Art of Problem Solving

2024 AMC 12B Problems/Problem 6: Difference between revisions

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The national debt of the United States is on track to reach <math>5\times10^{13}</math> dollars by <math>2023</math>. How many digits does this number of dollars have when written as a numeral in base 5? (The approximation of <math>\log_{10} 5</math> as <math>0.7</math> is sufficient for this problem)
The national debt of the United States is on track to reach <math>5\times10^{13}</math> dollars by <math>2023</math>. How many digits does this number of dollars have when written as a numeral in base 5? (The approximation of <math>\log_{10} 5</math> as <math>0.7</math> is sufficient for this problem)


<math>\textbf{(A) } 18 \qquad\textbf{(B) } 20 \qquad\textbf{(C) } 21 \qquad\textbf{(D) } 24 \qquad\textbf{(E) } 26</math>
<math>\textbf{(A) } 18 \qquad\textbf{(B) } 20 \qquad\textbf{(C) } 22 \qquad\textbf{(D) } 24 \qquad\textbf{(E) } 26</math>
 
==Solution==
 
The number of digits is just <math>\lceil \log_{5} 5\times 10^{13} \rceil</math>.
Note that
<cmath>\log_{5} 5\times 10^{13}=1+\frac{13}{\log_{10} 5}</cmath>
<cmath>\approx 1+\frac{13}{0.7}</cmath>
<cmath>\approx 19.5</cmath>
 
Hence, our answer is <math>\textbf{(B) } 20</math>

Revision as of 01:19, 14 November 2024

Problem 6

The national debt of the United States is on track to reach $5\times10^{13}$ dollars by $2023$. How many digits does this number of dollars have when written as a numeral in base 5? (The approximation of $\log_{10} 5$ as $0.7$ is sufficient for this problem)

$\textbf{(A) } 18 \qquad\textbf{(B) } 20 \qquad\textbf{(C) } 22 \qquad\textbf{(D) } 24 \qquad\textbf{(E) } 26$

Solution

The number of digits is just $\lceil \log_{5} 5\times 10^{13} \rceil$. Note that \[\log_{5} 5\times 10^{13}=1+\frac{13}{\log_{10} 5}\] \[\approx 1+\frac{13}{0.7}\] \[\approx 19.5\]

Hence, our answer is $\textbf{(B) } 20$