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2000 AMC 10 Problems/Problem 10

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Problem

The sides of a triangle with positive area have lengths 4, 6, and x. The sides of a second triangle with positive area have lengths 4, 6, and y. What is the smallest positive number that is not a possible value of |x-y|?

\mathrm{(A)}\ 2 \qquad\mathrm{(B)}\ 4 \qquad\mathrm{(C)}\ 6 \qquad\mathrm{(D)}\ 8 \qquad\mathrm{(E)}\ 10

Solution

From the triangle inequality, 2<x<10 and 2<y<10. The smallest positive number not possible is 10-2, which is 8. \boxed{\text{D}}

See Also

2000 AMC 10 (ProblemsResources)
Preceded by
Problem 9
Followed by
Problem 11
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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