2016 AMC 12B Problem 2

Below is the professionally curated solution for Problem 2 of the 2016 AMC 12B, from LIVE by Po-Shen Loh. You can also try the full timed exam, view all 2016 AMC 12B solutions, or check the answer key.

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Concepts:harmonic mean fraction estimation

Difficulty rating: 1020

The harmonic mean of two numbers can be computed as twice their product divided by their sum. The harmonic mean of $1$ and $2016$ is closest to which integer?

$2$

$45$

$504$

$1008$

$2015$

Solution:

The harmonic mean is $\dfrac{2\cdot1\cdot2016}{1+2016}=\dfrac{4032}{2017}.$ Since $\dfrac{2016}{2017}$ is very close to $1,$ this is just under $2,$ so the closest integer is $2.$

Thus, the correct answer is A.

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