1990 AMC 8 Problem 12

Attempt Problem 12 of the 1990 AMC 8 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 1990 AMC 8 solutions, or check the answer key.

All problems are used with official legal permission of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA).

12.

There are twenty-four 44-digit whole numbers that use each of the four digits 2,2, 4,4, 5,5, and 77 exactly once. Listed in numerical order from smallest to largest, the number in the 1717th position in the list is
45274527
57245724
57425742
72457245
75247524
Answer: B
Concepts:permutationssystematic listing
Small hint:
The 2424 numbers split into four blocks of 66 by their leading digit
Big hint:
Positions 11–66 start with 22, 77–1212 start with 44, 1313–1818 start with 55; find the 55th number starting with 55
Solution:
Each leading digit accounts for 66 of the 2424 numbers. Positions 11–66 begin with 22, positions 77–1212 begin with 44, and positions 1313–1818 begin with 55.
So the 1717th number is the 55th one beginning with 55: 5247,5247, 5274,5274, 5427,5427, 5472,5472, 57245724. The fifth is 57245724.
Thus, the correct answer is B .
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