Question

Chubby makes nonstandard checkerboards that have $31$ squares on each side. The checkerboards have a black square in every corner and alternate red and black squares along every row and column. How many black squares are there on such a checkerboard?

$480$

$481$

$482$

$483$

$484$

Solution:

Note that there are $15$ rows with $15$ black tiles and $16$ rows with $16$ black tiles.

This can be seen by observing that the first row has $16$ black tiles, and all the other rows alternate with $15$ and $16$ tiles.

Then, due to the alternating pattern, there will be a total of $16$ rows with $16$ tiles, and the other rows have $15$ tiles.

The total number of black squares is then $15^2 + 16^2 = 481.$

Thus, B is the correct answer.

2012 AMC 10A Problem 14

Solution:

Problem 14 in Other Years