2020 AMC 10A Problems/Problem 3

Problem

Assuming $a\neq3$ , $b\neq4$ , and $c\neq5$ , what is the value in simplest form of the following expression? $\frac{a-3}{5-c} \cdot \frac{b-4}{3-a} \cdot \frac{c-5}{4-b}$ $\textbf{(A) } -1 \qquad \textbf{(B) } 1 \qquad \textbf{(C) } \frac{abc}{60} \qquad \textbf{(D) } \frac{1}{abc} - \frac{1}{60} \qquad \textbf{(E) } \frac{1}{60} - \frac{1}{abc}$

Solution

Note that $a-3$ is $-1$ times $3-a$ . Likewise, $b-4$ is $-1$ times $4-b$ and $c-5$ is $-1$ times $5-c$ . Therefore, the product of the given fraction equals $(-1)(-1)(-1)=\boxed{\textbf{(A)}-1}$ .

Solution 2

Substituting values for $a, b, and c$ , we see that if each of them satify the inequalities above, the value goes to be $-1$ . Therefore, the product of the given fraction equals $(-1)(-1)(-1)=\boxed{\textbf{(A)}-1}$ .

Video Solution

https://youtu.be/WUcbVNy2uv0

~IceMatrix

2020 AMC 10A (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by Problem 2	Followed by Problem 4
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2020 AMC 10A Problems/Problem 3

Contents

Problem

Solution

Solution 2

Video Solution

See Also