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1989 AJHSME Problems/Problem 16

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Problem

In how many ways can 47 be written as the sum of two primes?

\text{(A)}\ 0 \qquad \text{(B)}\ 1 \qquad \text{(C)}\ 2 \qquad \text{(D)}\ 3 \qquad \text{(E)}\ \text{more than 3}

Solution

For 47 to be written as the sum of two integers, one must be odd and the other must be even. There is only one even prime, namely 2, so one of the numbers must be 2, making the other 45.

However, 45 is not prime, so there are no ways to write 47 as the sum of two primes \rightarrow \boxed{\text{A}}.

See Also

1989 AJHSME (ProblemsResources)
Preceded by
Problem 15
Followed by
Problem 17
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
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