Difference between revisions of "2010 AMC 12A Problems/Problem 4"

m (Semi-automated contest formatting - script by azjps)
 
(One intermediate revision by one other user not shown)
Line 19: Line 19:
  
 
Obviously only <math>\boxed{\textbf{(D)}}</math> is positive.
 
Obviously only <math>\boxed{\textbf{(D)}}</math> is positive.
 +
 +
==Video Solution==
 +
https://youtu.be/13Hp_RPhX4Q
 +
 +
~Education, the Study of Everything
  
 
== See also ==
 
== See also ==
Line 24: Line 29:
  
 
[[Category:Introductory Algebra Problems]]
 
[[Category:Introductory Algebra Problems]]
 +
{{MAA Notice}}

Latest revision as of 20:49, 27 October 2022

Problem

If $x<0$, then which of the following must be positive?

$\textbf{(A)}\ \frac{x}{\left|x\right|} \qquad \textbf{(B)}\ -x^2 \qquad \textbf{(C)}\ -2^x \qquad \textbf{(D)}\ -x^{-1} \qquad \textbf{(E)}\ \sqrt[3]{x}$

Solution

$x$ is negative, so we can just place a negative value into each expression and find the one that is positive. Suppose we use $-1$.

$\textbf{(A)} \Rightarrow \frac{-1}{|-1|} = -1$

$\textbf{(B)} \Rightarrow -(-1)^2 = -1$

$\textbf{(C)} \Rightarrow -2^{(-1)} = -\frac{1}{2}$

$\textbf{(D)} \Rightarrow -(-1)^{(-1)} = 1$

$\textbf{(E)} \Rightarrow \sqrt[3]{-1} = -1$


Obviously only $\boxed{\textbf{(D)}}$ is positive.

Video Solution

https://youtu.be/13Hp_RPhX4Q

~Education, the Study of Everything

See also

2010 AMC 12A (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 3
Followed by
Problem 5
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. AMC logo.png