2009 AMC 12B Problem 10

Attempt Problem 10 of the 2009 AMC 12B 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 2009 AMC 12B solutions, or check the answer key.

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10.

A particular 1212-hour digital clock displays the hour and minute of a day. Unfortunately, whenever it is supposed to display a 1,1, it mistakenly displays a 9.9. For example, when it is 1:16 pm the clock incorrectly shows 9:96 pm. What fraction of the day will the clock show the correct time?

12\dfrac{1}{2}

58\dfrac{5}{8}

34\dfrac{3}{4}

56\dfrac{5}{6}

910\dfrac{9}{10}

Answer: A
Concepts:digitscomplementary countingfraction
Difficulty rating: 1480
Solution:

The hours containing a 11 are 1,10,11,12,1, 10, 11, 12, so 88 of the 1212 hours display correctly, a fraction 23.\dfrac{2}{3}.

A minute is wrong if either digit is 11: the tens digit gives 10-1910\text{-}19 (1010 minutes), and the ones digit adds 01,21,31,41,5101, 21, 31, 41, 51 (55 more), 1515 in all. So 4560=34\dfrac{45}{60} = \dfrac{3}{4} of minutes are correct.

The fraction of the day is 2334=12.\dfrac{2}{3} \cdot \dfrac{3}{4} = \dfrac{1}{2}.

Thus, the correct answer is A.

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