The MATHEMATICAL ASSOCIATION of AMERICA

American Mathematics Competitions

60th Annual American Mathematics Contest 12

AMC 12
Contest B
Solutions Pamphlet
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
This Pamphlet gives at least one solution for each problem on this year’s contest and
shows that all problems can be solved without the use of a calculator. When more than
one solution is provided, this is done to illustrate a significant contrast in methods, e.g.,
algebraic vs geometric, computational vs conceptual, elementary vs advanced. These solu-
tions are by no means the only ones possible, nor are they superior to others the reader
may devise.
We hope that teachers will inform their students about these solutions, both as illustrations
of the kinds of ingenuity needed to solve nonroutine problems and as examples of good
mathematical exposition. However, the publication, reproduction or communication of the
problems or solutions of the AMC 12 during the period when students are eligible to participate
seriously jeopardizes the integrity of the results. Dissemination via copier, telephone, e-mail, World
Wide Web or media of any type during this period is a violation of the competition rules.
After the contest period, permission to make copies of problems in paper or electronic form including posting on web-
pages for educational use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial
advantage and that copies bear the copyright notice.
Correspondence about the problems/solutions for this AMC 12 and orders for any publications should be addressed to:
American Mathematics Competitions
University of Nebraska, P.O. Box 81606, Lincoln, NE 68501-1606
Phone: 402-472-2257; Fax: 402-472-6087; email: [email protected]

The problems and solutions for this AMC 12 were prepared by the MAA’s Committee on the
AMC 10 and AMC 12 under the direction of AMC 12 Subcommittee Chair:

Prof. Bernardo Abrego, Dept. of Mathematics

California State University-Northridge, Northridge, CA 91330-8313
Copyright © 2009, The Mathematical Association of America
 Solutions 2009 60th AMC 12 B 2

1. Answer (B): Make a table for the cost of the muffins and bagels:

Cost of Muffins Cost of Bagels Total Cost

0 · 0.50 = 0.00 5 · 0.75 = 3.75 3.75
1 · 0.50 = 0.50 4 · 0.75 = 3.00 3.50
2 · 0.50 = 1.00 3 · 0.75 = 2.25 3.25
3 · 0.50 = 1.50 2 · 0.75 = 1.50 3.00
4 · 0.50 = 2.00 1 · 0.75 = 0.75 2.75
5 · 0.50 = 2.50 0 · 0.75 = 0.00 2.50

The only combination which is a whole number of dollars is the cost of 3 muffins
and 2 bagels.

2. Answer (C): The loss of 3 cans of paint resulted in 5 fewer rooms being
painted, so the ratio of cans of paint to rooms painted is 3 : 5. Hence for 25
rooms she would require 35 · 25 = 15 cans of paint.

OR

x+3 x
If she used x cans of paint for 25 rooms, then 30 = 25 . Hence 25x + 75 = 30x,
and x = 15.

3. Answer (D): Twenty percent less than 60 is 54 · 60 = 48. One-third more than
a number n is 43 n. Therefore 43 n = 48, and the number is 36.

4. Answer (C): Each triangle has leg length 12 · (25 − 15) = 5 meters and area
1 2 25
2 · 5 = 2 square meters. Thus the flower beds have a total area of 25 square
meters. The entire yard has length 25 and width 5, so its area is 125. The
25
fraction of the yard occupied by the flower beds is 125 = 51 .

5. Answer (D): The age of each person is a factor of 128 = 27 . So the twins could
be 20 = 1, 21 = 2, 22 = 4, 23 = 8 years of age and, consequently, Kiana could
be 128 128 128 128
12 = 128, 22 = 32, 42 = 8, or 82 = 2 years old, respectively. Because
Kiana is younger than her brothers, she must be 2 years old. The sum of their
ages is 2 + 8 + 8 = 18.

6. Answer (C): The three operations can be performed in any of 3! = 6 orders.

However, if the addition is performed either first or last, then multiplying in
either order produces the same result. Thus at most four distinct values can be
obtained. It is easily checked that the values of the four expressions

(2 × 3) + (4 × 5) = 26,
 Solutions 2009 60th AMC 12 B 3

((2 × 3 + 4) × 5) = 50,
2 × (3 + (4 × 5)) = 46,
2 × (3 + 4) × 5 = 70

are in fact all distinct.

