Question

Paul owes Paula $35$ cents and has a pocket full of $5$ -cent coins, $10$ -cent coins, and $25$ -cent coins that he can use to pay her. What is the difference between the largest and the smallest number of coins he can use to pay her?

$1$

$2$

$3$

$4$

$5$

Answer: E

Concepts:money optimization

Difficulty rating: 450

Solution:

To use the largest number of coins, Paul would use only $5$ -cent coins, which gives $35/5=7$ coins.

To use the smallest number of coins, Paul would use a $25$ -cent coin and a $10$ -cent coin, for a total of $2$ coins. The difference is $7-2=5$ .

Thus, E is the correct answer.

2014 AMC 8 Problem 2

Answer: E

Difficulty rating: 450

Solution:

Problem 2 in Other Years