1997 AJHSME Problems/Problem 20

Problem

A pair of 8-sided dice have sides numbered 1 through 8. Each side has the same probability (chance) of landing face up. The probability that the product of the two numbers that land face-up exceeds 36 is

$\text{(A)}\ \dfrac{5}{32} \qquad \text{(B)}\ \dfrac{11}{64} \qquad \text{(C)}\ \dfrac{3}{16} \qquad \text{(D)}\ \dfrac{1}{4} \qquad \text{(E)}\ \dfrac{1}{2}$

Solution

There are $8 \times 8 = 64$ combinations to examine.

If one die is $1$ , then even with an $8$ on the other die, no combinations will work.

If one die is $2$ , then even with an $8$ on the other die, no combinations will work.

If one die is $3$ , then even with an $8$ on the other die, no combinations will work.

If one die is $4$ , then even with an $8$ on the other die, no combinations will work.

If one die is $5$ , then the other die must be an $8$ to have a product over $36$ . Thus, $(5,8)$ works.

If one die is $6$ , then the other die must be either $7$ or $8$ to have a product over $36$ . Thus, $(6, 7)$ and $(6, 8)$ both work.

If one die is $7$ , then the other die can be $6, 7,$ or $8$ to have a product over $36$ . Thus, $(7, 6)$ , $(7, 7)$ , and $(7, 8)$ all work.

If one die is $8$ , then the other die can be $5, 6, 7,$ or $8$ to have a product over $36$ . Thus, $(8, 5), (8,6), (8,7),$ and $(8,8)$ work.

There are a total of $1 + 2 + 3 + 4 = 10$ combinations that work out of a total of $64$ possibilities.

Thus, the answer is $\frac{10}{64} = \frac{5}{32}$ , and the answer is $\boxed{A}$

But this may be slightly complicated, so you can also do solution 2 (scroll to bottom).

Solution 2

Make a chart with all products. 10 work out of 64. Simplify for 5/32 or $\boxed{A}$ .

1997 AJHSME (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by Problem 19	Followed by Problem 21
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1997 AJHSME Problems/Problem 20

Contents

Problem

Solution

Solution 2

See also