2013 AMC 12B Problems/Problem 7

The following problem is from both the 2013 AMC 12B #7 and 2013 AMC 10B #13, so both problems redirect to this page.

Problem

Jo and Blair take turns counting from $1$ to one more than the last number said by the other person. Jo starts by saying $``1"$ , so Blair follows by saying $``1, 2"$ . Jo then says $``1, 2, 3"$ , and so on. What is the $53^{\text{rd}}$ number said?

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

Solution

We notice that the number of numbers said is incremented by one each time; that is, Jo says one number, then Blair says two numbers, then Jo says three numbers, etc. Thus, after nine "turns", $1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9=45$ numbers have been said. In the tenth turn, the eighth number will be the 53rd number said, because $53-45=8$ . Since we are starting from 1 every turn, the 53rd number said will be $\boxed{\textbf{(E) }8}$ .

Faster Solution

We notice that the number of numbers said is incremented by one each time; that is, Jo says one number, then Blair says two numbers, then Jo says three numbers, etc. We notice that the number of numbers is $1 + 2 + 3 + 4 ...$ every time we finish a "turn" we notice the sum of these would be the largest number $\frac{n(n+1)}{2}$ under 53, we can easily see that if we double this it's $n^2 + n \simeq 106$ , and we immediately note that 10 is too high, but 9 is perfect, meaning that at 9, 45 numbers have been said so far, $\frac{9(9+1)}{2} = 45$ and $53 - 45 = \boxed{\textbf{(E) }8}$

Solution 3

Observe that the number $n$ first appears as the $n$ th triangular number said. It follows that the $55$ th number is $10$ ( $55$ is the $10$ th triangular number). Thus, the $53$ rd number is $10 - 2 = 8$ , which is answer choice $\boxed{\textbf{(E)}}$ .

- Mathavi

Video Solution

https://youtu.be/a-3CAo4CoWc

~no one

2013 AMC 10B (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by Problem 12	Followed by Problem 14
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

2013 AMC 12B (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by Problem 6	Followed by Problem 8
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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