2006 AMC 12A Problems/Problem 12

Revision as of 13:08, 25 December 2008 by Chenhsi (talk | contribs) (Problem)
The following problem is from both the 2004 AMC 12A #12 and 2004 AMC 10A #14, so both problems redirect to this page.

Problem

A number of linked rings, each 1 cm thick, are hanging on a peg. The top ring has an outside diameter of 20 cm. The outside diameter of each of the outer rings is 1 cm less than that of the ring above it. The bottom ring has an outside diameter of 3 cm. What is the distance, in cm, from the top of the top ring to the bottom of the bottom ring?

2006 AMC10A-14.png

$\mathrm{(A) \ } 171\qquad\mathrm{(B) \ } 173\qquad\mathrm{(C) \ } 182\qquad\mathrm{(D) \ } 188\qquad\mathrm{(E) \ } 210\qquad$

Solution

The inside diameters of the rings are the positive integers from 1 to 18. The total distance needed is the sum of these values plus 2 for the top of the first ring and the bottom of the last ring. Using the formula for the sum of an arithmetic series, the answer is $\frac{18 \cdot 19}{2} + 2 = 173 \Rightarrow \mathrm{(B)}$.

Alternatively, the sum of the consecutive integers from 3 to 20 is $\frac{1}{2}(18)(3+20) = 207$. However, the 17 intersections between the rings must be subtracted, and we also get $207 - 2(17) = 173$.

See Also

2006 AMC 12A (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 11
Followed by
Problem 13
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
2006 AMC 10A (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 13
Followed by
Problem 15
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