2017 AMC 12A Problems/Problem 10

Problem

Chloe chooses a real number uniformly at random from the interval $[ 0,2017 ]$ . Independently, Laurent chooses a real number uniformly at random from the interval $[ 0 , 4034 ]$ . What is the probability that Laurent's number is greater than Chloe's number?

$\textbf{(A)}\ \dfrac{1}{2} \qquad\textbf{(B)}\ \dfrac{2}{3} \qquad\textbf{(C)}\ \dfrac{3}{4} \qquad\textbf{(D)}\ \dfrac{5}{6} \qquad\textbf{(E)}\ \dfrac{7}{8}$

Solution 1

Suppose Laurent's number is in the interval $[ 0, 2017 ]$ . Then, by symmetry, the probability of Laurent's number being greater is $\dfrac{1}{2}$ . Next, suppose Laurent's number is in the interval $[ 2017, 4034 ]$ . Then Laurent's number will be greater with a probability of $1$ . Since each case is equally likely, the probability of Laurent's number being greater is $\dfrac{1 + \frac{1}{2}}{2} = \dfrac{3}{4}$ , so the answer is $\boxed{C}$ .

Solution 2 (Geometric Probability)

Let $x$ be the number chosen randomly by Chloe. Because it is given that the number Chloe chooses is in the interval $[ 0, 2017 ]$ , $0 \leq x \leq 2017$ . Next, let $y$ be the number chosen randomly by Laurent. Because it is given that the number Laurent chooses is in the interval $[ 0, 4034 ]$ , $0 \leq y \leq 4034$ . Since we are looking for when Laurent's number is greater than Chloe's we write the equation $y > x$ . When these three inequalities are graphed the area captured by $0 \leq x \leq 2017$ and $0 \leq y \leq 4034$ represents all the possibilities, forming a rectangle $2017$ in width and $4034$ in height. Thus making its area $4034 * 2017$ . The area captured by $0 \leq x \leq 2017$ , $0 \leq y \leq 4034$ , and $y > x$ represents the possibilities of Laurent winning, forming a trapezoid with a height $2017$ in length and bases $4034$ and $2017$ length, thus making an area $2017 *\frac{4034+2017}{2}$ . The simplified quotient of these two areas is the probability Laurent's number is larger than Chloe's, which is $\boxed {C=\frac{3}{4}}$ .

Video Solution (HOW TO THINK CREATIVELY!!!)

https://youtu.be/1f2JaybCZCY

~Education, the Study of Everything

Video Solution

https://youtu.be/LwtoLiBwO-E?t=79

2017 AMC 10A (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by Problem 14	Followed by Problem 16
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

2017 AMC 12A (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by Problem 9	Followed by Problem 11
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.

Page

Toolbox

Search