector. The midpoint betweem and is and the slope between them is
Consequently, we know that the slope of the perpendicular bisector is Thus, the perpendicular bisector is on the line Thus, its intersection with the axis is
Now, one of the tangent lines has points and so their slope is Since the line perpendicular to this going through goes through the center, the center is the intersection of the lines and Using substitution, we get We then get Now, the radius is the distance from and which is This would simplify to
Therefore, the area is
Thus, the answer is C.
24.
Define a sequence recursively by and for all nonnegative integers Let be the least positive integer such that In which of the following intervals does lie?
Answer: C
Solution:
Let Then and we have to find the least such that
Also, so Thus, If then is less than and greater than making Thus, is between and so This means
To find the least we must put making
We can take the reciprocal, leaving
Since we know
Thus, As such,
Since by inspection, we know Therefore, Thus, Which implies
This means so is in the interval
Thus, the answer is C.
25.
How many sequences of s and s of length are there that begin with a end with a contain no two consecutive s, and contain no three consecutive s?
Answer: C
Solution:
Our sequence starts with a then has sequences of and in some order, where they each come after a
Let the number of be and let the number of be Then the number of terms in the sequence is making The only possible ordered pairs are Then, the number of ways to order them would be as there are ways to place the
Therefore, the total number of ways is
Thus, the answer is C.