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2006/07 AHSMC Part 1 Problem 4

Problem 4 of 16

In a city, all streets run north-south or east-west, dividing the city into squares. AA, BB, CC and DD are four students who live at four street intersections which define a rectangle, with AA and CC at opposite corners of this rectangle. They all go to the same school, which is at some street intersection within this rectangle. Each goes to school by a most direct route along streets. AA travels 1010 blocks, BB 2020 blocks and CC 5050 blocks. The number of blocks DD travels is

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Solution

AA and CC together travel as many north-south blocks as BB and DD together. AA and CC together also travel as many east-west blocks as BB and DD together. Hence AA and CC together travel as many blocks as BB and DD together. It follows that the number of blocks DD travels is 10+50−20=4010 + 50 - 20 = 40. The answer is (d).