Questions – Junior Division

1. The value of 2 + 0 + 1 + 7 is
(A) 10 (B) 19 (C) 37 (D) 208 (E) 2017

2. What is the value of x in the diagram?

(A) 20 (B) 70 (C) 80 20◦
(D) 110 (E) 160 x◦

3. This rectangle is 3.2 m wide and 3 m tall. Its area is

(A) 9.6 m2 (B) 15 m2 (C) 90.6 m2
(D) 9.2 m2 (E) 6.5 m2 3m

3.2 m

4. Starting with 13, and counting by fives, you count 13, 18, 23, and so on. Which one
of the following numbers will be one of the numbers you count?
(A) 47 (B) 48 (C) 49 (D) 50 (E) 51

5. What fraction of these circles are shaded?

1 1 2 3 9
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)
2 3 3 4 16

6. Of the following, which digit could be put in the box to make this three-digit number
divisible by 3?

1 7
(A) 1 (B) 3 (C) 6 (D) 8 (E) 9

7. A pump runs for 150 minutes, using 8 litres of biodiesel. For how many hours can it
run with 32 litres of biodiesel?
(A) 6 (B) 7 (C) 8 (D) 10 (E) 12

12 2017 AMC — Junior Questions

 8. Jonah returned from the shop with a bag carrying 780 g of fish, 1.35 kg of vegetables,
and 680 g of fruit for his mother. The bag itself weighed 150 g. The total weight, in
kilograms, that Jonah carried was
(A) 1.745 (B) 2 (C) 2.81 (D) 2.96 (E) 3

9. 1000% of 1 is
(A) 0.1 (B) 1 (C) 10 (D) 100 (E) 1000

10. Which one of the following numbers could be put in the box to make the fraction
between 7 and 8?

+3
6

(A) 47 (B) 25 (C) 32 (D) 37 (E) 41

11. Alice is playing with words. At each tick of her grandfather’s clock she swaps two
letters. What is the smallest number of clock ticks during which she can change
WORDS to SWORD?
(A) 3 (B) 4 (C) 6 (D) 7 (E) 8

12. This pinwheel star is formed by rotating a right-angled tri-

angle around one of its corners. What is the angle at each
of the nine tips that are marked with dots?
(A) 30◦ (B) 40◦ (C) 45◦
(D) 50◦ (E) 60◦

13. I have twelve paint tins each capable of holding twelve litres. Half of them are half
full. A third of them are a third full. The rest are one-sixth full. How many litres of
paint do I have in total?
(A) 48 (B) 50 (C) 52 (D) 54 (E) 56

14. How many ways are there of placing a single 3 × 1 rect-

angle on this grid so that it completely covers three grid
squares?
(A) 34 (B) 28 (C) 56
(D) 40 (E) 10

2017 AMC — Junior Questions 13

 15. The time 2017 minutes after 10 am on Tuesday is closest to
(A) 7.30 pm Tuesday (B) 7.30 am Wednesday (C) 7.30 pm Wednesday
(D) 7.30 am Thursday (E) 7.30 pm Thursday

16. The bottom and left side of this triangle are divided
into 4 equal parts by the diagonal lines. What fraction
of the large triangle is shaded?
5 1 3
(A) (B) (C)
8 2 4
2 3
(D) (E)
3 5

4 5 7
17. Each of the fractions , , is in its simplest form. Which of the following could
n n n
be the value of n?
(A) 24 (B) 25 (C) 26 (D) 27 (E) 28

18. The whole numbers from 1 to 7 are to be

7
placed in the seven circles in the diagram. In
each of the three triangles drawn, the sum of
the three numbers is the same.
Two of the numbers are given.
What is X + Y ? X
(A) 5 (B) 6 (C) 7
(D) 8 (E) 9

Y 4

19. Farhad, Greg and Huong were dismantling their marble madness machine and had
2017 marbles to share. They split them so that Farhad had exactly twice as many as
Greg, and Greg had twice as many as Huong, with as few left over as possible. How
many marbles were in Farhad’s share?
(A) 1008 (B) 504 (C) 288 (D) 1344 (E) 1152

20. Whole numbers greater than 1 are arranged in A B C D E

a table in the pattern shown. In which column 2 3 4
will the number 501 be found?
5 6 7
(A) A (B) B (C) C (D) D (E) E 8 9 10
11 12 13
14 15 16
17 18 19
.. ..
. .

