2021 Fall AMC 10A Problems

2021 Fall AMC 10A (Answer Key) Printable versions: Wiki • Fall AoPS Resources • Fall PDF
Instructions This is a 25-question, multiple choice test. Each question is followed by answers marked A, B, C, D and E. Only one of these is correct. You will receive 6 points for each correct answer, 2.5 points for each problem left unanswered if the year is before 2006, 1.5 points for each problem left unanswered if the year is after 2006, and 0 points for each incorrect answer. No aids are permitted other than scratch paper, graph paper, ruler, compass, protractor and erasers (and calculators that are accepted for use on the SAT if before 2006. No problems on the test will require the use of a calculator). Figures are not necessarily drawn to scale. You will have 75 minutes working time to complete the test.
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Problem 1

What is the value of $\frac{(2112-2021)^2}{169}$ ?

$\textbf{(A) } 7 \qquad\textbf{(B) } 21 \qquad\textbf{(C) } 49 \qquad\textbf{(D) } 64 \qquad\textbf{(E) } 91

Solution

Problem 2

Menkara has a $4 \times 6$ index card. If she shortens the length of one side of this card by $1$ inch, the card would have area $18$ square inches. What would the area of the card be in square inches if instead she shortens the length of the other side by $1$ inch?

$\textbf{(A) }16\qquad\textbf{(B) }17\qquad\textbf{(C) }18\qquad\textbf{(D) }19\qquad\textbf{(E) }20$

Solution

Problem 3

What is the maximum number of balls of clay of radius $2$ that can completely fit inside a cube of side length $6$ assuming the balls can be reshaped but not compressed before they are packed in the cube?

$\textbf{(A) }3\qquad\textbf{(B) }4\qquad\textbf{(C) }5\qquad\textbf{(D) }6\qquad\textbf{(E) }7$

Solution

Problem 4

Mr. Lopez has a choice of two routes to get to work. Route A is $6$ miles long, and his average speed along this route is $30$ miles per hour. Route B is $5$ miles long, and his average speed along this route is $40$ miles per hour, except for a $\frac{1}{2}$ -mile stretch in a school zone where his average speed is $20$ miles per hour. By how many minutes is Route B quicker than Route A?

$\textbf{(A)}\ 2 \frac{3}{4} \qquad\textbf{(B)}\ 3 \frac{3}{4} \qquad\textbf{(C)}\ 4 \frac{1}{2} \qquad\textbf{(D)}\ 5 \frac{1}{2} \qquad\textbf{(E)}\ 6 \frac{3}{4}$

Solution

Problem 5

The six-digit number $\underline{2}\,\underline{0}\,\underline{2}\,\underline{1}\,\underline{0}\,\underline{A}$ is prime for only one digit $A.$ What is $A?$

$\textbf{(A)}\ 1 \qquad\textbf{(B)}\ 3 \qquad\textbf{(C)}\ 5 \qquad\textbf{(D)}\ 7 \qquad\textbf{(E)}\ 9$

Solution

Problem 6

Elmer the emu takes $44$ equal strides to walk between consecutive telephone poles on a rural road. Oscar the ostrich can cover the same distance in $12$ equal leaps. The telephone poles are evenly spaced, and the $41$ st pole along this road is exactly one mile ( $5280$ feet) from the first pole. How much longer, in feet, is Oscar's leap than Elmer's stride?

$\textbf{(A) }6\qquad\textbf{(B) }8\qquad\textbf{(C) }10\qquad\textbf{(D) }11\qquad\textbf{(E) }15$

Solution

Problem 7

As shown in the figure below, point $E$ lies on the opposite half-plane determined by line $CD$ from point $A$ so that $\angle CDE = 110^\circ$ . Point $F$ lies on $\overline{AD}$ so that $DE=DF$ , and $ABCD$ is a square. What is the degree measure of $\angle AFE$ ?

$[asy] size(6cm); pair A = (0,10); label("$A$", A, N); pair B = (0,0); label("$B$", B, S); pair C = (10,0); label("$C$", C, S); pair D = (10,10); label("$D$", D, SW); pair EE = (15,11.8); label("$E$", EE, N); pair F = (3,10); label("$F$", F, N); filldraw(D--arc(D,2.5,270,380)--cycle,lightgray); dot(A^^B^^C^^D^^EE^^F); draw(A--B--C--D--cycle); draw(D--EE--F--cycle); label("$110^\circ$", (15,9), SW); [/asy]$

$\textbf{(A) }160\qquad\textbf{(B) }164\qquad\textbf{(C) }166\qquad\textbf{(D) }170\qquad\textbf{(E) }174$

Solution

Problem 8

A two-digit positive integer is said to be $\emph{cuddly}$ if it is equal to the sum of its nonzero tens digit and the square of its units digit. How many two-digit positive integers are cuddly?

