1986 AJHSME Problems

Problem 1

In July 1861, $366$ inches of rain fell in Cherrapunji, India. What was the average rainfall in inches per hour during that month?

$\text{(A)}\ \frac{366}{31\times 24}$

$\text{(B)}\ \frac{366\times 31}{24}$

$\text{(C)}\ \frac{366\times 24}{31}$

$\text{(D)}\ \frac{31\times 24}{366}$

$\text{(E)}\ 366\times 31\times 24$

Solution

Problem 2

Which of the following numbers has the largest reciprocal?

$\text{(A)}\ \frac{1}{3} \qquad \text{(B)}\ \frac{2}{5} \qquad \text{(C)}\ 1 \qquad \text{(D)}\ 5 \qquad \text{(E)}\ 1986$

Solution

Problem 3

The smallest sum one could get by adding three different numbers from the set $\{ 7,25,-1,12,-3 \}$ is

$\text{(A)}\ -3 \qquad \text{(B)}\ -1 \qquad \text{(C)}\ 3 \qquad \text{(D)}\ 5 \qquad \text{(E)}\ 21$

Solution

Problem 4

The product $(1.8)(40.3+.07)$ is closest to

$\text{(A)}\ 7 \qquad \text{(B)}\ 42 \qquad \text{(C)}\ 74 \qquad \text{(D)}\ 84 \qquad \text{(E)}\ 737$

Solution

Problem 5

A contest began at noon one day and ended $1000$ minutes later. At what time did the contest end?

$\text{(A)}\ \text{10:00 p.m.} \qquad \text{(B)}\ \text{midnight} \qquad \text{(C)}\ \text{2:30 a.m.} \qquad \text{(D)}\ \text{4:40 a.m.} \qquad \text{(E)}\ \text{6:40 a.m.}$

Solution

Problem 6

$\frac{2}{1-\frac{2}{3}}=$

$\text{(A)}\ -3 \qquad \text{(B)}\ -\frac{4}{3} \qquad \text{(C)}\ \frac{2}{3} \qquad \text{(D)}\ 2 \qquad \text{(E)}\ 6$

Solution

Problem 7

How many whole numbers are between $\sqrt{8}$ and $\sqrt{80}$ ?

$\text{(A)}\ 5 \qquad \text{(B)}\ 6 \qquad \text{(C)}\ 7 \qquad \text{(D)}\ 8 \qquad \text{(E)}\ 9$

Solution

Problem 8

Solution

Problem 9

Using only the paths and the directions shown, how many different routes are there from $\text{M}$ to $\text{N}$ ?

$[asy] draw((0,0)--(3,0),MidArrow); draw((3,0)--(6,0),MidArrow); draw(6*dir(60)--3*dir(60),MidArrow); draw(3*dir(60)--(0,0),MidArrow); draw(3*dir(60)--(3,0),MidArrow); draw(5.1961524227066318805823390245176*dir(30)--(6,0),MidArrow); draw(6*dir(60)--5.1961524227066318805823390245176*dir(30),MidArrow); draw(5.1961524227066318805823390245176*dir(30)--3*dir(60),MidArrow); draw(5.1961524227066318805823390245176*dir(30)--(3,0),MidArrow); label("M",6*dir(60),N); label("N",(6,0),SE); label("A",3*dir(60),NW); label("B",5.1961524227066318805823390245176*dir(30),NE); label("C",(3,0),S); label("D",(0,0),SW); [/asy]$

$\text{(A)}\ 2 \qquad \text{(B)}\ 3 \qquad \text{(C)}\ 4 \qquad \text{(D)}\ 5 \qquad \text{(E)}\ 6$

Solution

Problem 10

A picture $3$ feet across is hung in the center of a wall that is $19$ feet wall. How many feet from the end of the wall is the nearest edge of the picture?

$\text{(A)}\ 1\frac{1}{2} \qquad \text{(B)}\ 8 \qquad \text{(C)}\ 9\frac{1}{2} \qquad \text{(D)}\ 16 \qquad \text{(E)}\ 22$

Solution

Problem 11

If $\text{A}*\text{B}$ means $\frac{\text{A}+\text{B}}{2}$ , then $(3*5)*8$ is

$\text{(A)}\ 6 \qquad \text{(B)}\ 8 \qquad \text{(C)}\ 12 \qquad \text{(D)}\ 16\qquad \text{(E)}\ 30$

Solution

Problem 12

Solution

Problem 13

The perimeter of the polygon shown is

$[asy] draw((0,0)--(0,6)--(8,6)--(8,3)--(2.7,3)--(2.7,0)--cycle); label("$6$",(0,3),W); label("$8$",(4,6),N); [/asy]$

$\text{(A)}\ 14 \qquad \text{(B)}\ 20 \qquad \text{(C)}\ 28 \qquad \text{(D)}\ 48$

$\text{(E)}\ \text{cannot be determined from the information given}$

Solution

Problem 14

If $200\leq a \leq 400$ and $600\leq b\leq 1200$ , then the largest value of the quotient $\frac{b}{a}$ is

$\text{(A)}\ \frac{3}{2} \qquad \text{(B)}\ 3 \qquad \text{(C)}\ 6 \qquad \text{(D)}\ 300 \qquad \text{(E)}\ 600$

Solution

Problem 15

Sale prices at the Ajax Outlet Store are $50\%$ below original prices. On Saturdays an additional discount of $20\%$ off the sale price is given. What is the Saturday price of a coat whose original price is <dollar/> $180$ ?