14 2017 AMC — Junior Questions

 21. Two rectangles overlap to create three 15
regions, each of equal area. The orig-
inal rectangles are 6 cm by 15 cm and
10 cm by 9 cm as shown. The sides of 6
the smaller shaded rectangle are each
a whole number of centimetres.
9
What is the perimeter of the smaller
shaded rectangle, in centimetres?
(A) 24 (B) 28 (C) 30 (D) 32 (E) 36
10

22. A number is a palindrome if it reads the same forwards as backwards. The number
131131 is a palindrome; also the first pair of digits (13), the middle pair of digits
(11) and the last pair of digits (31) are prime numbers. How many such 6-digit
palindromes are there?
(A) 8 (B) 9 (C) 10 (D) 11 (E) 12

23. A triangular prism is to be cut into two pieces with

a single straight cut. What is the smallest possible
total for the combined number of faces of the two
pieces?
(A) 6 (B) 8 (C) 9
(D) 10 (E) 11

24. Ike and Seb were arguing over how 120 mL of soft drink had been shared between
them.
To settle the argument, their dad poured one-third of Ike’s drink into Seb’s glass,
and then he poured one-third of Seb’s drink back into Ike’s glass. Now they have an
equal amount.
How much soft drink did Ike originally have compared to Seb?
(A) 60 mL less (B) 30 mL less (C) the same
(D) 30 mL more (E) 60 mL more

2017 AMC — Junior Questions 15

 25. A 3 × 3 grid has a pattern of black and white squares.
A pattern is called balanced if each 2 × 2 subgrid contains
exactly two squares of each colour, as seen in the first example.
The pattern in the second example is unbalanced because the
bottom-right 2 × 2 subgrid contains three white squares. balanced
Counting rotations and reflections as different, how many bal-
anced 3 × 3 patterns are there?
(A) 2 (B) 7 (C) 10 (D) 14 (E) 18
unbalanced

26. All of the digits from 0 to 9 are used to form two 5-digit numbers. What is the
smallest possible difference between these two numbers?

27. A jigsaw piece is formed from a square with a combination of ‘tabs’ and ‘slots’ on at
least two of its sides.
Pieces are either corner, edge or interior, as shown.

corner piece edge piece interior piece

(two straight sides at right angles) (one straight side) (no straight sides)

We treat two shapes as the same if one is a rotation of the other, without turning it
over. How many different shapes are possible?

28. The reverse of the number 129 is 921, and these add to 1050, which is divisible by 30.
How many three-digit numbers have the property that, when added to their reverse,
the sum is divisible by 30?

29. I have a large number of toy soldiers, which I can arrange into a rectangular array
consisting of a number of rows and a number of columns. I notice that if I remove
100 toy soldiers, then I can arrange the remaining ones into a rectangular array with
5 fewer rows and 5 more columns.
How many toy soldiers would I have to remove from the original configuration to be
able to arrange the remaining ones into a rectangular array with 11 fewer rows and
11 more columns?

30. Mike multiplied at least two consecutive integers together. He obtained a six-digit
number N . The first two digits of N are 47 and the last two digits of N are 74. What
is the sum of the integers that Mike multiplied together?

16 2017 AMC — Junior Questions

 Solutions – Junior Division

1. (Also MP1)
2 + 0 + 1 + 7 = 10,
hence (A).

2. The two angles on the left form a right angle: 20◦ + x◦ = 90◦ .
Then x◦ = 90◦ − 20◦ = 70◦ ,
hence (B).

3. The area is 3 × 3.2 = 9.6 m2 ,

hence (A).

