1985 AJHSME Problem 5

Problem

[asy] unitsize(13); draw((0,0)--(20,0)); draw((0,0)--(0,15)); draw((0,3)--(-1,3)); draw((0,6)--(-1,6)); draw((0,9)--(-1,9)); draw((0,12)--(-1,12)); draw((0,15)--(-1,15)); fill((2,0)--(2,15)--(3,15)--(3,0)--cycle,black); fill((4,0)--(4,12)--(5,12)--(5,0)--cycle,black); fill((6,0)--(6,9)--(7,9)--(7,0)--cycle,black); fill((8,0)--(8,9)--(9,9)--(9,0)--cycle,black); fill((10,0)--(10,15)--(11,15)--(11,0)--cycle,black); label("A",(2.5,-.5),S); label("B",(4.5,-.5),S); label("C",(6.5,-.5),S); label("D",(8.5,-.5),S); label("F",(10.5,-.5),S); label("Grade",(15,-.5),S); label("$1$",(-1,3),W); label("$2$",(-1,6),W); label("$3$",(-1,9),W); label("$4$",(-1,12),W); label("$5$",(-1,15),W); [/asy]

The bar graph shows the grades in a mathematics class for the last grading period. If A, B, C, and D are satisfactory grades, what fraction of the grades shown in the graph are satisfactory?

$\text{(A)}\ \frac{1}{2} \qquad \text{(B)}\ \frac{2}{3} \qquad \text{(C)}\ \frac{3}{4} \qquad \text{(D)}\ \frac{4}{5} \qquad \text{(E)}\ \frac{9}{10}$

Solution

There are 5 As, 4 Bs, 3 Cs, 3 Ds, and 5 Fs. That means that $\frac{5+4+3+3}{20} = \frac{3}{4}.$ The answer is $\boxed{\text{(C) 3/4}.}$

Video Solution by BoundlessBrain!

https://youtu.be/h4QWwYnhO_U