7. Answer (B): Let p denote the price at the beginning of January. The price at
the end of March was (1.2)(0.8)(1.25)p = 1.2p. Because the price at the end of
April was p, the price decreased by 0.2p during April, and the percent decrease
was
0.2p 100
x = 100 · = ≈ 16.7 .
1.2p 6
To the nearest integer, x is 17.

8. Answer (E): Let x be the weight of the bucket and let y be the weight of the
water in a full bucket. Then we are given that x + 23 y = a and x + 12 y = b.
Hence 16 y = a − b, so y = 6a − 6b. Thus x = b − 12 (6a − 6b) = −3a + 4b. Finally,
x + y = 3a − 2b.

OR

The difference between a kg and b kg is the weight of water that would fill 16
of a bucket. So the weight of water that would fill 12 of a bucket is 3(a − b).
Therefore the weight of a bucket filled with water is b + 3(a − b) = 3a − 2b.

9. Answer (A): Because the line x + y = 7 is parallel to AB, the area of 4ABC
is independent of the location of C on the line. Therefore it may be assumed
that C = (7, 0). In that case the triangle has base AC = 4 and altitude 3, so its
area is 21 · 4 · 3 = 6.

OR

√ √
The base of the triangle is AB = 32 + 32 = 3 2. Its altitude is the distance
between the point A and the parallel line x + y = 7, which is

|3 + 0 − 7| √
√ = 2 2.
2
1 +1 2

1
√ √
Therefore its area is 2 · 3 2 · 2 2 = 6.

10. Answer (A): The clock will display the incorrect time for the entire hours
of 1, 10, 11, and 12. So the correct hour is displayed correctly 23 of the time.
 Solutions 2009 60th AMC 12 B 4

The minutes will not display correctly whenever either the tens digit or the ones
digit is a 1, so the minutes that will not display correctly are 10, 11, 12, . . . ,
19, and 01, 21, 31, 41, and 51. This is 15 of the 60 possible minutes for a given
hour. Hence the fraction of the day that the clock shows the correct time is
2 15 2 3 1
3 · (1 − 60 ) = 3 · 4 = 2 .

11. Answer (D): On Monday, day 1, the birds find 41 quart of millet in the feeder.
On Tuesday they find
1 3 1
+ ·
4 4 4
quarts of millet. On Wednesday, day 3, they find
µ ¶2
1 3 1 3 1
+ · + ·
4 4 4 4 4

quarts of millet. The number of quarts of millet they find on day n is

µ ¶2 µ ¶n−1 µ ¶n
1 3 1 3 1 3 1 ( 14 )(1 − ( 34 )n ) 3
+ · + · + ··· + · = 3 =1− .
4 4 4 4 4 4 4 1− 4 4

The birds always find 34 quart of other seeds, so more than half the seeds are
millet if 1 − ( 34 )n > 34 , that is, when ( 34 )n < 14 . Because ( 34 )4 = 256
81
> 41 and
3 5 243 1
( 4 ) = 1024 < 4 , this will first occur on day 5 which is Friday.

12. Answer (E): Let the nth term of the series be arn−1 . Because

8! ar7
= 4 = r3 = 8,
7! ar
7! 7!
it follows that r = 2 and the first term is a = r4 = 16 = 315.

13. Answer
√ (D): Let D be
√ the foot of the altitude to BC. Then BD =
132 − 122 = 5 and DC = 152 − 122 = 9. Thus BC = BD+DC = 5+9 = 14
or BC = DC−BD = 9−5 = 4. The sum of the two possible values is 14+4 = 18.

A A

B D C D B C
 Solutions 2009 60th AMC 12 B 5

14. Answer (C): The area of the entire region is 5. The shaded region consists of a
triangle with base 3 − a and altitude 3, with one unit square removed. Therefore

3(3 − a) 5
−1= .
2 2
Solving this equation yields a = 23 .

15. Answer (B):

Rearrange the equations to the form

log( 73 )
x= .
log (1 + f (r))

Because f (r) is positive, for each answer choice, x will be largest when f (r) is
r 2
the smallest. Because√r > 0, we have 10 √ < r < 2r. Because r < 9 < 10 we
r 1 r
have 10 < r . Finally, r < 10, so 10 < r .

16. Answer (B): Extend AB and DC to meet at E. Then

∠BED = 180◦ − ∠EDB − ∠DBE

= 180◦ − 134◦ − 23◦ = 23◦ .