4. The numbers counted are those that are 3 more than a multiple of 5. The units digit
of this sequence alternates between 3 and 8. Of the answers given, only 48 has one
of these units digits,
hence (B).

3
5. In each row of 4 circles, 3 are shaded, so that of the circles are shaded,
4
hence (D).

6. A number is divisible by 3 when the sum of its digits is a multiple of 3. The known
digits add to 1 + 7 = 8, which is 1 less than a multiple of 3. So the unknown digit
will be 1 more than a multiple of 3, either 1, 4 or 7. Of these, only 1 is listed,
hence (A).

7. With 32 litres, it will run 4 times longer than with 8 litres. This is 4 × 150 =
600 minutes = 10 hours,
hence (D).

8. In kilograms, 0.15 + 0.78 + 1.35 + 0.68 = 2.96,

hence (D).

9. (Also I4, S3)

100% of 1 is 1, and 1000% is 10 times greater, which is 10,
hence (C).

42 48
10. For the fraction to be between 7 = and 8 = , the numerator must be between
6 6
42 and 48. For this, the number in the box must be between 39 and 45. Of the five
numbers given, only 41 is in this range,
hence (E).

40 2017 AMC — Junior Solutions

 11. (Also I7, S6)
There are many ways to solve this with 4 swaps. For example,
words → worsd → wosrd → wsord → sword
This suggests that the answer is 4.
Suppose this isn’t the smallest: some solution with three or fewer swaps changes
WORDS to SWORD.
Each swap involves two letters, and each letter must be swapped at least
once. When swapping five objects with these conditions, the only pattern
of swaps possible is shown in the diagram: there are three swaps, one
object is swapped twice and all other objects are swapped only once. In
particular, there is a pair of objects that are swapped only with each
other.
Such a pattern of swaps can’t transform WORDS into SWORD, since there is no pair
of letters which have only been swapped with each other. Consequently the smallest
possible number of swaps is 4,
hence (B).

12. (Also S5)

360
The nine equal angles meeting at the centre of the pinwheel must each be = 40◦ .
9
Within each right-angled triangle, the angles add to 180◦ , so they are 40◦ , 90◦ and
50◦ , where 50◦ is the angle marked with a dot,
hence (D).

13. Six tins contain 6 L each. Four contain 4 L each. The two remaining contain 2 L each.
Hence the volume is 6 × 6 + 4 × 4 + 2 × 2 = 36 + 16 + 4 = 56 litres,
hence (E).

14. (Also I8)

If the rectangle is horizontal, the leftmost square can be on any of the squares in the
first 5 columns, making 5 × 4 = 20 ways.
If the rectangle is vertical, the topmost square can be in any of the first two rows,
making 7 × 2 = 14 ways.
In total, there are 20 + 14 = 34 ways,
hence (A).

15. Divide 2017 ÷ 60 = 33r37, so that 2017 minutes = 33 hours and 37 minutes. This is
1 day, 9 hours and 37 minutes. So 2017 minutes after 10 am on Tuesday is 7:37 pm
on Wednesday,
hence (C).

16. Alternative 1
Drawing vertical and horizontal lines creates a grid of 16 congruent
10 5
triangles, 10 of which are shaded. So the fraction is = ,
16 8

hence (A).

2017 AMC — Junior Solutions 41

 Alternative 2
Choose a unit so that the base and left side each have length 4. Each shaded
trapezium is the difference between two right-angled triangles, so their areas are
1 1 1 1
× 4 × 4 − × 3 × 3 = 3.5 and × 2 × 2 − × 1 × 1 = 1.5. So the total shaded
2 2 2 2
area is 5, out of a total area of 8,
hence (A).

4
17. The fraction is not in simplest form when n is even. This rules out 24, 26 and 28.
n
5
The fraction is not in simplest form when n is a multiple of 5. This rules out 25.
n
4 5 7
Checking 27, each of , and are in simplest form, since 3 is the only prime
27 27 27
factor of 27, but 3 is not a factor of 4, 5 or 7. Thus n could only be 27,
hence (D).

