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2006 AMC 10A Problems/Problem 13

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Problem

A player pays $5 to play a game. A die is rolled. If the number on the die is odd, the game is lost. If the number on the die is even, the die is rolled again. In this case the player wins if the second number matches the first and loses otherwise. How much should the player win if the game is fair? (In a fair game the probability of winning times the amount won is what the player should pay.)

\mathrm{(A) \ } $12\qquad\mathrm{(B) \ } $30\qquad\mathrm{(C) \ } $50\qquad\mathrm{(D) \ } $60\qquad\mathrm{(E) \ } $100\qqua...

Solution

There are 6 \cdot 6 = 36 possible combinations of 2 dice rolls. The only possible winning combinations are (2,2), (4,4) and (6,6). Since there are 3 winning combinations and 36 possible combinations of dice rolls, the probability of winning is \frac{3}{36}=\frac{1}{12}.

Let x be the amount won in a fair game. By the definition of a fair game,

\frac{1}{12} \cdot x = 5.

Therefore, x = \$60 \Longrightarrow \mathrm{D}.

See also

2006 AMC 10A (ProblemsResources)
Preceded by
Problem 12
Followed by
Problem 14
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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