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2016 AMC 10A Problem 13

Problem 13 of 25Intermediate

Five friends sat in a movie theater in a row containing 55 seats, numbered 11 to 55 from left to right. (The directions “left” and “right” are from the point of view of the people as they sit in the seats.) During the movie Ada went to the lobby to get some popcorn. When she returned, she found that Bea had moved two seats to the right, Ceci had moved one seat to the left, and Dee and Edie had switched seats, leaving an end seat for Ada. In which seat had Ada been sitting before she got up?

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Solution

The sum of the occupied seat numbers is 1+2+3+4+5=151+2+3+4+5=15 both before and after the moves. Dee and Edie merely switch seats, so their combined displacement is 0.0. Bea’s displacement is +2,+2, and Ceci’s is 1.-1. Therefore Ada’s displacement must be 1-1 so that the total displacement is 0.0. Ada returns to an end seat. Since she moves one seat left, she must move from seat 22 to seat 1.1. Thus, the correct answer is B .

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Concepts: logical deduction · invariant

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