2011 AMC 8 Problems/Problem 3

Problem

Extend the square pattern of 8 black and 17 white square tiles by attaching a border of black tiles around the square. What is the ratio of black tiles to white tiles in the extended pattern?
[asy] filldraw((0,0)--(5,0)--(5,5)--(0,5)--cycle,white,black); filldraw((1,1)--(4,1)--(4,4)--(1,4)--cycle,mediumgray,black); filldraw((2,2)--(3,2)--(3,3)--(2,3)--cycle,white,black); draw((4,0)--(4,5)); draw((3,0)--(3,5)); draw((2,0)--(2,5)); draw((1,0)--(1,5)); draw((0,4)--(5,4)); draw((0,3)--(5,3)); draw((0,2)--(5,2)); draw((0,1)--(5,1)); [/asy]

$\textbf{(A) }8:17 \qquad\textbf{(B) }25:49 \qquad\textbf{(C) }36:25 \qquad\textbf{(D) }32:17 \qquad\textbf{(E) }36:17$

Solution

One way of approaching this is drawing the next circle of boxes around the current square. [asy] filldraw((-1,-1)--(6,-1)--(6,6)--(-1,6)--cycle,mediumgray,black); filldraw((0,0)--(5,0)--(5,5)--(0,5)--cycle,white,black); filldraw((1,1)--(4,1)--(4,4)--(1,4)--cycle,mediumgray,black); filldraw((2,2)--(3,2)--(3,3)--(2,3)--cycle,white,black); draw((4,-1)--(4,6)); draw((3,-1)--(3,6)); draw((2,-1)--(2,6)); draw((1,-1)--(1,6)); draw((-1,4)--(6,4)); draw((-1,3)--(6,3)); draw((-1,2)--(6,2)); draw((-1,1)--(6,1)); draw((0,-1)--(0,6)); draw((-1,5)--(6,5)); draw((-1,0)--(6,0)); draw((5,-1)--(5,6)); [/asy] We can now count the number of black and white tiles; 32 black tiles and 17 white tiles. This means the answer is $\boxed{\textbf{(D) }32:17}$.

See Also

2011 AMC 8 (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 2
Followed by
Problem 4
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 AJHSME/AMC 8 Problems and Solutions

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