2011 AMC 12A Problem 2

Question

There are

5

coins placed flat on a table according to the figure. What is the order of the coins from top to bottom?

(C, A, E, D, B)

(C, A, D, E, B)

(C, D, E, A, B)

(C, E, A, D, B)

(C, E, D, A, B)

A coin whose outline is a complete, unbroken circle lies on top

At each overlap, the coin whose arc is drawn without interruption is the higher one

Coin

C

is drawn as a complete, unbroken circle, so nothing covers it and it lies on top.

Reading the remaining overlaps, each coin’s uncovered arc shows it sits above the next:

C

covers

E,

E

covers

D,

D

covers

B,

and

A

covers

B

while lying under the others. This gives the top-to-bottom order

(C, E, D, A, B).

Thus, the correct answer is E.

Problem 2 in other years