1976 AMC 12 Problem 29

Attempt Problem 29 of the 1976 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 1976 AMC 12 solutions, or check the answer key.

All problems are used with official legal permission of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA).

29.

Ann and Barbara were comparing their ages and found that Barbara is as old as Ann was when Barbara was as old as Ann had been when Barbara was half as old as Ann is. If the sum of their present ages is 4444 years, then Ann’s age is

2222

2424

2525

2626

2828

Answer: B
Concepts:ageslinear equationwork backwards
Difficulty rating: 1950
Small Hint:

Let Ann’s and Barbara’s present ages be xx and y,y, with x+y=44x+y=44

Big Hint:

Translate each “when” by subtracting the same elapsed time from both ages

Solution:

Let Ann’s and Barbara’s present ages be xx and y,y, and let their constant age difference be d=xy.d=x-y. At the first referenced time Ann was y,y, so Barbara was yd.y-d. At the earlier referenced time Ann was that age yd,y-d, so Barbara was y2d.y-2d. The final clause says this last age was x2.\frac{x}{2}. Hence y2(xy)=x2, y-2(x-y)=\frac{x}{2}, which gives 6y=5x.6y=5x. Together with x+y=44,x+y=44, this yields x=24x=24 and y=20.y=20.

Therefore, the correct answer is B.

← Problem 28#28
Full Exam

Problem 29 in Other Years

1950 AMC 12 · 1951 AMC 12 · 1952 AMC 12 · 1953 AMC 12 · 1954 AMC 12 · 1955 AMC 12 · 1956 AMC 12 · 1957 AMC 12 · 1958 AMC 12 · 1959 AMC 12 · 1960 AMC 12 · 1961 AMC 12 · 1962 AMC 12 · 1963 AMC 12 · 1964 AMC 12 · 1965 AMC 12 · 1966 AMC 12 · 1967 AMC 12 · 1968 AMC 12 · 1969 AMC 12 · 1970 AMC 12 · 1971 AMC 12 · 1972 AMC 12 · 1973 AMC 12 · 1974 AMC 12 · 1975 AMC 12 · 1977 AMC 12 · 1978 AMC 12 · 1979 AMC 12 · 1980 AMC 12 · 1981 AMC 12 · 1982 AMC 12 · 1983 AMC 12 · 1984 AMC 12 · 1985 AMC 12 · 1986 AMC 12 · 1987 AMC 12 · 1988 AMC 12 · 1989 AMC 12 · 1990 AMC 12 · 1991 AMC 12 · 1992 AMC 12 · 1993 AMC 12 · 1994 AMC 12 · 1995 AMC 12 · 1996 AMC 12 · 1997 AMC 12 · 1998 AMC 12 · 1999 AMC 12