2021 AMC 10B Spring Problem 25

Attempt Problem 25 of the 2021 AMC 10B Spring 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 2021 AMC 10B Spring solutions, or check the answer key.

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25.

Let SS be the set of lattice points in the coordinate plane, both of whose coordinates are integers between 11 and 30,30, inclusive. Exactly 300300 points in SS lie on or below a line with equation y=mx.y=mx. The possible values of mm lie in an interval of length ab,\frac ab, where aa and bb are relatively prime positive integers. What is a+b?a+b?

31 31

47 47

62 62

72 72

85 85

Answer: E
Concepts:lattice pointfloor and ceiling functions
Difficulty rating: 2390
Small Hint:

Near the relevant slopes, the number of points is x=130mx\sum_{x=1}^{30}\lfloor mx\rfloor

Big Hint:

Find the slope where the 300300th lattice-point ratio occurs and the next larger possible ratio

Solution:

For a fixed slope m,m, the number of points in SS on or below y=mxy=mx is

x=130mx,\sum_{x=1}^{30}\lfloor mx\rfloor,

for the slopes near the answer.

At m=23,m=\frac23, grouping x=3k+1,3k+2,3k+3x=3k+1,3k+2,3k+3 for k=0,1,,9k=0,1,\ldots,9 gives

2x3=2k, 2k+1, 2k+2,\lfloor \frac{2x}{3}\rfloor=2k,\ 2k+1, \ 2k+2,

whose sum over each block is 6k+3.6k+3. Thus the total is

k=09(6k+3)=270+30=300.\sum_{k=0}^9(6k+3)=270+30=300.

If m<23,m<\frac23, the ten points with ratios yx=23\frac{y}{x}=\frac{2}{3} are no longer counted, so the count is less than 300.300. Therefore the lower end is 23.\frac23.

The next possible ratio yx\frac{y}{x} greater than 23,\frac23, with 1x,y30,1\le x,y\le30, is minimized by checking xx modulo 3.3. The best candidates are

1928,2029,2130=710,\frac{19}{28},\qquad \frac{20}{29},\qquad \frac{21}{30}=\frac{7}{10},

and the smallest is 1928.\frac{19}{28}. Hence the interval length is

192823=184.\frac{19}{28}-\frac23=\frac1{84}.

Thus a+b=1+84=85.a+b=1+84=85.

Thus, the answer is E .

Problem 24#24
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