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Difference between revisions of "2015 AMC 8 Problems/Problem 20"

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==Solution 1==
 
==Solution 1==
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So let there be <math>x</math> pairs of <math>1</math> dollar socks, <math>y</math> pairs of <math>3</math> dollar socks, <math>z</math> pairs of <math>4</math> dollar socks.
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So let there be <math>x</math> pairs of <math>\$1</math> socks, <math>y</math> pairs of <math>\$3</math> socks, <math>z</math> pairs of <math>\$4</math> socks.
  
 
We have <math>x+y+z=12</math>, <math>x+3y+4z=24</math>, and <math>x,y,z \ge 1</math>.
 
We have <math>x+y+z=12</math>, <math>x+3y+4z=24</math>, and <math>x,y,z \ge 1</math>.

Revision as of 13:13, 3 December 2015

Ralph went to the store and bought 12 pairs of socks for a total of $24. Some of the socks he bought cost $1 a pair, some of the socks he bought cost $3 a pair, and some of the socks he bought cost $4 a pair. If he bought at least one pair of each type, how many pairs of $1 socks did Ralph buy?

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

Solution 1

So let there be $x$ pairs of $$1$ socks, $y$ pairs of $$3$ socks, $z$ pairs of $$4$ socks.

We have $x+y+z=12$, $x+3y+4z=24$, and $x,y,z \ge 1$.

Now we subtract to find $2y+3z=12$, and $y,z \ge 1$. It follows that $y$ is a multiple of $3$ and $2y$ is a multiple of $6$, so since $0<2y<12$, we must have $2y=6$.

Therefore, $y=3$, and it follows that $z=2$. Now $x=12-y-z=12-3-2=\boxed{\textbf{(D)}~7}$, as desired.

Solution 2

Since the total cost of the socks was $$24$ and Ralph bought $12$ pairs, the average cost of each pair of socks is $\frac{$24}{12} = $2$.

There are two ways to make packages of socks that average to $$2$. You can have:

$\bullet$ Two $$1$ pairs and one $$4$ pair (package adds up to $$6$)

$\bullet$ One $$1$ pair and one $$3$ pair (package adds up to $$4$)

So now we need to solve \[6a+4b=24,\] where $a$ is the number of $$6$ packages and $b$ is the number of $$4$ packages. We see our only solution (that has at least one of each pair of sock) is $a=2, b=3$, which yields the answer of $2\times2+3\times1 = \boxed{\textbf{(D)}~7}$.

See Also

2015 AMC 8 (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by
Problem 19 		Followed by
Problem 21
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 AJHSME/AMC 8 Problems and Solutions

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