$\textbf{(A) }0\qquad\textbf{(B) }1\qquad\textbf{(C) }2\qquad\textbf{(D) }3\qquad\textbf{(E) }4$

Solution

Problem 9

When a certain unfair die is rolled, an even number is $3$ times as likely to appear as an odd number. The die is rolled twice. What is the probability that the sum of the numbers rolled is even?

$\textbf{(A) }\dfrac38\qquad\textbf{(B) }\dfrac49\qquad\textbf{(C) }\dfrac59\qquad\textbf{(D) }\dfrac9{16}\qquad\textbf{(E) }\dfrac58$

Solution

Problem 10

A school has $100$ students and $5$ teachers. In the first period, each student is taking one class, and each teacher is teaching one class. The enrollments in the classes are $50, 20, 20, 5,$ and $5$ . Let $t$ be the average value obtained if a teacher is picked at random and the number of students in their class is noted. Let $s$ be the average value obtained if a student was picked at random and the number of students in their class, including the student, is noted. What is $t-s$ ?

$\textbf{(A)}\ {-}18.5 \qquad\textbf{(B)}\ {-}13.5 \qquad\textbf{(C)}\ 0 \qquad\textbf{(D)}\ 13.5 \qquad\textbf{(E)}\ 18.5$

Solution

Problem 11

Emily sees a ship traveling at a constant speed along a straight section of a river. She walks parallel to the riverbank at a uniform rate faster than the ship. She counts $210$ equal steps walking from the back of the ship to the front. Walking in the opposite direction, she counts $42$ steps of the same size from the front of the ship to the back. In terms of Emily's equal steps, what is the length of the ship?

$\textbf{(A) }70\qquad\textbf{(B) }84\qquad\textbf{(C) }98\qquad\textbf{(D) }105\qquad\textbf{(E) }126$

Solution

Problem 12

The base-nine representation of the number $N$ is $27{,}006{,}000{,}052_{\text{nine}}.$ What is the remainder when $N$ is divided by $5?$

$\textbf{(A) } 0\qquad\textbf{(B) } 1\qquad\textbf{(C) } 2\qquad\textbf{(D) } 3\qquad\textbf{(E) }4$

Solution

Problem 13

Each of $6$ balls is randomly and independently painted either black or white with equal probability. What is the probability that every ball is different in color from more than half of the other $5$ balls?

$\textbf{(A) } \frac{1}{64}\qquad\textbf{(B) } \frac{1}{6}\qquad\textbf{(C) } \frac{1}{4}\qquad\textbf{(D) } \frac{5}{16}\qquad\textbf{(E) }\frac{1}{2}$

Solution

Problem 14

How many ordered pairs $(x,y)$ of real numbers satisfy the following system of equations? $\begin{align*} x^2+3y&=9 \\ (|x|+|y|-4)^2 &= 1 \end{align*}$ $\textbf{(A) } 1 \qquad\textbf{(B) } 2 \qquad\textbf{(C) } 3 \qquad\textbf{(D) } 5 \qquad\textbf{(E) } 7$

Solution

Problem 15

Isosceles triangle $ABC$ has $AB = AC = 3\sqrt6$ , and a circle with radius $5\sqrt2$ is tangent to line $AB$ at $B$ and to line $AC$ at $C$ . What is the area of the circle that passes through vertices $A$ , $B$ , and $C?$

$\textbf{(A) }24\pi\qquad\textbf{(B) }25\pi\qquad\textbf{(C) }26\pi\qquad\textbf{(D) }27\pi\qquad\textbf{(E) }28\pi$

Solution

Problem 16

The graph of $f(x) = |\lfloor x \rfloor| - |\lfloor 1 - x \rfloor|$ is symmetric about which of the following? (Here $\lfloor x \rfloor$ is the greatest integer not exceeding $x$ .)

$\textbf{(A) }\text{the }y\text{-axis}\qquad \textbf{(B) }\text{the line }x = 1\qquad \textbf{(C) }\text{the origin}\qquad \textbf{(D) }\text{ the point }\left(\dfrac12, 0\right)\qquad \textbf{(E) }\text{the point }(1,0)$

Solution

Problem 17

An architect is building a structure that will place vertical pillars at the vertices of regular hexagon $ABCDEF$ , which is lying horizontally on the ground. The six pillars will hold up a flat solar panel that will not be parallel to the ground. The heights of pillars at $A$ , $B$ , and $C$ are $12$ , $9$ , and $10$ meters, respectively. What is the height, in meters, of the pillar at $E$ ?

