2003 AMC 12A Problems/Problem 6

The following problem is from both the 2003 AMC 12A #6 and 2003 AMC 10A #6, so both problems redirect to this page.

Problem

Define $x \heartsuit y$ to be $|x-y|$ for all real numbers $x$ and $y$. Which of the following statements is not true?

$\mathrm{(A) \ } x \heartsuit y = y \heartsuit x$ for all $x$ and $y$

$\mathrm{(B) \ } 2(x \heartsuit y) = (2x) \heartsuit (2y)$ for all $x$ and $y$

$\mathrm{(C) \ } x \heartsuit 0 = x$ for all $x$

$\mathrm{(D) \ } x \heartsuit x = 0$ for all $x$

$\mathrm{(E) \ } x \heartsuit y > 0$ if $x \neq y$

Solution

We start by looking at the answers. Examining statement C, we notice:

$x \heartsuit 0 = |x-0| = |x|$

$|x| \neq x$ when $x<0$, but statement C says that it does for all $x$.

Therefore the statement that is not true is $\boxed{\mathrm{(C)}\ x\heartsuit 0=x\ \text{for all}\ x}$

Video Solution

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-IRsaIUdDA ~David

See Also

2003 AMC 10A (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 5
Followed by
Problem 7
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
2003 AMC 12A (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 5
Followed by
Problem 7
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

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