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2010 AMC 10A Problem 8

Problem 8 of 25EasierAlgebra

Tony works 22 hours a day and is paid $0.50\$0.50 per hour for each full year of his age. During a six month period Tony worked 5050 days and earned $630.\$630. How old was Tony at the end of the six month period?

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Solution

Tony worked 250=1002\cdot50=100 hours, so his average hourly pay was $630÷100=$6.30.\$630\div100=\$6.30. Because his hourly pay is $0.50\$0.50 times his age in full years, his average age on the days he worked was 6.30÷0.50=12.66.30\div0.50=12.6 years. During a six-month period his age can change by at most one, so he must have worked some days at age 1212 and some at age 13.13. Thus he was 1313 at the end of the period. Thus, D is the correct answer.

More practice

Concepts: ages · rate · bounding to limit cases

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