Question

Sarika, Dev, and Rajiv are sharing a large block of cheese. They take turns cutting off half of what remains and eating it: first Sarika eats half of the cheese, then Dev eats half of the remaining half, then Rajiv eats half of what remains, then back to Sarika, and so on. They stop when the cheese is too small to see. About what fraction of the original block of cheese does Sarika eat in total?

$\dfrac{4}{7}$

$\dfrac{3}{5}$

$\dfrac{2}{3}$

$\dfrac{3}{4}$

$\dfrac{7}{8}$

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Written solution:

Sarika gets $\frac{1}{2}$ of the cheese in the first step.

Then Dev gets $\frac{1}{2^2}$ of the cheese.

Then Rajiv gets $\frac{1}{2^3}$ of the cheese.

Sarika then gets another $\frac{1}{2^4}$ of the cheese.

This pattern continues. Ultimately, Sarika gets $\frac{1}{2} + \frac{1}{2^4} + \frac{1}{2^7} + \dots$ which is the sum of an infinite geometric series with first term $a = \frac{1}{2}$ and common ratio $r = \frac{1}{2^3}.$ That sum is $\frac{a}{1-r} = \frac{\frac{1}{2}}{1 - \frac{1}{8}} = \frac{\frac{1}{2}}{\frac{7}{8}} = \frac{4}{7}$ which is choice A.

2025 AMC 8 Problem 20

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Problem 20 in Other Years