Maths Olympiad Prep

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, 2020

Combinatorics Difficulty 1.3 Junior Find the answer Canada

A bag contains letters as shown.

Elina randomly chooses one of the letters from the bag. What is the probability that Elina chooses a B?

Pick one

Solution

The triangle is isosceles, and so the missing side length is also 12 cm.

The perimeter of the triangle is 14+12+12=3814+12+12=38 cm.

The perimeter of the rectangle is given by x+8+x+8=2x+16x+8+x+8=2x+16 cm.

The perimeter of the triangle is equal to the perimeter of the rectangle, and so 2x+16=382x+16=38.
Since 22+16=3822+16=38, then 2x=222x=22 and so x=11x=11.

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Source: CEMC, University of Waterloo, licensed CC-BY-NC-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.