2023 AMC 12B Exam Solutions
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All of the real AMC 8, AMC 10, AMC 12, and AIME problems in our complete solution collection are used with official legal permission of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA).
1.
Mrs. Jones is pouring orange juice into four identical glasses for her four sons. She fills the first three glasses completely but runs out of juice when the fourth glass is only full. What fraction of a glass must Mrs. Jones pour from each of the first three glasses into the fourth glass so that all four glasses will have the same amount of juice?
2.
Carlos went to a sports store to buy running shoes. Running shoes were on sale, with prices reduced by on every pair of shoes. Carlos also knew that he had to pay a sales tax on the discounted price. He had dollars. What is the original (before discount) price of the most expensive shoes he could afford to buy?
Difficulty rating: 1020
Solution:
The final cost of a pair with original price is Setting gives so the most expensive affordable pair originally cost dollars.
Thus, the correct answer is B.
3.
A -- right triangle is inscribed in circle and a -- right triangle is inscribed in circle What is the ratio of the area of circle to the area of circle
Difficulty rating: 1020
Solution:
The hypotenuse of an inscribed right triangle is a diameter, so circle has diameter and circle has diameter The ratio of areas is
Thus, the correct answer is D.
4.
Jackson's paintbrush makes a narrow strip with a width of millimeters. Jackson has enough paint to make a strip meters long. How many square centimeters of paper could Jackson cover with paint?
Difficulty rating: 1200
Solution:
Converting units, the strip is cm wide and cm long, so its area is square centimeters.
Thus, the correct answer is C.
5.
You are playing a game. A rectangle covers two adjacent squares (oriented either horizontally or vertically) of a grid of squares, but you are not told which two squares are covered. Your goal is to find at least one square that is covered by the rectangle. A "turn" consists of you guessing a square, after which you are told whether that square is covered by the hidden rectangle. What is the minimum number of turns you need to ensure that at least one of your guessed squares is covered by the rectangle?
Difficulty rating: 1350
Solution:
A set of guessed squares is guaranteed to hit the domino if and only if the un-guessed squares contain no two adjacent squares, since otherwise the domino could hide on that adjacent pair. The largest set of pairwise non-adjacent squares in the grid is the -square checkerboard (four corners plus the center). So at most squares can be left unguessed, and you must guess
Thus, the correct answer is C.
6.
When the roots of the polynomial
are removed from the number line, what remains is the union of disjoint open intervals. On how many of these intervals is positive?
Difficulty rating: 1380
Solution:
The exponent of the factor is so the sign of changes at only when is odd, i.e. at For every factor is positive, so Sweeping left and flipping at each odd root, the positive intervals are and — six intervals in all.
Thus, the correct answer is C.
7.
For how many integers does the expression
represent a real number, where denotes the base logarithm?
Difficulty rating: 1530
Solution:
Write Then and the fraction is A sign chart shows this is exactly when or Since is a positive integer, forces while gives which is values. In total
Thus, the correct answer is E.
8.
How many nonempty subsets of have the property that the number of elements in is equal to the least element of For example, satisfies the condition.
Difficulty rating: 1570
Solution:
If the least element is then and the remaining elements come from a set of size The count is which equals
Thus, the correct answer is D.
9.
What is the area of the region in the coordinate plane defined by
Difficulty rating: 1500
Solution:
Replacing by the condition describes a diamond centered at with diagonals of length hence area It lies entirely in the first quadrant (touching the axes only at single points), so reflecting across the two axes produces disjoint copies. The total area is
Thus, the correct answer is B.
10.
In the -plane, a circle of radius with center on the positive -axis is tangent to the -axis at the origin, and a circle with radius with center on the positive -axis is tangent to the -axis at the origin. What is the slope of the line passing through the two points at which these circles intersect?
Difficulty rating: 1440
Solution:
The circles are and i.e. and Subtracting gives so the intersection points lie on which has slope
Thus, the correct answer is E.
11.
What is the maximum area of an isosceles trapezoid that has legs of length and one base twice as long as the other?
Difficulty rating: 1570
Solution:
Let the bases be and Each leg has horizontal offset so the height is and the area is Then maximized when There the height is and
Thus, the correct answer is D.
12.
For complex numbers and define the binary operation by
Suppose is a complex number such that What is
Difficulty rating: 1630
Solution:
With we have and The real parts give so The imaginary parts give so and Then so
Thus, the correct answer is E.
13.
A rectangular box has distinct edge lengths and The sum of the lengths of all edges of is the sum of the areas of all faces of is and the volume of is What is the length of the longest interior diagonal connecting two vertices of
Difficulty rating: 1500
Solution:
From the edges, so From the faces, so Then so the diagonal is
Thus, the correct answer is D.
14.
For how many ordered pairs of integers does the polynomial have distinct integer roots?
Difficulty rating: 1630
Solution:
By Vieta, the three distinct integer roots multiply to The sets of three distinct integers with product are and Each set determines and and all five give different pairs, so there are ordered pairs
Thus, the correct answer is A.
15.
Suppose and are positive integers such that
Which of the following statements are necessarily true?
