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Difference between revisions of "2010 AMC 12B Problems/Problem 11"

(Created page with '== Problem 11 == A palindrome between <math>1000</math> and <math>10,000</math> is chosen at random. What is the probability that it is divisible by <math>7</math>? <math>\textb…')
 
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== Solution ==
 
== Solution ==
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== Solution ==
 +
View the palindrome as some number with form (decimal representation):
 +
<math>a_3 \cdot 10^3 + a_2 \cdot 10^2 + a_1 \cdot 10 + a_0</math>. But because the number is a palindrome, <math>a_3 = a_0, a_2 = a_1</math>. Recombining this yields <math>1001a_3 + 110a_2</math>. 1001 is divisible by 7, which means that as long as <math>a_2 = 0</math>, the palindrome will be divisible by 7. This yields 9 palindromes out of 90 (<math>9 \cdot 10</math>) possibilities for palindromes. However, if <math>a_2 = 7</math>, then this gives another case in which the palindrome is divisible by 7. This adds another 9 palindromes to the list, bringing our total to <math>18/90 = \boxed {\frac{1}{5} } = \boxed {E}</math>
  
 
== See also ==
 
== See also ==
 
{{AMC12 box|year=2010|num-b=12|num-a=14|ab=B}}
 
{{AMC12 box|year=2010|num-b=12|num-a=14|ab=B}}

Revision as of 21:54, 4 September 2010

Problem 11

A palindrome between $1000$ and $10,000$ is chosen at random. What is the probability that it is divisible by $7$?

$\textbf{(A)}\ \dfrac{1}{10} \qquad \textbf{(B)}\ \dfrac{1}{9} \qquad \textbf{(C)}\ \dfrac{1}{7} \qquad \textbf{(D)}\ \dfrac{1}{6} \qquad \textbf{(E)}\ \dfrac{1}{5}$

Solution

Solution

View the palindrome as some number with form (decimal representation): $a_3 \cdot 10^3 + a_2 \cdot 10^2 + a_1 \cdot 10 + a_0$. But because the number is a palindrome, $a_3 = a_0, a_2 = a_1$. Recombining this yields $1001a_3 + 110a_2$. 1001 is divisible by 7, which means that as long as $a_2 = 0$, the palindrome will be divisible by 7. This yields 9 palindromes out of 90 ($9 \cdot 10$) possibilities for palindromes. However, if $a_2 = 7$, then this gives another case in which the palindrome is divisible by 7. This adds another 9 palindromes to the list, bringing our total to $18/90 = \boxed {\frac{1}{5} } = \boxed {E}$

See also

2010 AMC 12B (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 12 Problems and Solutions
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