18. (Also UP22)

Alternative 1
Let C be the number in the centre, so that the sum on each triangle is T = X +Y +C.
Adding all three triangles gives 3T , and this includes all 7 numbers, except that the
centre number is counted three times. That is,
3T = 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 2C = 28 + 2C 7 2
For 28 + 2C to be a multiple of 3, C = 1, 4 or 7. However 4 and
7 are already in the diagram, so that C = 1. 6 1 5
Then 3T = 28 + 2 = 30, which means that T = 10 and X + Y = 9.
The diagram on the right shows one of the two possible solutions 3 4
with X + Y = 9,
hence (E).
Alternative 2
Label the diagram as shown and let Q = X + Y . Each triangle has 7 A
the same total, so Q = X + Y = 7 + A = B + 4. Clearly Q  8.
If Q = 8, then B = 4, which would repeat 4. So Q = 8. X C B
If Q = 9, then A = 2 and B = 5. The remaining three numbers
are 1, 3 and 6, so that X and Y are 3 and 6 (in either order) and Y 4
C = 1. That is, there are two solutions when Q = 9.
If Q = 10, then A = 3 and B = 6. The remaining numbers are 1, 2 and 4. However,
X + Y = 10, so that Q = 10 is not possible.
If Q > 10, then B > 6, which is not possible.
Consequently there are only two solutions, both with X + Y = 3 + 6 = 9,
hence (E).

19. For every 1 marble Huong has, Greg has 2 and Farhad has 4. So the total number
of marbles shared is 7 times Huong’s marbles. Since 2017 ÷ 7 = 288r1, the most
marbles Huong could have is 288, and then Farhad has 4 × 288 = 1152,
hence (E).

42 2017 AMC — Junior Solutions

 20. The pattern of columns repeats every 6 numbers. Also 501 ÷ 6 = 83r3, which means
that 501 will appear in the same column as 3, which is column D,
hence (D).

21. (Also UP26)

The 15 × 6 rectangle has area 90 cm2 , and the shaded area is half of this, which is
45 cm2 . This is also half of the 10 × 9 rectangle.
This shaded rectangle can then be 45 × 1, 15 × 3 or 9 × 5, but only the 9 × 5 rectangle
will fit inside the 15×6 rectangle as shown. Consequently the perimeter of the shaded
rectangle is 2 × (5 + 9) = 28 cm,
hence (B).

22. The middle two digits must be 11, as they must be equal and form a prime number.
The first two digits must be a prime number which also forms a prime number when
the digits are reversed. There are nine such 2-digit primes:
11, 13, 17, 31, 37, 71, 73, 79 and 97
and so there are nine such 6-digit numbers:
111111, 131131, 171171, 311113, 371173, 711117, 731137, 791197 and 971179,
hence (B).

23. (Also UP25)

The original prism has 5 faces. The cut will expose two totally new faces (either side
of the cut) and any face it passes through will become two faces. So there are at
least 7 faces in the final two polyhedra, and the minimum combined number of faces
will occur when the cut passes through as few faces as possible.
The diagram shows that a cut along one edge and passing
through two faces is possible, creating two pieces with a
total of 9 faces.
If 7 faces were the minimum, they would be the two exposed
by the cut and the 5 original faces. The plane would cut the
surface of the polyhedron only through its edges. However
there is no such plane: once a plane contains two or more edges of the prism, it is a
face of the prism.
If 8 faces were the minimum, these would be the two faces exposed by the cut, 4 faces
that are not cut and one face that is cut in two. Again, such a cut would contain
two edges of the prism, so it is not possible.
Consequently the minimum number of faces in the two pieces is 9,
hence (C).

24. Alternative 1
The brothers both finish with 60 mL. We work backwards from there. Since one-third
of Seb’s drink was given away during the second pouring, this means that after the
first pouring Seb had 90 mL and Ike had 30 mL. Since one-third of Ike’s drink was
given away during the first pouring, this means that Ike originally had 45 mL and
Seb originally had 75 mL. Therefore Ike started with 30 mL less,
hence (B).

