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2009 AMC 10B Problem 1

Problem 1 of 25EasierNumber TheoryArithmetic

Each morning of her five-day workweek, Jane bought either a 5050-cent muffin or a 7575-cent bagel. Her total cost for the week was a whole number of dollars. How many bagels did she buy?

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Solution

If Jane buys bb bagels, she buys 5−b5-b muffins, for a total of 50(5−b)+75b=250+25b 50(5-b)+75b = 250+25b cents. This is a whole number of dollars when 250+25b250+25b is a multiple of 100,100, that is, when 25b≡50(mod100),25b\equiv50\pmod{100}, or b≡2(mod4).b\equiv2\pmod4. The only value with 0≤b≤50\le b\le5 is b=2.b=2. Thus, the correct answer is B.
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