2006 AMC 12A Problem 9

Attempt Problem 9 of the 2006 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 2006 AMC 12A solutions, or check the answer key.

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

9.

Oscar buys 1313 pencils and 33 erasers for $1.00.\$1.00. A pencil costs more than an eraser, and both items cost a whole number of cents. What is the total cost, in cents, of one pencil and one eraser?

1010

1212

1515

1818

2020

Answer: A
Concepts:Diophantine Equationdivisibility
Difficulty rating: 1430
Solution:

Let pp be a pencil's cost and ss the cost of one pencil plus one eraser, in cents. Then 13p+3e=3s+10p=100, 13p + 3e = 3s + 10p = 100, so 3s3s is a multiple of 1010 less than 100.100. Hence s{10,20,30},s \in \{10, 20, 30\}, with p=7,4,1p = 7, 4, 1 respectively.

Since a pencil costs more than an eraser, p>s2,p \gt \tfrac{s}{2}, which holds only for s=10s = 10 (pencil 7,7, eraser 33). So one pencil and one eraser cost 1010 cents.

Thus, the correct answer is A.

← Problem 8#8
Full Exam

Problem 9 in Other Years