$\textbf{(A) }9 \qquad\textbf{(B) } 6\sqrt{3} \qquad\textbf{(C) } 8\sqrt{3} \qquad\textbf{(D) } 17 \qquad\textbf{(E) }12\sqrt{3}$

Solution

Problem 18

A farmer's rectangular field is partitioned into $2$ by $2$ grid of $4$ rectangular sections as shown in the figure. In each section the farmer will plant one crop: corn, wheat, soybeans, or potatoes. The farmer does not want to grow corn and wheat in any two sections that share a border, and the farmer does not want to grow soybeans and potatoes in any two sections that share a border. Given these restrictions, in how many ways can the farmer choose crops to plant in each of the four sections of the field? $[asy] draw((0,0)--(100,0)--(100,50)--(0,50)--cycle); draw((50,0)--(50,50)); draw((0,25)--(100,25)); [/asy]$ $\textbf{(A)}\ 12 \qquad \textbf{(B)}\ 64 \qquad \textbf{(C)}\ 84 \qquad \textbf{(D)}\ 90 \qquad \textbf{(E)}\ 144$

Solution

Problem 19

A disk of radius $1$ rolls all the way around the inside of a square of side length $s>4$ and sweeps out a region of area $A$ . A second disk of radius $1$ rolls all the way around the outside of the same square and sweeps out a region of area $2A$ . The value of $s$ can be written as $a+\frac{b\pi}{c}$ , where $a,b$ , and $c$ are positive integers and $b$ and $c$ are relatively prime. What is $a+b+c$ ?

$\textbf{(A)} ~10\qquad\textbf{(B)} ~11\qquad\textbf{(C)} ~12\qquad\textbf{(D)} ~13\qquad\textbf{(E)} ~14$

Solution

Problem 20

How many ordered pairs of positive integers $(b,c)$ exist where both $x^2+bx+c=0$ and $x^2+cx+b=0$ do not have distinct, real solutions?

$\textbf{(A) } 4 \qquad \textbf{(B) } 6 \qquad \textbf{(C) } 8 \qquad \textbf{(D) } 10 \qquad \textbf{(E) } 12 \qquad$

Solution

Problem 21

Each of the $20$ balls is tossed independently and at random into one of the $5$ bins. Let $p$ be the probability that some bin ends up with $3$ balls, another with $5$ balls, and the other three with $4$ balls each. Let $q$ be the probability that every bin ends up with $4$ balls. What is $\frac{p}{q}$ ?

$\textbf{(A)}\ 1 \qquad\textbf{(B)}\ 4 \qquad\textbf{(C)}\ 8 \qquad\textbf{(D)}\ 12 \qquad\textbf{(E)}\ 16$

Solution

Problem 22

Inside a right circular cone with base radius $5$ and height $12$ are three congruent spheres with radius $r$ . Each sphere is tangent to the other two spheres and also tangent to the base and side of the cone. What is $r$ ?

$\textbf{(A)}\ \frac{3}{2} \qquad\textbf{(B)}\ \frac{90-40\sqrt{3}}{11} \qquad\textbf{(C)}\ 2 \qquad\textbf{(D)}\ \frac{144-25\sqrt{3}}{44} \qquad\textbf{(E)}\ \frac{5}{2}$

Solution

Problem 23

For each positive integer $n$ , let $f_1(n)$ be twice the number of positive integer divisors of $n$ , and for $j \ge 2$ , let $f_j(n) = f_1(f_{j-1}(n))$ . For how many values of $n \le 50$ is $f_{50}(n) = 12?$

$\textbf{(A) }7\qquad\textbf{(B) }8\qquad\textbf{(C) }9\qquad\textbf{(D) }10\qquad\textbf{(E) }11$

Solution

Problem 24

Each of the $12$ edges of a cube is labeled $0$ or $1$ . Two labelings are considered different even if one can be obtained from the other by a sequence of one or more rotations and/or reflections. For how many such labelings is the sum of the labels on the edges of each of the $6$ faces of the cube equal to $2$ ?

$\textbf{(A) } 8 \qquad\textbf{(B) } 10 \qquad\textbf{(C) } 12 \qquad\textbf{(D) } 16 \qquad\textbf{(E) } 20$

Solution

Problem 25

A quadratic polynomial with real coefficients and leading coefficient $1$ is called $\emph{disrespectful}$ if the equation $p(p(x))=0$ is satisfied by exactly three real numbers. Among all the disrespectful quadratic polynomials, there is a unique such polynomial $\tilde{p}(x)$ for which the sum of the roots is maximized. What is $\tilde{p}(1)$ ?

$\textbf{(A) } \frac{5}{16} \qquad\textbf{(B) } \frac{1}{2} \qquad\textbf{(C) } \frac{5}{8} \qquad\textbf{(D) } 1 \qquad\textbf{(E) } \frac{9}{8}$

Solution

2021 Fall AMC 10A (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by 2021 AMC 10B	Followed by 2021 Fall AMC 10B
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All AMC 10 Problems and Solutions

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2021 Fall AMC 10A Problems

Contents

Problem 1

Problem 2

Problem 3

Problem 4

Problem 5

Problem 6

Problem 7

Problem 8

Problem 9

Problem 10

Problem 11

Problem 12

Problem 13

Problem 14

Problem 15

Problem 16

Problem 17

Problem 18

Problem 19

Problem 20

Problem 21

Problem 22

Problem 23

Problem 24

Problem 25

See Also