2017 AMC — Junior Solutions 43

 Alternative 2
Let x and 120−x be the amounts of drink that Ike and Seb first received, respectively.
2x
After Ike gives one-third of his drink to Seb, Ike has and Seb has the remaining
3
2x 4x
120 − . After Seb gives one-third of his drink back to Ike, Seb has 80 − and
3 9
4x
Ike has the remaining 40 + . Setting these amounts equal gives
9
4x 4x
40 + = 80 −
9 9
8x
= 40
9
x = 45

Therefore Ike started with 45 mL and Seb started with 75 mL, so Ike started with
30 mL less,
hence (B).

25. (Also UP30)

Alternative 1
For each balanced pattern there is another which can be obtained by switching black
and white throughout the entire grid. Hence we may assume the top-left square is
black and double the number of such patterns. The top-left 2 × 2 subgrid can be
coloured in three ways, with the grey squares yet to be determined:

a a
b b

(1) (2) (3)

In case (1), a and b must both be black so the top-right 2 × 2 subgrid is balanced;
the bottom row can alternate either black–white–black or white–black–white, hence
there are 2 patterns for case (1). Since case (2) is the reflection of case (1) along a
diagonal, there are also 2 patterns for case (2).
Case (3) allows two possibilities for a and b: if a is black and b is white then the
bottom row can again alternate in either of two ways, and if a is white and b is black
then the bottom row must be black–white–white, hence there are 3 patterns for case
(3). This gives 7 patterns in total when the top-left square is black, so doubling gives
a total of 14 patterns,
hence (D).
Alternative 2
Consider the pattern as made up of 3 columns. There are 8 possibilities for the first
column, which can either be non-alternating or alternating.

non-alternating alternating

In the six non-alternating possibilities for the first column, there are two (or more)
adjacent squares in the column that are the same colour. To be balanced, the corre-
sponding squares in the next column must be the reversed colour. Then every square

44 2017 AMC — Junior Solutions

 in the second column is forced to be the reverse of the corresponding square in the
first column. For the same reason, the third column must be the reversal of the
second column. Then each row alternates black–white–black or white–black–white.
So there are 6 patterns where the first column is non-alternating:

In the two alternating possibilities for the first column, the next column must also
be alternating, but there are two choices—it can either be the same or reversed.
Likewise there are two choices for the third column. In all, there are 8 balanced
patterns where the first column is alternating:

Combining these two cases, the number of balanced patterns is 6 + 8 = 14,

hence (D).

26. (Also MP30, UP28, I19, S18)

The numbers must have different first digits, and so the smallest possible difference
will be when the first digits differ by 1. Furthermore, the number formed by the
remaining digits of the smaller number will be as large as possible and the number
formed by the remaining digits of the larger number will be as small as possible.
The largest and smallest possible numbers formed from 4 digits are 9876 and 0123, so
the two 5-digit numbers are 50123 and 49876 and their difference is 50123 − 49876 =
247,
hence (247).

27. Denoting straight edges by ‘E’, slots by ‘S’ and tabs by ‘T’, each shape can be
represented by a string of four of these symbols, subject to the following rules:
• There can be at most two E’s.
• If there are two E’s, they are adjacent.
• Cyclic permutations are considered equal: ESST = TESS = STES = SSTE.
The possible pieces are listed in the following table, where  represents ‘T’ or ‘S’:
Type Form Number List
EESS EETS
Corner piece EE 22 = 4
EEST EETT
ESSS ETSS
ESST ETST
Edge piece E 23 = 8
ESTS ETTS
ESTT ETTT
SSSS STST
Interior piece  6 SSST STTT
SSTT TTTT
Total 18

There are 18 such pieces in total,

hence (18).

2017 AMC — Junior Solutions 45

 28. Let the number N have digits a, b and c, and let N plus its reverse be 30k, where k
is a whole number. Then

30k = 100a + 10b + c + 100c + 10b + a = 101(a + c) + 20b

This is divisible by 10 and a  1, so a + c = 10. Then

30k = 1010 + 20b

2
k = 33 + (b + 1)
3

Hence b + 1 is divisible by 3. That is, b = 2, 5 or 8.

