2015 AMC 12A Problems

Problem 1

What is the value of $(2^0-1+5^2-0)^{-1}\times5?$

Problem 5

Amelia needs to estimate the quantity $\frac{a}{b} - c$, where $a, b,$ and $c$ are large positive integers. She rounds each of the integers so that the calculation will be easier to do mentally. In which of these situations will her answer necessarily be greater than the exact value of $\frac{a}{b} - c$?

Problem 7

Two right circular cylinders have the same volume. The radius of the second cylinder is $10\%$ more than the radius of the first. What is the relationship between the heights of the two cylinders?

Problem 9

A box contains 2 red marbles, 2 green marbles, and 2 yellow marbles. Carol takes 2 marbles from the box at random; then Claudia takes 2 of the remaining marbles at random; and then Cheryl takes the last 2 marbles. What is the probability that Cheryl gets 2 marbles of the same color?

Problem 11

On a sheet of paper, Isabella draws a circle of radius $2$, a circle of radius $3$, and all possible lines simultaneously tangent to both circles. Isabella notices that she has drawn exactly $k \ge 0$ lines. How many different values of $k$ are possible?

Problem 13

A league with 12 teams holds a round-robin tournament, with each team playing every other team exactly once. Games either end with one team victorious or else end in a draw. A team scores 2 points for every game it wins and 1 point for every game it draws. Which of the following is NOT a true statement about the list of 12 scores?

Problem 15

What is the minimum number of digits to the right of the decimal point needed to express the fraction $\frac{123456789}{2^{26}\cdot 5^4}$ as a decimal?

Problem 17

Eight people are sitting around a circular table, each holding a fair coin. All eight people flip their coins and those who flip heads stand while those who flip tails remain seated. What is the probability that no two adjacent people will stand?

Problem 19

For some positive integers $p$, there is a quadrilateral $ABCD$ with positive integer side lengths, perimeter $p$, right angles at $B$ and $C$, $AB=2$, and $CD=AD$. How many different values of $p<2015$ are possible?

Problem 21

A circle of radius $r$ passes through both foci of, and exactly four points on, the ellipse with equation $x^2+16y^2=16$. The set of all possible values of $r$ is an interval $[a,b)$. What is $a+b$?

Problem 23

Let $S$ be a square of side length 1. Two points are chosen independently at random on the sides of $S$. The probability that the straight-line distance between the points is at least $\frac12$ is $\frac{a-b\pi}{c}$, where $a,b,$ and $c$ are positive integers and $\text{gcd}(a,b,c) = 1$. What is $a+b+c$?

Problem 25

A collection of circles in the upper half-plane, all tangent to the $x$-axis, is constructed in layers as follows. Layer $L_0$ consists of two circles of radii $70^2$ and $73^2$ that are externally tangent. For $k>=1$, the circles in $\bigcup_{j=0}^{k-1}L_j$ are ordered according to their points of tangency with the $x$-axis. For every pair of consecutive circles in this order, a new circle is constructed externally tangent to each of the two circles in the pair. Layer $L_k$ consists of the $2^{k-1}$ circles constructed in this way. Let $S=\bigcup_{j=0}^{6}L_j$, and for every circle $C$ denote by $r(C)$ its radius. What is $$\sum_{C\in S} \frac{1}{\sqrt{r(C)}}?$$

DIAGRAM NEEDED

$\textbf{(A)}\ \frac{286}{35} \qquad\textbf{(B)}\ \frac{583}{70} \qquad\textbf{(C)}\ \frac{715}{73} \qquad\textbf{(D)}}\ \frac{143}{14} \qquad\textbf{(E)}\ \frac{1573}{146}$ (Error compiling LaTeX. ! Extra }, or forgotten \$.)