Thus 4BDE is isosceles with DE = BD. Because AD k BC, it follows that

the triangles BCD and ADE are similar. Therefore
9 BC CD + DE CD
= = = + 1 = CD + 1,
5 AD DE BD
so CD = 54 .

OR

Let E be the intersection of BC and the line through D parallel to AB. By

construction BE = AD and ∠BDE = 23◦ ; it follows that DE is the bisector of
the angle BDC. By the Bisector Theorem we get
CD EC BC − BE BC 9 4
CD = = = = −1= −1= .
BD BE BE AD 5 5
 Solutions 2009 60th AMC 12 B 6

C B C B
E
23 23
23 23
46

D A D A

23

17. Answer (B): The stripe on each face of the cube will be oriented in one
of two possible directions, so there are 26 = 64 possible stripe combinations
on the cube. There are 3 pairs of parallel faces so, if there is an encircling
stripe, then the pair of faces that do not contribute uniquely determine the
stripe orientation for the remaining faces. In addition, the stripe on each face
that does not contribute may be oriented in 2 different ways. Thus a total of
3 · 2 · 2 = 12 stripe combinations on the cube result in a continuous stripe around
12 3
the cube, and the requested probability is 64 = 16 .

OR

Without loss of generality, orient the cube so that the stripe on the top face
goes from front to back. There are two mutually exclusive ways for there to
be an encircling stripe: either the front, bottom, and back faces are painted to
complete an encircling stripe with the top face’s stripe, or the front, right, back,
and left faces are painted to form an encircling stripe. The probability of the
first cases is ( 12 )3 = 18 , and the probability of the second case is ( 12 )4 = 16
1
, so
1 1 3
the answer is 8 + 16 = 16 .

OR

There are three possible orientations of an encircling stripe. For any one of these
to appear, the four faces through which the stripe is to pass must be properly
¡ ¢4
aligned. The probability of one such stripe alignment is 12 = 16 1
. Because
there are
¡1¢ 3 such possibilities, and these events are disjoint, the total probability
3
is 3 16 = 16 .

18. Answer (C): After 10 min. = 600 sec., Rachel will have completed 6 laps and
 Solutions 2009 60th AMC 12 B 7

be 30 seconds from the finish line. Because Rachel runs one-fourth of a lap in
22.5 seconds, she will be in the picture taking region between
22.5 22.5
30 − = 18.75 and 30 + = 41.25
2 2
seconds of the 10th minute. After 10 minutes Robert will have completed 7 laps
and will be 40 seconds from the starting line. Because Robert runs one-fourth
of a lap in 20 seconds, he will be in the picture taking region between 30 and
50 seconds of the 10th minute. Hence both Rachel and Robert will be in the
picture if it is taken between 30 and 41.25 seconds of the 10th minute. The
probability that the picture is snapped during this time is
41.25 − 30 3
= .
60 16

19. Answer (E): Note that f (n) = n4 +40n2 +400−400n2 = (n2 +20)2 −(20n)2 =
(n2 + 20n + 20)(n2 − 20n + 20). Because the first factor is greater than 1, the
product cannot be prime unless the second factor is 1. The solutions of the
equation n2 −20n+20 = 1 are 1 and 19. The values of f (1) = 12 +20·1+20 = 41
and f (19) = 192 + 20 · 19 + 20 = 761 are prime, and the requested sum is
41 + 761 = 802.

20. Answer (C): Each edge of Q is cut by two planes, so R has 200 vertices.
Three edges of R meet at each vertex, so R has 12 · 3 · 200 = 300 edges.

OR

At each vertex, as many new edges are created by this process as there are
original edges meeting that vertex. Thus the total number of new edges is the
total number of endpoints of the original edges, which is 200. A middle portion
of each original edge is also present in R, so R has 100 + 200 = 300 edges.

OR

Euler’s Polyhedron Formula applied to Q gives n − 100 + F = 2, where F is the

number of faces of Q. Each edge of Q is cut by two planes, so R has 200 vertices.
Each cut by a plane Pk creates an additional face on R, so Euler’s Polyhedron
Formula applied to R gives 200 − E + (F + n) = 2, where E is the number of
edges of R. Subtracting the first equation from the second gives 300 − E = 0,
so E = 300.

