Art of Problem Solving

2007 AMC 12A Problems/Problem 7: Difference between revisions

1=2 (talk | contribs)
No edit summary
 
wikify
Line 1: Line 1:
==Problem==
==Problem==
Let a, b, c, d, and e be five consecutive terms in an arithmetic sequence, and suppose that a+b+c+d+e=30. Which of a, b, c, d, or e can be found?
Let <math>a, b, c, d</math>, and <math>e</math> be five consecutive terms in an arithmetic sequence, and suppose that <math>a+b+c+d+e=30</math>. Which of <math>a, b, c, d,</math> or <math>e</math> can be found?
 
<math>\textrm{(A)} \ a\qquad \textrm{(B)}\ b\qquad \textrm{(C)}\ c\qquad \textrm{(D)}\ d\qquad \textrm{(E)}\ e</math>


==Solution==
==Solution==
* a=c-2f
Let <math>f</math> be the common difference between the terms.
* b=c-f
* c=c
* d=c+f
* e=c+2f
* a+b+c+d+e=5c=30
* c=6
* But we can't find any more variables, because we don't know what f is.


* <math>a=c-2f</math>
* <math>b\displaystyle =c-f</math>
* <math>c\displaystyle =c</math>
* <math>d\displaystyle =c+f</math>
* <math>e=c+2f</math>
<math>a+b+c+d+e=5c=30</math>, so <math>c=6</math>. But we can't find any more variables, because we don't know what <math>f</math> is. So the answer is <math>\textrm{A}</math>.


==See also==
==See also==
* [[2007 AMC 12A Problems/Problem 6 | Previous problem]]
{{AMC12 box|year=2007|num-b=6|num-a=8|ab=A}}
* [[2007 AMC 12A Problems/Problem 8 | Next problem]]
* [[2007 AMC 12A Problems]]

Revision as of 10:32, 9 September 2007

Problem

Let $a, b, c, d$, and $e$ be five consecutive terms in an arithmetic sequence, and suppose that $a+b+c+d+e=30$. Which of $a, b, c, d,$ or $e$ can be found?

$\textrm{(A)} \ a\qquad \textrm{(B)}\ b\qquad \textrm{(C)}\ c\qquad \textrm{(D)}\ d\qquad \textrm{(E)}\ e$

Solution

Let $f$ be the common difference between the terms.

  • $a=c-2f$
  • $b\displaystyle =c-f$
  • $c\displaystyle =c$
  • $d\displaystyle =c+f$
  • $e=c+2f$

$a+b+c+d+e=5c=30$, so $c=6$. But we can't find any more variables, because we don't know what $f$ is. So the answer is $\textrm{A}$.

See also

2007 AMC 12A (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 6
Followed by
Problem 8
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