2007 iTest Problems/Problem 10

Revision as of 19:48, 17 June 2018 by Rockmanex3 (talk | contribs) (Solution to Problem 10)

Problem

My grandparents are Arthur, Bertha, Christoph, and Dolores. My oldest grandparent is only $4$ years older than my youngest grandparent. Each grandfather is two years older than his wife. If Bertha is younger than Dolores, what is the difference between Bertha’s age and the mean of my grandparents’ ages?

$\mathrm{(A)}\,0\quad\mathrm{(B)}\,1\quad\mathrm{(C)}\,2\quad\mathrm{(D)}\,3\quad\mathrm{(E)}\,4\quad\mathrm{(F)}\,5\quad\mathrm{(G)}\,6\quad\mathrm{(H)}\,7\quad\mathrm{(I)}\,8\quad\mathrm{(J)}\,2007$

Solution

Let the youngest grandparent's age be $x$. The youngest grandparent must be a woman because each grandfather is two years older than his wife. That means the oldest grandparent's age (a grandfather) is $x+4$, the older grandmother's age is $x+2$, and the younger grandfather's age is $x+2$. Because Bertha is younger than Dolores, Bertha is the youngest grandparent of them all. Since the average age of the grandparents is $\frac{x + (x+2) + (x+2) + (x+4)}{4} = x+2$, the difference between Bertha's age and the mean of the grandparents' ages is $\boxed{\textbf{(C) }2}$ years.

See Also

2007 iTest (Problems, Answer Key)
Preceded by:
Problem 9
Followed by:
Problem 11
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