21. Answer (A): Let Sn denote the number of ways that n women in n seats can
be reseated so that each woman reseats herself in the seat she occupied before
 Solutions 2009 60th AMC 12 B 8

or a seat next to it. It is easy to see that S1 = 1 and S2 = 2. Now consider

the case with n ≥ 3 women, and focus on the woman at the right end of the
line. If this woman sits again in this end seat, then the remaining n − 1 women
can reseat themselves in Sn−1 ways. If this end woman sits in the seat next
to hers, then the former occupant of this new seat must sit on the end. Then
the remaining n − 2 women can seat themselves in Sn−2 ways. Thus for n ≥ 3,
Sn = Sn−1 + Sn−2 . Therefore (S1 , S2 , . . . , S10 ) = (1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89),
which are some of the first few terms of the Fibonacci Sequence. Thus S10 = 89.

22. Answer (C): Let B = (b, b) and D = (d, kd), so C = (b + d, b + kd). Let
E = (b + d, 0) and F = (0, b + kd). Rectangle AECF is the disjoint union of
parallelogram ABCD, two rectangles with length d and height b, two isosceles
right triangles with leg length b, and two right triangles with leg lengths d and
kd. It follows that the area of ABCD is
(b + d)(b + kd) − 2bd − b2 − kd2 = (k − 1)bd.
Therefore each parallelogram with the required properties determines, and is
determined by, an ordered triple (k − 1, b, d) of positive integers whose product
is 1,000,000 = 26 56 . The number of ¡ways to
¢ distribute
¡ 8¢ the six factors of 2 among
the three integers k − 1, b, and d is 6+3−1
3−1 = 2 = 28. The six factors of 5 can
also be distributed in 28 ways, so there are 282 = 784 parallelograms with the
required property.

OR

The area of a triangle with vertices (x1 , y1 ), (x2 , y2 ), (x3 , y3 ) is

¯ ¯
¯ x1 y1 1 ¯
1¯¯ ¯ 1
¯ x2 y2 1 ¯¯ = |x1 (y2 − y3 ) + x2 (y3 − y1 ) + x3 (y1 − y2 )|
2¯ 2
x3 y3 1 ¯
Thus the area of 4ABD is 21 (k −1)bd and the area of 4CBD is the same. Then
proceed as in the first solution.

23. Answer (D): Let f (z) = ( 34 + 43 i)z. The effect of multiplying z by ( 34 + 34 i) is

to rotate z an angle equal to arg( 34 + 43 i) = π4 from the origin, and to magnify
¯ ¯ √
by a factor of ¯ 34 + 34 i¯ = 34 2. Thus the image S 0 of S under f is a square
√
region with vertices ± 23 and ± 32 i. The area of S 0 is ( 34 2 · 2)2 . The intersection
of S and S 0 is an octagonal region obtained from S 0 by removing four congruent
triangular regions. The topmost of these triangles T has vertices 12 + i, 23 i, and
− 12 + i, so its area equals 14 . Then the requested probability is
¡3√ ¢2
4 2·2 − 4 · 14 7
¡3√ ¢2 = .
2·2 9
4
 Solutions 2009 60th AMC 12 B 9

3
2
i

1
– 12 +i 1
+i
2

{1
1

{1

OR

The product is ( 34 + 34 i)(x + iy) = ( 34 x − 43 y) + ( 34 x + 34 y)i. The point x + iy

will be in S if and only if −1 ≤ 34 x − 43 y ≤ 1 and −1 ≤ 34 x + 34 y ≤ 1, which
are equivalent to − 43 ≤ x − y ≤ 43 and − 43 ≤ x + y ≤ 43 . Thus x + yi must be
inside the square with vertices ± 43 and ± 43 i. By symmetry we can look at just
the first quadrant. Because the portion of S in the first quadrant has area 1,
the desired probability is the area of the portion of the interior of this square
within S. The squares intersect at 1 + 13 i and 13 + i, so the desired probability
is 1 − 21 · 23 · 23 = 79 .

