1986 AHSME Problems/Problem 6

Problem

Using a table of a certain height, two identical blocks of wood are placed as shown in Figure 1. Length $r$ is found to be $32$ inches. After rearranging the blocks as in Figure 2, length $s$ is found to be $28$ inches. How high is the table?

[asy] size(300); defaultpen(linewidth(0.8)+fontsize(13pt)); path table = origin--(1,0)--(1,6)--(6,6)--(6,0)--(7,0)--(7,7)--(0,7)--cycle; path block = origin--(3,0)--(3,1.5)--(0,1.5)--cycle; path rotblock = origin--(1.5,0)--(1.5,3)--(0,3)--cycle; draw(table^^shift((14,0))*table); filldraw(shift((7,0))*block^^shift((5.5,7))*rotblock^^shift((21,0))*rotblock^^shift((18,7))*block,gray); draw((7.25,1.75)--(8.5,3.5)--(8.5,8)--(7.25,9.75),Arrows(size=5)); draw((21.25,3.25)--(22,3.5)--(22,8)--(21.25,8.25),Arrows(size=5)); unfill((8,5)--(8,6.5)--(9,6.5)--(9,5)--cycle); unfill((21.5,5)--(21.5,6.5)--(23,6.5)--(23,5)--cycle); label("$r$",(8.5,5.75)); label("$s$",(22,5.75)); [/asy]

$\textbf{(A) }28\text{ inches}\qquad\textbf{(B) }29\text{ inches}\qquad\textbf{(C) }30\text{ inches}\qquad\textbf{(D) }31\text{ inches}\qquad\textbf{(E) }32\text{ inches}$

Solution

Let $h$, $l$, and $w$ represent the height of the table and the length and width of the wood blocks, respectively, in inches. From Figure 1, we have $l+h-w=32$, and from Figure 2, $w+h-l=28$. Adding the equations gives $2h=60 \implies h=30$, which is $\boxed{C}$.

See also

1986 AHSME (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 5
Followed by
Problem 7
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