2019 AMC 10B Problems/Problem 2

The following problem is from both the 2019 AMC 10B #2 and 2019 AMC 12B #2, so both problems redirect to this page.

Problem

Consider the statement, "If $n$ is not prime, then $n-2$ is prime." Which of the following values of $n$ is a counterexample to this statement.

$\textbf{(A) } 11 \qquad \textbf{(B) } 15 \qquad \textbf{(C) } 19 \qquad \textbf{(D) } 21 \qquad \textbf{(E) } 27$

Solution

Since a counter example must be when n is not prime, n must be composite, so we eliminate A and C. Now we subtract 2 from the remaining answer choices, and we see that the only time $n-2$ is prime is when $n = 27$ , which is $\fbox {E}$ .

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2019 AMC 10B (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by Problem 1	Followed by Problem 3
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All AMC 10 Problems and Solutions

2019 AMC 12B (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by Problem 1	Followed by Problem 3
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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2019 AMC 10B Problems/Problem 2

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