Question

In the addition shown below $A,$ $B,$ $C,$ and $D$ are distinct digits. How many different values are possible for $D?$

$\begin{array}{cccccc} & A & B & B & C & B \\ + & B & C & A & D & A \\ \hline & D & B & D & D & D \end{array}$

$2$

$4$

$7$

$8$

$9$

Solution:

The leftmost column shows $A+B = D$ with no carry out, so $A+B \le 9.$ Examining the tens and thousands columns (each of the form $C + \text{digit} + \text{carry}$ producing the same digit) forces $C = 0$ and eliminates all carries.

Every column then reduces to $A+B = D,$ with $A, B, C=0$ distinct. Since $A$ and $B$ are distinct positive digits, $D = A+B$ can be any value from $3$ up to $9,$ giving $7$ possibilities, for example $(A,B,C,D) = (1,2,0,3), (1,3,0,4), \ldots, (2,7,0,9).$

Thus, the correct answer is C.

2014 AMC 12B Problem 8

Solution:

Problem 8 in Other Years