1956 AMC 12 Problem 43

Attempt Problem 43 of the 1956 AMC 12 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 1956 AMC 12 solutions, or check the answer key.

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43.

The number of scalene triangles having all sides of integral lengths, and perimeter less than 1313 is:

11

22

33

44

1818

Answer: C
Concepts:integer trianglestriangle inequalityenumeration
Difficulty rating: 2030
Small Hint:

Order the distinct integer sides as a<b<ca\lt b\lt c and use a+b>ca+b\gt c

Big Hint:

List possibilities by the largest side; the perimeter bound leaves only small values of cc

Solution:

Write the distinct integer sides in increasing order. Checking the small possibilities under the triangle inequality and perimeter bound gives (2,3,4), (2,4,5),(3,4,5). \begin{aligned} &(2,3,4),\ (2,4,5),\\ &(3,4,5). \end{aligned} For c6,c\ge6, the smallest new scalene candidate satisfying a+b>ca+b\gt c is (3,4,6),(3,4,6), whose perimeter is already 13,13, and larger choices cannot qualify. Thus there are 33 triangles.

The correct answer is C.

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Problem 43 in Other Years

1950 AMC 12 · 1951 AMC 12 · 1952 AMC 12 · 1953 AMC 12 · 1954 AMC 12 · 1955 AMC 12 · 1957 AMC 12 · 1958 AMC 12 · 1959 AMC 12