For each of these 3 values of b, a could be any digit from 1 to 9 and then c = 10 − a.
In all there are 27 solutions: 129, 159, 189, 228, 258, 288, . . . , 921, 951 and 981,
hence (27).

29. (Also I29)

Alternative 1
Suppose that the original number of rows is r and the original number of columns is
c, so that I have r × c toy soldiers altogether. Then the condition of the problem can
be written as

r × c − 100 = (r − 5) × (c + 5)
⇒ rc − 100 = rc + 5r − 5c − 25
⇒ 5c − 5r = 75
⇒ c − r = 15

The number of toy soldiers I would have to remove from the original configuration
to be able to arrange the remaining ones into a rectangular array with 11 fewer rows
and 11 more columns is

r × c − (r − 11) × (c + 11) = rc − (rc + 11r − 11c − 121)

= 11c − 11r + 121 = 11(c − r) + 121

However, since we have already deduced that c−r = 15, the answer is 11×15+121 =
286,
hence (286).
Alternative 2
Consider the consequences of removing one row of soldiers and adding one column.
This creates a surplus if the new height is less than the old width.
The surplus is the difference between the initial width and the final S
height. Let this surplus be S.
When the next row is made into a column, the surplus is two more
than before, since the row is 1 soldier wider and the column is 1
soldier shorter. So the surplus is S + 2.
Proceeding in the same way, surpluses from the next moves are S + 4, S + 6 and
S + 8.
After 5 rows have been moved, the total surplus is 100, and so the average surplus is
20. That is, the surpluses are 16, 18, 20, 22 and 24.

46 2017 AMC — Junior Solutions

 If we continue to 11 rows, the total surplus is

16 + 18 + 20 + 22 + 24 + 26 + 28 + 30 + 32 + 34 + 36 = 286

hence (286).

30. (Also S27)

Since 74 is not divisible by 4 and N − 74 is divisible by 4, the number N is not
divisible by 4. Consequently, exactly one of the consecutive numbers is even, so there
are either two or three consecutive numbers in the product.
For N = a(a + 1), consider the units digit of N . The units digits of 0 × 1, 1 × 2, . . . ,
9 × 10 are 0, 2, 6, 2, 0, 0, 2, 6, 2, and 0, respectively. None of these are 4, so there is
no solution with N = a(a + 1).
Consider N = a(a + 1)(a + 2). Since N is not a multiple of 4, a is odd. When the
units digit of a is 1, 3, 5, 7 or 9, the units digit of N is 6, 0, 0, 4 or 0, respectively so
the units digit of a is 7.
Now, N ≈ a3 and we can note that 703 = 343 000 < N < 512 000 = 803 . This
suggests that a = 77. More precisely, if a  67, then N  67 × 68 × 69 < 703 ,
whereas if a  87, then N  87 × 88 × 89 > 803 . Hence the only possibility is a = 77.
Checking, 77 × 78 × 79 = 474 474, so the numbers that Mike multiplied together are
77, 78 and 79. Then 77 + 78 + 79 = 234,
hence (234).

2017 AMC — Junior Solutions 47

 Answers
Middle Upper
Question Junior Intermediate Senior
Primary Primary

1 A C A C A
2 C B B A A
3 E E A C C
4 A A B C D
5 D D D C D
6 E A A E B
7 A B D B C
8 C B D A E
9 D D C A C
10 D A E D D
11 A E B E C
12 B B D C E
13 B E E E E
14 C D A D B
15 E B C D C
16 C A A B B
17 B D D B D
18 A D E E D
19 E E E D A
20 C B D E B
21 E D B C E
22 C E B A B
23 D B C D C
24 C C B E D
25 D C D E E
26 337 28 247 807 13
27 13 60 18 648 234
28 4 247 27 56 56
29 468 18 286 286 360
30 247 14 234 99 510

70 2017 AMC — Answers