Difference between revisions of "2019 AMC 10A Problems/Problem 3"

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Solution by Baolan
 
Solution by Baolan
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==Solution 2==
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Simple guess and check works. Start with all the square numbers - 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, etc. (probably cap off at like 100 since at that point it wouldn't make sense) If Ana is 9, then Bonita is 3, so their ages were 4x apart the year prior. If Ana is 16, then Bonita is 4, and thus their ages were 5x apart the year prior, which is what we are trying to find. The difference in the ages is 16 - 4 = 12.
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iron
  
 
==See Also==
 
==See Also==

Revision as of 21:31, 11 February 2019

Problem

Ana and Bonita were born on the same date in different years, $n$ years apart. Last year Ana was $5$ times as old as Bonita. This year Ana's age is the square of Bonita's age. What is $n?$

$\textbf{(A) } 3 \qquad\textbf{(B) } 5 \qquad\textbf{(C) } 9 \qquad\textbf{(D) } 12 \qquad\textbf{(E) } 15$

Solution

Let $A$ be the age of Ana and $B$ be the age of Bonita. Then,

\[A-1 = 5(B-1)\] and \[A = B^2.\]

Substituting the second equation into the first gives us

\[B^2-1 = 5(B-1).\]

By using difference of squares and dividing, $B=4.$ Moreover, $A=B^2=16.$

The answer is $16-4 = 12 \implies \boxed{\textbf{(D)}}.$

Solution by Baolan

Solution 2

Simple guess and check works. Start with all the square numbers - 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, etc. (probably cap off at like 100 since at that point it wouldn't make sense) If Ana is 9, then Bonita is 3, so their ages were 4x apart the year prior. If Ana is 16, then Bonita is 4, and thus their ages were 5x apart the year prior, which is what we are trying to find. The difference in the ages is 16 - 4 = 12.

iron

See Also

2019 AMC 10A (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 AMC 10 Problems and Solutions

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