2012 AMC 10A Problems/Problem 3

The following problem is from both the 2012 AMC 12A #1 and 2012 AMC 10A #3, so both problems redirect to this page.

Problem

A bug crawls along a number line, starting at $-2$. It crawls to $-6$, then turns around and crawls to $5$. How many units does the bug crawl altogether?

$\textbf{(A)}\ 9\qquad\textbf{(B)}\ 11\qquad\textbf{(C)}\ 13\qquad\textbf{(D)}\ 14\qquad\textbf{(E)}\ 15$

Solution

[asy] draw((-2,1)--(-6,1),red+dashed,EndArrow); draw((-6,2)--(5,2),blue+dashed,EndArrow); dot((-2,0)); dot((-6,0)); dot((5,0)); label("$-2$",(-2,0),dir(270)); label("$-6$",(-6,0),dir(270)); label("$5$",(5,0),dir(270)); label("$4$",(-4,0.9),dir(270)); label("$11$",(-1.5,2.5),dir(90)); [/asy]

Crawling from $-2$ to $-6$ takes it a distance of $4$ units. Crawling from $-6$ to $5$ takes it a distance of $11$ units. Add $4$ and $11$ to get $\boxed{\textbf{(E)}\ 15}$

Video Solution (CREATIVE THINKING)

https://youtu.be/VKaj_HDCUuQ

~Education, the Study of Everything

See Also

2012 AMC 10A (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 2
Followed by
Problem 4
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
2012 AMC 12A (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
First Problem
Followed by
Problem 2
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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