2001 AMC 12 Problem 10

Attempt Problem 10 of the 2001 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 2001 AMC 12 solutions, or check the answer key.

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10.

The plane is tiled by congruent squares and congruent pentagons as indicated. The percent of the plane that is enclosed by the pentagons is closest to

5050

5252

5454

5656

5858

Answer: D
Concepts:tilingareapercentage
Difficulty rating: 1480
Solution:

The pattern repeats over a 3×33 \times 3 block of nine unit squares. Four of these nine squares are not covered by pentagons; the rest of the area belongs to the pentagons.

So the pentagons enclose 149=59=55.55%, 1 - \dfrac{4}{9} = \dfrac{5}{9} = 55.5\overline{5}\%, which is closest to 56.56.

Thus, the correct answer is D.

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