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2009 AMC 12A Problems/Problem 4

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The following problem is from both the 2009 AMC 12A #4 and 2009 AMC 10A #2, so both problems redirect to this page.

Problem

Four coins are picked out of a piggy bank that contains a collection of pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. Which of the following could not be the total value of the four coins, in cents?

\textbf{(A)}\ 15 \qquad \textbf{(B)}\ 25 \qquad \textbf{(C)}\ 35 \qquad \textbf{(D)}\ 45 \qquad \textbf{(E)}\ 55

Solution

As all five options are divisible by 5, we may not use any pennies. (This is because a penny is the only coin that is not divisible by 5, and if we used between 1 and 4 pennies, the sum would not be divisible by 5.)

Hence the smallest coin we can use is a nickel, and thus the smallest amount we can get is 4\cdot 5 = 20. Therefore the option that is not reachable is \boxed{15}.

We can verify that we can indeed get the other ones:

  • 25 = 10+5+5+5
  • 35 = 10+10+10+5
  • 45 = 25+10+5+5
  • 55 = 25+10+10+10

See Also

2009 AMC 12A (ProblemsResources)
Preceded by
Problem 3
Followed by
Problem 5
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
2009 AMC 10A (ProblemsResources)
Preceded by
Problem 1
Followed by
Problem 3
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
Want to learn how to tackle those tough AMC/AIME/Olympiad counting and probability problems? Check out Art of Problem Solving's Intermediate Counting & Probability by David Patrick.
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