2008 AMC 12B Problem 5

Below is the professionally curated solution for Problem 5 of the 2008 AMC 12B, from LIVE by Po-Shen Loh. You can also try the full timed exam, view all 2008 AMC 12B solutions, or check the answer key.

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Concepts:Diophantine Equationparity

Difficulty rating: 1270

5.

A class collects $50\$50 to buy flowers for a classmate who is in the hospital. Roses cost $3\$3 each, and carnations cost $2\$2 each. No other flowers are to be used. How many different bouquets could be purchased for exactly $50?\$50?

11

77

99

1616

1717

Solution:

Let rr be the number of roses and cc the number of carnations, so 3r+2c=503r + 2c = 50 with r,c0.r, c \ge 0.

Because 2c2c and 5050 are even, 3r3r must be even, forcing rr to be even. The largest possible rr is 1616 (since 317>503 \cdot 17 \gt 50), so r{0,2,4,,16}.r \in \{0, 2, 4, \ldots, 16\}.

That gives 99 values of r,r, each determining a bouquet.

Thus, the correct answer is C.

Problem 5 in Other Years