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2001 AIME II Problems/Problem 2

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Problem

Each of the 2001 students at a high school studies either Spanish or French, and some study both. The number who study Spanish is between 80 percent and 85 percent of the school population, and the number who study French is between 30 percent and 40 percent. Let m be the smallest number of students who could study both languages, and let M be the largest number of students who could study both languages. Find M-m.

Solution

Let S be the percent of people who study Spanish, F be the number of people who study French, and let S \cup F be the number of students who study both. Then \left\lceil 80\% \cdot 2001 \right\rceil = 1601 \le S \le \left\lfloor 85\% \cdot 2001 \right\rfloor = 1700, and \left\lceil 30\% \cdot 2001 \right\rceil = 601 \le F \le \left\lfloor 40\% \cdot 2001 \right\rfloor = 800. By the Principle of Inclusion-Exclusion,

S+F- S \cup F = 2001

For m = S \cup F to be smallest, S and F must be minimized.

1601 + 601 - m = 2001 \Longrightarrow m = 201

For M = S \cup F to be largest, S and F must be maximized.

1700 + 800 - M = 2001 \Longrightarrow M = 499

Therefore, the answer is M - m = 499 - 201 = \boxed{298}.

See also

2001 AIME II (ProblemsResources)
Preceded by
Problem 1
Followed by
Problem 3
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
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