Difference between revisions of "2012 AMC 10A Problems/Problem 8"

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== Problem 8 ==
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== Problem ==
 
The sums of three whole numbers taken in pairs are 12, 17, and 19. What is the middle number?
 
The sums of three whole numbers taken in pairs are 12, 17, and 19. What is the middle number?
  
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Therefore, our numbers are 12, 7, and 5. The middle number is <math>\boxed{\textbf{(D)}\ 7}</math>
 
Therefore, our numbers are 12, 7, and 5. The middle number is <math>\boxed{\textbf{(D)}\ 7}</math>
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== See Also ==
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{{AMC10 box|year=2012|ab=A|num-b=7|num-a=9}}

Revision as of 22:51, 8 February 2012

Problem

The sums of three whole numbers taken in pairs are 12, 17, and 19. What is the middle number?

$\textbf{(A)}\ 4\qquad\textbf{(B)}\ 5\qquad\textbf{(C)}\ 6\qquad\textbf{(D)}\ 7\qquad\textbf{(E)}\ 8$

Solution

Let the three numbers be equal to $a$, $b$, and $c$. We can now write three equations:

$a+b=12$

$b+c=17$

$a+c=19$

Adding these equations together, we get that

$2(a+b+c)=48$ and

$a+b+c=24$

Substituting the original equations into this one, we find

$c+12=24$

$a+17=24$

$b+19=24$

Therefore, our numbers are 12, 7, and 5. The middle number is $\boxed{\textbf{(D)}\ 7}$

See Also

2012 AMC 10A (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 10 Problems and Solutions