Difference between revisions of "2017 AMC 12A Problems/Problem 6"

m (Solution)
(Problem)
Line 2: Line 2:
  
 
Joy has <math>30</math> thin rods, one each of every integer length from <math>1 \text{ cm}</math> through <math>30 \text{ cm}</math>. She places the rods with lengths <math>3 \text{ cm}</math>, <math>7 \text{ cm}</math>, and <math>15 \text{cm}</math> on a table. She then wants to choose a fourth rod that she can put with these three to form a quadrilateral with positive area. How many of the remaining rods can she choose as the fourth rod?
 
Joy has <math>30</math> thin rods, one each of every integer length from <math>1 \text{ cm}</math> through <math>30 \text{ cm}</math>. She places the rods with lengths <math>3 \text{ cm}</math>, <math>7 \text{ cm}</math>, and <math>15 \text{cm}</math> on a table. She then wants to choose a fourth rod that she can put with these three to form a quadrilateral with positive area. How many of the remaining rods can she choose as the fourth rod?
 
  
 
<math>\textbf{(A)}\ 16 \qquad\textbf{(B)}\ 17 \qquad\textbf{(C)}\ 18 \qquad\textbf{(D)}\ 19  \qquad\textbf{(E)}\ 20</math>
 
<math>\textbf{(A)}\ 16 \qquad\textbf{(B)}\ 17 \qquad\textbf{(C)}\ 18 \qquad\textbf{(D)}\ 19  \qquad\textbf{(E)}\ 20</math>

Revision as of 23:32, 8 February 2017

Problem

Joy has $30$ thin rods, one each of every integer length from $1 \text{ cm}$ through $30 \text{ cm}$. She places the rods with lengths $3 \text{ cm}$, $7 \text{ cm}$, and $15 \text{cm}$ on a table. She then wants to choose a fourth rod that she can put with these three to form a quadrilateral with positive area. How many of the remaining rods can she choose as the fourth rod?

$\textbf{(A)}\ 16 \qquad\textbf{(B)}\ 17 \qquad\textbf{(C)}\ 18 \qquad\textbf{(D)}\ 19  \qquad\textbf{(E)}\ 20$

Solution

The quadrilateral cannot be a straight line. Thus, the fourth side must be longer than $15 - (3 + 7) = 5$ and shorter than $15 + 3 + 7$ = 25. This means Joy can use the 19 possible integer rod lengths that fall into $[6, 24]$. However, she has already used the rods of length $7$ cm and $15$ cm so the answer is $19 - 2 = 17$ $\boxed{\textbf{(B)}}$

See Also

2017 AMC 12A (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 5
Followed by
Problem 7
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