2019 AMC 8 Problems/Problem 13

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Problem 13

A palindrome is a number that has the same value when read from left to right or from right to left. (For example, 12321 is a palindrome.) Let $N$ be the least three-digit integer which is not a palindrome but which is the sum of three distinct two-digit palindromes. What is the sum of the digits of $N$?

$\textbf{(A) }2\qquad\textbf{(B) }3\qquad\textbf{(C) }4\qquad\textbf{(D) }5\qquad\textbf{(E) }6$

Solution 1

Note that the only positive 2-digit palindromes are multiples of 11, namely $11, 22, \ldots, 99$. Since $N$ is the sum of 2-digit palindromes, $N$ is necessarily a multiple of 11. The smallest 3-digit multiple of 11 which is not a palindrome is 110, so $N=110$ is a candidate solution. We must check that 110 can be written as the sum of three distinct 2-digit palindromes; this suffices as $110=77+22+11$. Then $N = 110$, and the sum of the digits of $N$ is $1+1+0 = \boxed{\textbf{(A) }2}$.

  • Another set of 2-digit numbers is $110 = 11+33+66$

Video Solution

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOnNFeZs7S8

See also

2019 AMC 8 (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 12
Followed by
Problem 14
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All AJHSME/AMC 8 Problems and Solutions

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