2003 AMC 12A Problem 7

Attempt Problem 7 of the 2003 AMC 12A 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 2003 AMC 12A solutions, or check the answer key.

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

7.

How many non-congruent triangles with perimeter 77 have integer side lengths?

11

22

33

44

55

Answer: B
Concepts:triangle inequalitypartitions and compositions
Difficulty rating: 1270
Solution:

Let the sides be abca\le b\le c with a+b+c=7.a+b+c=7. The triangle inequality requires c<a+b,c\lt a+b, so c<3.5,c\lt3.5, forcing c=3.c=3.

Then a+b=4a+b=4 with ab3,a\le b\le3, giving the triangles 1-3-31\text{-}3\text{-}3 and 2-2-3.2\text{-}2\text{-}3.

Thus, the correct answer is B.

← Problem 6#6
Full Exam

Problem 7 in Other Years