Difference between revisions of "2003 AMC 12A Problems/Problem 8"

(Solution)
m
Line 1: Line 1:
 
== Problem ==
 
== Problem ==
What is the probability that a randomly drawn positive factor of <math>60</math> is less than <math>7</math>
+
What is the probability that a randomly drawn positive factor of <math>60</math> is less than <math>7</math>?
  
 
<math> \mathrm{(A) \ } \frac{1}{10}\qquad \mathrm{(B) \ } \frac{1}{6}\qquad \mathrm{(C) \ } \frac{1}{4}\qquad \mathrm{(D) \ } \frac{1}{3}\qquad \mathrm{(E) \ } \frac{1}{2} </math>
 
<math> \mathrm{(A) \ } \frac{1}{10}\qquad \mathrm{(B) \ } \frac{1}{6}\qquad \mathrm{(C) \ } \frac{1}{4}\qquad \mathrm{(D) \ } \frac{1}{3}\qquad \mathrm{(E) \ } \frac{1}{2} </math>
Line 19: Line 19:
  
 
== See Also ==
 
== See Also ==
*[[2003 AMC 12A Problems]]
+
{{AMC12 box|year=2003|ab=A|num-b=7|num-a=9}}
*[[2003 AMC 12A/Problem 7|Previous Problem]]
 
*[[2003 AMC 12A/Problem 9|Next Problem]]
 
  
 
[[Category:Introductory Number Theory Problems]]
 
[[Category:Introductory Number Theory Problems]]

Revision as of 20:35, 27 June 2009

Problem

What is the probability that a randomly drawn positive factor of $60$ is less than $7$?

$\mathrm{(A) \ } \frac{1}{10}\qquad \mathrm{(B) \ } \frac{1}{6}\qquad \mathrm{(C) \ } \frac{1}{4}\qquad \mathrm{(D) \ } \frac{1}{3}\qquad \mathrm{(E) \ } \frac{1}{2}$

Solution 1

For a positive number $n$ which is not a perfect square, exactly half of the positive factors will be less than $\sqrt{n}$.

Since $60$ is not a perfect square, half of the positive factors of $60$ will be less than $\sqrt{60}\approx 7.746$.

Clearly, there are no positive factors of $60$ between $7$ and $\sqrt{60}$.

Therefore half of the positive factors will be less than $7$.

So the answer is $\frac{1}{2} \Rightarrow E$.

Solution 2

Testing all numbers less than $7$, numbers $1, 2, 3, 4, 5$, and $6$ divide $60$. The prime factorization of $60$ is $2^2\cdot 3 \cdot 5$. Using the formula for the number of divisors, the total number of divisors of $60$ is $(3)(2)(2) = 12$. Therefore, our desired probability is $\frac{6}{12} = \frac{1}{2} \Rightarrow E$

See Also

2003 AMC 12A (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 7
Followed by
Problem 9
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