I. If or or both, then
II. If then or or both.
III. if and only if
I, II, and III
I only
I and II only
III only
II and III only
Difficulty rating: 1800
Solution:
Multiplying by gives Since we get so iff Since we get so iff As with statement III follows: iff both hold. Statement II is the forward implication of III, hence true. Statement I is false: if but then so Only II and III are true.
Thus, the correct answer is E.
16.
In Coinland, there are three types of coins, each worth and What is the sum of the digits of the maximum amount of money that is impossible to have?
Difficulty rating: 1660
Solution:
The amounts are all attainable (for instance ). Adding 's then reaches every larger amount. Checking below, is impossible, since are all impossible. So the largest impossible amount is whose digit sum is
Thus, the correct answer is D.
17.
Triangle has side lengths in arithmetic progression, and the smallest side has length If the triangle has an angle of what is the area of
Difficulty rating: 1630
Solution:
Let the sides be The angle faces the longest side, so Using gives so and the sides are The area is
Thus, the correct answer is E.
18.
Last academic year Yolanda and Zelda took different courses that did not necessarily administer the same number of quizzes during each of the two semesters. Yolanda's average on all the quizzes she took during the first semester was points higher than Zelda's average on all the quizzes she took during the first semester. Yolanda's average on all the quizzes she took during the second semester was points higher than her average for the first semester and was again points higher than Zelda's average on all the quizzes Zelda took during her second semester. Which one of the following statements cannot possibly be true?
Yolanda's quiz average for the academic year was points higher than Zelda's.
Zelda's quiz average for the academic year was higher than Yolanda's.
Yolanda's quiz average for the academic year was points higher than Zelda's.
Zelda's quiz average for the academic year equaled Yolanda's.
If Zelda had scored points higher on each quiz she took, then she would have had the same average for the academic year as Yolanda.
Difficulty rating: 1800
Solution:
Set Zelda's first-semester average to Then Yolanda's first semester is her second semester is and Zelda's second semester is Each person's yearly average is a weighted average of their two semester averages, so Yolanda's year average lies between and and Zelda's lies between and The largest possible gap Yolanda Zelda is therefore at most so it can never be All the other statements are achievable for suitable quiz counts.
Thus, the correct answer is A.
19.
Each of balls is placed in one of bins. Which of the following is closest to the probability that each of the bins will contain an odd number of balls?
Difficulty rating: 1990
Solution:
Counting assignments where all three bins are odd with the parity filter gives for odd Dividing by the total assignments, the probability is which for is extremely close to
Thus, the correct answer is E.
20.
Cyrus the frog jumps units in a direction, then more in another direction. What is the probability that he lands less than unit away from his starting position?
Difficulty rating: 2110
Solution:
Take the first jump as and the second as with uniform on The landing distance satisfies We need i.e. The measure of such angles is so the probability is Using with gives so the probability is
Thus, the correct answer is E.
21.
A lampshade is made in the form of the lateral surface of the frustum of a right circular cone. The height of the frustum is inches, its top diameter is inches, and its bottom diameter is inches. A bug is at the bottom of the lampshade and there is a glob of honey on the top edge of the lampshade at the spot farthest from the bug. The bug wants to crawl to the honey, but it must stay on the surface of the lampshade. What is the length in inches of its shortest path to the honey?
Difficulty rating: 2020
Solution:
Extend the frustum to a full cone. Since the radii are and with slant band the apex is slant distance from the top rim and from the bottom rim. The bottom circumference unrolls to a sector of radius and angle Place the bug at in this pattern; the honey, halfway around the base, is at radius and angle The straight chord between them passes within radius (off the surface), so the geodesic goes tangent to the circle of radius the tangent has length and touches at angle after which the path follows the arc of angle on radius of length The shortest path is
Thus, the correct answer is E.
22.
A real-valued function has the property that for all real numbers and
Which one of the following cannot be the value of
Difficulty rating: 2020
Solution:
Setting gives so or If then setting forces giving Otherwise and setting gives for every In particular, with So and indeed every value in is attainable (e.g. or ). Hence is impossible.
Thus, the correct answer is E.
23.
When standard six-sided dice are rolled, the product of the numbers rolled can be any of possible values. What is
Difficulty rating: 2270
Solution:
Each die contributes an exponent vector in the primes (face ), and a product is determined by the sum of these vectors. Counting the distinct attainable sums for gives so
Thus, the correct answer is A.
24.
Suppose that and are positive integers satisfying all of the following relations.
What is
Difficulty rating: 2270
Solution:
Handle each prime separately using the exponents of
Prime (total ): forces then with gives and so the minimum exponent is
Prime (total ): with the other lcms equal to forces then with gives so the minimum is
Prime (total ): with forces then with each and pairwise maxima gives two of them equal to and one equal to so the minimum is
Therefore
Thus, the correct answer is C.
25.
A regular pentagon with area is printed on paper and cut out. The five vertices of the pentagon are folded into the center of the pentagon, creating a smaller pentagon. What is the area of the new pentagon?
Difficulty rating: 2490
Solution:
Let the original pentagon have circumradius Folding a vertex to the center creases along the perpendicular bisector of the segment from the center to that vertex, a line at distance from the center. The five creases bound a regular pentagon with apothem whereas the original has apothem Areas scale as the square of the apothem, so the ratio is Since this ratio is Multiplying by the original area gives
Thus, the correct answer is B.