2020 AMC 12A Exam Problems
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1.
Carlos took of a whole pie. Maria took one third of the remainder. What portion of the whole pie was left?
Answer: C
Difficulty rating: 840
Solution:
After Carlos takes the remaining portion is
Maria takes one third of this, namely leaving
Thus, C is the correct answer.
2.
The acronym AMC is shown in the rectangular grid below with grid lines spaced unit apart. In units, what is the sum of the lengths of the line segments that form the acronym AMC?
Answer: C
Difficulty rating: 1020
Solution:
Split each letter into its segments. The is a diagonal of length a vertical of length and a crossbar of length
The has two verticals of length and two diagonals of length each. The is three sides of length
The straight pieces total and the diagonal pieces total
The sum is
Thus, C is the correct answer.
3.
A driver travels for hours at miles per hour, during which her car gets miles per gallon of gasoline. She is paid per mile, and her only expense is gasoline at per gallon. What is her net rate of pay, in dollars per hour, after this expense?
Answer: E
Difficulty rating: 1130
Solution:
In hours she drives miles, earning
She uses gallons, costing
Her net earnings are so her rate is per hour.
Thus, E is the correct answer.
4.
How many -digit positive integers (that is, integers between and inclusive) having only even digits are divisible by
Answer: B
Difficulty rating: 1200
Solution:
To be divisible by the last digit is or and to be even it must be So the units digit is fixed.
The leading digit is a nonzero even digit: give choices. Each of the two middle digits is any even digit giving choices each.
The total is
Thus, B is the correct answer.
5.
The integers from to inclusive, can be arranged to form a -by- square in which the sum of the numbers in each row, the sum of the numbers in each column, and the sum of the numbers along each of the main diagonals are all the same. What is the value of this common sum?
Answer: C
Difficulty rating: 1130
Solution:
The sum of the integers is
The five rows each have the same sum and together account for the total, so each row sums to
Thus, C is the correct answer.
6.
In the plane figure shown below, of the unit squares have been shaded. What is the least number of additional unit squares that must be shaded so that the resulting figure has two lines of symmetry?
Answer: D
Difficulty rating: 1270
Solution:
For both symmetries, the lines must be the vertical and horizontal center lines of the -by- grid. Every shaded square then forces the squares obtained by reflecting it across each line.
The top square lies off-center, so its reflection group has squares, requiring more. The middle square sits on the central column, so its group has squares, requiring more. The bottom-right square again has a group of requiring more.
The least number of additional squares is
Thus, D is the correct answer.
7.
Seven cubes, whose volumes are and cubic units, are stacked vertically to form a tower in which the volumes of the cubes decrease from bottom to top. Except for the bottom cube, the bottom face of each cube lies completely on top of the cube below it. What is the total surface area of the tower (including the bottom) in square units?
Answer: B
Difficulty rating: 1340
Solution:
The side lengths are The four side faces of cube contribute so the vertical faces total
Viewed from directly above, every upward-facing horizontal patch projects onto the base without overlap, giving Viewed from below, the same is true, giving another
The total surface area is
Thus, B is the correct answer.
8.
What is the median of the following list of numbers?
Answer: C
Difficulty rating: 1440
Solution:
The median is the average of the th and st smallest values.
The perfect squares that are at most are (since and ), so there are of them.
Among the list, the numbers are the integers together with those squares, totaling
Thus the th value is and the st value is making the median
Thus, C is the correct answer.
9.
How many solutions does the equation have on the interval
Answer: E
Difficulty rating: 1560
Solution:
On the graph of is a single arc decreasing from down to
The function has period with vertical asymptotes at These split the interval into five stretches, and on each stretch runs through all real values.
Since the cosine arc is bounded, each of the five branches meets it exactly once, giving solutions.
Thus, E is the correct answer.
10.
There is a unique positive integer such that
What is the sum of the digits of
Answer: E
Difficulty rating: 1500
Solution:
Since set The equation becomes
Multiplying by gives so which yields
Then so and the digit sum is
Thus, E is the correct answer.
11.
A frog sitting at the point begins a sequence of jumps, where each jump is parallel to one of the coordinate axes and has length and the direction of each jump (up, down, right, or left) is chosen independently at random. The sequence ends when the frog reaches a side of the square with vertices and What is the probability that the sequence of jumps ends on a vertical side of the square?
Answer: B
Difficulty rating: 1630
Solution:
Let be the probability of ending on a vertical side. On a vertical side on a horizontal side and at an interior point is the average of its four neighbors.
By left-right symmetry Let and Then
and
Substituting gives hence
Thus, B is the correct answer.
12.
Line in the coordinate plane has the equation This line is rotated counterclockwise about the point to obtain line What is the -coordinate of the -intercept of line
Answer: B
Difficulty rating: 1630
Solution:
Note satisfies so it is on and remains on The slope of is
Rotating by gives slope
Line is Setting gives so and
Thus, B is the correct answer.
13.
14.
Regular octagon has area Let be the area of quadrilateral What is
Answer: B
Difficulty rating: 1690
Solution:
The four vertices form a square, since they are every other vertex of the regular octagon.
Taking a unit circumradius, the octagon's area is and the square has diagonal equal to the circle's diameter, giving area
The ratio is
Thus, B is the correct answer.
