2009 AMC 10B Problems/Problem 1

The following problem is from both the 2009 AMC 10B #1 and 2009 AMC 12B #1, so both problems redirect to this page.

Problem

Each morning of her five-day workweek, Jane bought either a 50-cent muffin or a 75-cent bagel. Her total cost for the week was a whole number of dollars. How many bagels did she buy?

$\text{(A) } 1\qquad\text{(B) } 2\qquad\text{(C) } 3\qquad\text{(D) } 4\qquad\text{(E) } 5$

Solution 1 (Algebra)

A muffin costed $2$ quarters, and a bagel costed $3$ quarters.

Suppose that Jane bought $m$ muffins and $b$ bagels, where $m$ and $b$ are nonnegative integers. We need:

$m+b=5.$

$2m+3b$ is divisible by $4.$

From the second condition, it is clear that $b$ must be even. By a quick inspection, the only solution is $(m,b)=(3,2),$ so the answer is $b=\boxed{\text{(B) } 2}.$

~MRENTHUSIASM

2009 AMC 10B (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by First Question	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 10 Problems and Solutions

2009 AMC 12B (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by First Question	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

The problems on this page are copyrighted by the Mathematical Association of America's American Mathematics Competitions.

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2009 AMC 10B Problems/Problem 1

Problem

Solution 1 (Algebra)

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