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2003 AMC 10B Problem 22

Problem 22 of 25HarderAlgebra

A clock chimes once at 3030 minutes past each hour and chimes on the hour according to the hour. For example, at 11 PM there is one chime and at noon and midnight there are twelve chimes. Starting at 11:1511{:}15 AM on February 26,26, 2003,2003, on what date will the 20032003rd chime occur?

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Solution

Each 1212-hour period has 12+78=9012 + 78 = 90 chimes, so each full day has 180.180. After 11:1511{:}15 AM on February 26,26, the rest of that day has 9191 chimes. Adding 180180 for each following full day, the count reaches 18911891 by the end of March 8.8. The remaining chimes fall on March 9:9: the 20032003rd chime is the 112112th chime of that day, occurring at 3:303{:}30 PM on March 9.9. Thus, the correct answer is B.

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Concepts: date and time · summation · process simulation

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