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2002 AMC 10A Problem 17

Problem 17 of 25IntermediateAlgebra

Sarah pours four ounces of coffee into an eight-ounce cup and four ounces of cream into a second cup of the same size. She then transfers half the coffee from the first cup to the second and, after stirring thoroughly, transfers half the liquid in the second cup back to the first. What fraction of the liquid in the first cup is now cream?

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Solution

After transferring 22 oz of coffee, cup 11 has 22 oz coffee and cup 22 has 22 oz coffee plus 44 oz cream, a total of 66 oz. Transferring back half of cup 22 (that is 33 oz, consisting of 11 oz coffee and 22 oz cream) leaves cup 11 with 33 oz coffee and 22 oz cream. The fraction that is cream is 22+3=25.\dfrac{2}{2+3}=\dfrac{2}{5}. Thus, the correct answer is D.

More practice

Concepts: mixture · process simulation

Problem text and solution from the LIVE past-contest archive. See also the AoPS wiki page for community solutions.