2022 AMC 10A Problem 17

Attempt Problem 17 of the 2022 AMC 10A 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 2022 AMC 10A solutions, or check the answer key.

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17.

How many three-digit positive integers a b c\underline{a} \ \underline{b} \ \underline{c} are there whose nonzero digits a,a, b,b, and cc satisfy 0.a b c=13(0.a+0.b+0.c)?0.\overline{\underline{a}~\underline{b}~\underline{c}} = \dfrac{1}{3} (0.\overline{a} + 0.\overline{b} + 0.\overline{c})? (The bar indicates repetition, thus 0.a b c0.\overline{\underline{a}~\underline{b}~\underline{c}} is the infinite repeating decimal 0.a b c a b c 0.\underline{a}~\underline{b}~\underline{c}~\underline{a}~\underline{b}~\underline{c}~\cdots)

99

1010

1111

1313

1414

Answer: D
Concepts:repeating decimaldigitsDiophantine Equation
Difficulty rating: 1660
Solution:

The repeating decimals satisfy 0.abc=100a+10b+c999,0.a=a9,0.b=b9,0.c=c9. \begin{aligned} 0.\overline{\underline{a}\underline{b}\underline{c}}&=\frac{100a+10b+c}{999},\\ 0.\overline a&=\frac a9,\quad 0.\overline b=\frac b9,\\ 0.\overline c&=\frac c9. \end{aligned}

Substitution and multiplication by 999999 give 100a+10b+c=37(a+b+c),100a+10b+c=37(a+b+c), or 7a=3b+4c.7a=3b+4c.

For each a{1,2,,9},a\in\{1,2,\ldots,9\}, checking the nonzero digits b,cb,c in this linear equation gives (1,1,1),(2,2,2),(3,3,3),(4,4,4),(4,8,1),(5,1,8),(5,5,5),(5,9,2),(6,2,9),(6,6,6),(7,7,7),(8,8,8),(9,9,9). \begin{gathered} (1,1,1),(2,2,2),(3,3,3),\\ (4,4,4),(4,8,1),(5,1,8),\\ (5,5,5),(5,9,2),(6,2,9),\\ (6,6,6),(7,7,7),(8,8,8),\\ (9,9,9). \end{gathered} Thus there are 1313 integers.

Thus, D is the correct solution.

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