Difference between revisions of "2010 AMC 12A Problems/Problem 12"

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== Solution ==
 
== Solution ==
 
=== Solution 1 ===
 
  
 
Start with Brian. If he is a toad, he tells the truth, hence Mike is a frog. If Brian is a frog, he lies, hence Mike is a frog, too. Thus Mike must be a frog.
 
Start with Brian. If he is a toad, he tells the truth, hence Mike is a frog. If Brian is a frog, he lies, hence Mike is a frog, too. Thus Mike must be a frog.

Revision as of 21:16, 17 February 2014

Problem

In a magical swamp there are two species of talking amphibians: toads, whose statements are always true, and frogs, whose statements are always false. Four amphibians, Brian, Chris, LeRoy, and Mike live together in this swamp, and they make the following statements.

Brian: "Mike and I are different species."

Chris: "LeRoy is a frog."

LeRoy: "Chris is a frog."

Mike: "Of the four of us, at least two are toads."

How many of these amphibians are frogs?

$\textbf{(A)}\ 0 \qquad \textbf{(B)}\ 1 \qquad \textbf{(C)}\ 2 \qquad \textbf{(D)}\ 3 \qquad \textbf{(E)}\ 4$

Solution

Start with Brian. If he is a toad, he tells the truth, hence Mike is a frog. If Brian is a frog, he lies, hence Mike is a frog, too. Thus Mike must be a frog.

As Mike is a frog, his statement is false, hence there is at most one toad.

As there is at most one toad, at least one of Chris and LeRoy is a frog. But then the other one tells the truth, and therefore is a toad.

Hence we must have one toad and $3$ frogs.

See also

2010 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

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