1 1
3
+i

1+ 13 i
{1
1 4
3

{1
 Solutions 2009 60th AMC 12 B 10

24. Answer (B): Let f (x) = sin−1 (sin 6x) and g(x) = cos−1 (cos x). If 0 ≤
x ≤ π, ¡then ¡ g(x) ¢¢ = x. If 0 ≤ ¡ x¡ ≤ π/12
¢¢ , then f (x) = 6x. ¡ ¡ Note ¢¢also
that sin 6 π6 − x = sin 6x, sin 6 π3 − x = − sin 6x, and sin 6 π3 + x =
sin 6x, from which it follows that f ( π6 − x) = f (x), f ( π3 − x) = −f (x), and
f ( π3 + x) = f (x). Thus the graph of y = f (x) has period π3 and consists
π π
of line segments with slopes of 6 or −6 and endpoints at ((4k + 1) 12 , 2 ) and
π π
((4k + 3) 12 , − 2 ) for integer values of k. The graphs of f and g intersect twice
in the interval [0, π6 ] and twice more in the interval [ π3 , π2 ]. If π2 < x ≤ π, then
g(x) = x > π2 , so the graphs of f and g do not intersect.

OR

In the range [0, π], we have cos−1 (cos x) = x. Since the range of sin−1 x is
[− π2 , π2 ], it suffices to solve the equation sin−1 (sin(6x)) = x on the interval
[0, π2 ]. Since sin x is one-to-one in [0, π2 ], we can consider the equivalent equation
sin(sin−1 (sin(6x))) = sin x, or sin(6x) = sin x. Let f (x) = sin(6x) and g(x) =
π
sin x. Note that f (0) = 0, f ( 12 ) = 1, f ( π4 ) = −1, f ( 5π π
12 ) = 1, and f ( 2 ) = 0.
π π 5π π π
Moreover f (x) is increasing on (0, 12 ) and ( 4 , 12 ), and decreasing on ( 12 , 4 ) and
( 5π π π π
12 , 2 ). Similarly g(0) = 0, g( 2 ) = 1, and g(x) is increasing on [0, 2 ]. Thus the
π π
graphs of y = f (x) and y = g(x) intersect at x = 0, once in the interval [ 12 , 4 ],
π 5π 5π π
once in the interval [ 4 , 12 ], and once more in the interval [ 12 , 2 ]. Therefore
there are 4 solutions to the given equation.

  
6 3 2

{1

25. Answer (E): Let Gi be the subset of G contained in the ith quadrant,
√ 1≤i≤
4. For a fixed i, the maximum distance among points in Gi is 4 2 < 6, also the
distance from a point in Gi to a point in Gj 6= Gi is at least 6. Thus the required
squares are exactly the squares in G with exactly one vertex in each of the Gi .
Let S = p1 p2 p3 p4 be a square with vertices pi ∈ Gi . Let p01 = p1 + (−5, −5),
 Solutions 2009 60th AMC 12 B 11

p02 = p2 + (5, −5), p03 = p3 + (5, 5), and p04 = p4 + (−5, 5). Observe that p01 ,
p02 , p03 , and p04 are all lattice points inside the square region G0 defined by the
points (x, y) with |x|, |y| ≤ 2; moreover, by symmetry, S 0 = p01 p02 p03 p04 is either
a square or p01 = p02 = p03 = p04 . Reciprocally, if S 0 = p01 p02 p03 p04 is a square in
G0 , then the points p1 = p01 + (5, 5), p2 = p02 + (−5, 5), p3 = p03 + (−5, −5), and
p4 = p04 + (5, −5) satisfy that pi ∈ Gi and S = p1 p2 p3 p4 is a square. The same
conclusion holds if p01 = p02 = p03 = p04 . Therefore the required count consists of
the number of points in G0 plus four times the number of squares with vertices
in G0 .

There are 52 points in G0 and the following√ number of squares with vertices in
G0 : 42 of side 1, 32 of side 2, 32 of √
side 2 (each inscribed in a unique square of
side 2), 22 of side 3, 2 · 22 of side
√ 5 (exactly two inscribed
√ in every square of
side 3), 12 of side 4, 12 of side 2 2, and 2 · 12 of side 10 (exactly two inscribed
in the square of side 4). Thus the answer is

52 + 4 · (42 + 2 · 32 + 3 · 22 + 4 · 12 ) = 25 + 4 · 50 = 225.

The problems and solutions in this contest were proposed by Bernardo Ábrego,
Betsy Bennett, Thomas Butts, Gerald Bergum, Steve Dunbar, Sister Josanne Furey,
Gregory Galperin, John Haverhals, Jerrold Grossman, Elgin Johnston, Joe Kennedy,
David Wells, and LeRoy Wenstrom.
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