2004 AMC 12B Problem 8

Below is the professionally curated solution for Problem 8 of the 2004 AMC 12B, from LIVE by Po-Shen Loh. You can also try the full timed exam, view all 2004 AMC 12B solutions, or check the answer key.

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Concepts:sum of first n odd numbers

Difficulty rating: 1220

8.

A grocer makes a display of cans in which the top row has one can and each lower row has two more cans than the row above it. If the display contains 100100 cans, how many rows does it contain?

55

88

99

1010

1111

Solution:

The rows contain 1,3,5,,(2n1)1, 3, 5, \ldots, (2n - 1) cans, and the sum of the first nn odd numbers is n2.n^2. Setting n2=100n^2 = 100 gives n=10.n = 10.

Thus, the correct answer is D.

Problem 8 in Other Years