2004 AMC 8 Problem 5
Attempt Problem 5 of the 2004 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 2004 AMC 8 solutions, or check the answer key.
All problems are used with official legal permission of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA).
5.
Ms. Hamilton’s eighth-grade class wants to participate in the annual three-person-team basketball tournament. The losing team of each game is eliminated from the tournament. If sixteen teams compete, how many games will be played to determine the winner?
Answer: D
Small hint:
Each game eliminates exactly one team.
Big hint:
The tournament ends when all but one team have been eliminated.
Solution:
Note that after every game, one team gets eliminated. For there to be one team remaining, teams must have been eliminated.
This means that games had to have been played.
Thus, D is the correct answer.
Problem 5 in other years
- 1985 AMC 8
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