15.
In the complex plane, let be the set of solutions to and let be the set of solutions to What is the greatest distance between a point of and a point of
Answer: D
Difficulty rating: 1690
Solution:
The set consists of the cube roots of and
Factoring by grouping, so all real.
The greatest distance is from to
Thus, D is the correct answer.
16.
A point is chosen at random within the square in the coordinate plane whose vertices are and The probability that the point is within units of a lattice point is (A point is a lattice point if and are both integers.) What is to the nearest tenth?
Answer: B
Difficulty rating: 1730
Solution:
By periodicity it suffices to consider one unit cell with a lattice point at each corner. The region within of a corner consists of four quarter-disks of radius forming one full disk of area
Setting gives
To the nearest tenth,
Thus, B is the correct answer.
17.
The vertices of a quadrilateral lie on the graph of and the -coordinates of these vertices are consecutive positive integers. The area of the quadrilateral is What is the -coordinate of the leftmost vertex?
Answer: D
Difficulty rating: 1860
Solution:
Let the vertices have -coordinates with -coordinates of those values. Applying the shoelace formula and simplifying, the area is
Setting gives so
Then so
Thus, D is the correct answer.
18.
Quadrilateral satisfies and Diagonals and intersect at point and What is the area of quadrilateral
Answer: D
Difficulty rating: 1800
Solution:
Place and Since and because
Since lies on the circle of radius centered at Line is substituting gives so or
For to lie between and take giving a distance below line
Then and so the total area is
Thus, D is the correct answer.
19.
There exists a unique strictly increasing sequence of nonnegative integers such that What is
Answer: C
Difficulty rating: 1990
Solution:
Let Then an alternating sum of the powers
Pair each subtracted power with the added power just above it: a block of consecutive powers of
There are such pairs, together with the leftover The blocks occupy disjoint ranges, so the total number of powers is
Thus, C is the correct answer.
20.
Let be the triangle in the coordinate plane with vertices and Consider the following five isometries (rigid transformations) of the plane: rotations of and counterclockwise around the origin, reflection across the -axis, and reflection across the -axis. How many of the sequences of three of these transformations (not necessarily distinct) will return to its original position? (For example, a rotation, followed by a reflection across the -axis, followed by a reflection across the -axis will return to its original position, but a rotation, followed by a reflection across the -axis, followed by another reflection across the -axis will not return to its original position.)
Answer: A
Difficulty rating: 1910
Solution:
Because is a scalene right triangle, the only isometry carrying to itself is the identity, so a sequence works exactly when the three transformations compose to the identity.
The five maps are all of the square's symmetry group except the identity and the two diagonal reflections. In an ordered triple the third map must be the inverse of the first two composed, and it is allowed precisely when the product of the first two is again one of the five.
Of the ordered pairs, compose to the identity and compose to a diagonal reflection. The remaining pairs give valid sequences.
Thus, A is the correct answer.
21.
How many positive integers are there such that is a multiple of and the least common multiple of and equals times the greatest common divisor of and
Answer: D
Difficulty rating: 2080
Solution:
Write Since has no other primes, can only involve Matching exponents in
For so gives values. For so gives values.
For with which forces giving value. For so or giving values.
The total is
Thus, D is the correct answer.
22.
Let and be the sequences of real numbers such that for all integers where What is
Answer: B
Difficulty rating: 2110
Solution:
Since we have
Therefore the sum is
This equals
Thus, B is the correct answer.
23.
Jason rolls three fair standard six-sided dice. Then he looks at the rolls and chooses a subset of the dice (possibly empty, possibly all three dice) to reroll. After rerolling, he wins if and only if the sum of the numbers face up on the three dice is exactly Jason always plays to optimize his chances of winning. What is the probability that he chooses to reroll exactly two of the dice?
Answer: A
Difficulty rating: 2270
Solution:
Rerolling one die, keeping two dice that sum to wins with probability when and otherwise. Rerolling two dice, keeping a die of value wins with probability equal to the number of ways two dice sum to over this is largest when is smallest. Rerolling all three wins with probability
Rerolling exactly two dice is strictly best precisely when the two smallest dice sum to at least (so rerolling one cannot reach ) while the smallest die is or (so keeping it beats rerolling all three).
Counting the ordered rolls with this property gives out of a probability of
Thus, A is the correct answer.
24.
Suppose that is an equilateral triangle of side length with the property that there is a unique point inside the triangle such that and What is
Answer: B
Difficulty rating: 2270
Solution:
A point at distances from the vertices of an equilateral triangle of side satisfies
With letting gives so and or
A triangle of side cannot contain a point at distance from a vertex, so and
Thus, B is the correct answer.
25.
The number where and are relatively prime positive integers, has the property that the sum of all real numbers satisfying is where denotes the greatest integer less than or equal to and denotes the fractional part of What is
Answer: C
Difficulty rating: 2520
Solution:
On the interval the equation becomes i.e. whose two roots are
For each interval contributes exactly one root of this quadratic that lies in it (for suitable ), and summing the roots over all valid gives a total that depends only on
Requiring the sum to be forces which is already in lowest terms. Hence
Thus, C is the correct answer.