2003 AMC 10B Problems/Problem 5

The following problem is from both the 2003 AMC 12B #4 and 2003 AMC 10B #5, so both problems redirect to this page.

Problem

Moe uses a mower to cut his rectangular $90$-foot by $150$-foot lawn. The swath he cuts is $28$ inches wide, but he overlaps each cut by $4$ inches to make sure that no grass is missed. He walks at the rate of $5000$ feet per hour while pushing the mower. Which of the following is closest to the number of hours it will take Moe to mow the lawn?

$\textbf{(A) } 0.75 \qquad\textbf{(B) } 0.8 \qquad\textbf{(C) } 1.35 \qquad\textbf{(D) } 1.5 \qquad\textbf{(E) } 3$

Solution

Since the swath Moe actually mows is $24$ inches, or $2$ feet wide, he mows $10000$ square feet in one hour. His lawn has an area of $13500$, so it will take Moe $1.35$ hours to finish mowing the lawn. Thus the answer is $\boxed{\textbf{(C) } 1.35}$.


Solution 2 (very easy to understand)

Let's assume that the swath moves back and forth; parallel to the $90$ feet side. Thus, the length of one strip is $90$ feet. Now we need to find out how many strips there are. In reality, the swath Moe mows is $24$ inches wide, which can be easily translated into $2$ feet. $\frac{150}{2}$ is the number of strips Moe needs to mow, which is equal to $75$. Therefore, the total number of feet Moe mows is $75\times90$. Since Moe's mowing rate is $5000$ feet per hour, $\frac{75\times90}{5000}$ is the number of hours it takes him to do his job. Using basic calculations, we compute the answer. $\boxed{\textbf{(C) } 1.35}$.

~sakshamsethi

See Also

2003 AMC 12B (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 3
Followed by
Problem 5
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
All AMC 12 Problems and Solutions
2003 AMC 10B (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 4
Followed by
Problem 6
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
All AMC 10 Problems and Solutions

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