AMC 10 Step by Step

2013 AMC 10A Problem 6

P1-10~2 minPrint

Joey and his five brothers are ages 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, and 13. One afternoon two of his brothers whose ages sum to 16 went to the movies, two brothers younger than 10 went to play baseball, and Joey and the 5-year-old stayed home. How old is Joey?

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Key insight

The 5-year-old is home, so the movie pair is 3 and 13 or 7 and 9. Only 3 and 13 leaves two boys under 10 for baseball.

Solution

Start with the clue that gives the most information: the pairs that add to 1616.

1. Pairs of ages that add to 16. From 3,5,7,9,11,133, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13:
3+13=16,5+11=16,7+9=16.3 + 13 = 16, \qquad 5 + 11 = 16, \qquad 7 + 9 = 16.
2. Rule one out. The 55-year-old stayed home, so he did not go to the movies. The pair 5,115, 11 is out.
3. Try 7 and 9 at the movies. The boys under 1010 are 3,5,7,93, 5, 7, 9. With 77 and 99 at the movies and 55 at home, only the 33-year-old is left. Baseball needs two boys under 1010, so this fails.
4. Try 3 and 13 at the movies. Now 77 and 99 are free, and both are under 1010, so they play baseball. The 55-year-old is home.
5. Who is left? The ages used so far are 3,13,7,9,53, 13, 7, 9, 5. The only age left is 1111, and that must be Joey, who stayed home.

Joey is (D) 11\boxed{\textbf{(D)}\ 11}.

Why this works

In "who went where" puzzles, list the few choices the strongest clue allows, then test each one against every other clue. One clue that fails throws out the whole choice. Here only two cases were left after the first clue, so checking both was quick.

Concise solution

A shorter write-up, the way contest solutions are usually written. It may take a different route from the solution above.

Pairs of ages from {3,5,7,9,11,13}\{3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13\} that sum to 1616: (3,13)(3, 13), (5,11)(5, 11), (7,9)(7, 9).

The 55-year-old stayed home, so the movie pair is not (5,11)(5, 11). That leaves two cases.

Case (7,9)(7, 9) at the movies: the brothers under 1010 who remain are just the 33-year-old (the 55-year-old is home), so two of them cannot go to baseball. Impossible.

Case (3,13)(3, 13) at the movies: the remaining brothers under 1010 are 77 and 99, and they go to baseball. The one person left is 1111, who must be Joey.

Joey is (D) 11\boxed{\textbf{(D)}\ 11}.

Review in the AoPS books

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Problem © Mathematical Association of America (MAA), American Mathematics Competitions. Reproduced for non-commercial educational use. Solution and commentary are original to this site.