Skip to main content

2010 AMC 10B Problem 14

Problem 14 of 25IntermediateAlgebra

The average of the numbers 1,1, 2,2, 3,3, ,\cdots, 98,98, 99,99, and xx is 100x.100x. What is x?x?

Answer choices

Show solution

Solution

Recall that the sum of the first nn integers is n(n+1)2.\dfrac{n(n + 1)}{2}. Then, we have that 991002+x100=100x, \dfrac{\frac{99 \cdot 100}{2} + x}{100} = 100x, which simplifies to 9950=(10021)x 99 \cdot 50 = (100^2 - 1)x=10199x, = 101 \cdot 99x, by difference of squares. Dividing gives us x=50101.x = \dfrac{50}{101}. Thus, B is the correct answer.

More practice

Concepts: mean · arithmetic sequence · linear equation

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