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Number theory Difficulty 3.8 AMC 10/12 Find the answer Canada

Two bowls each contain both some blueberries and some
raspberries. In the first bowl, the ratio of the number of blueberries
to the number of raspberries is $3 :
7$. In the second bowl, the ratio of the number of blueberries
to the number of raspberries is $2 :
5.Ifthereare. If there are 89$
raspberries in total, the smallest possible number of blueberries is

Pick one

Solution

In the second bowl, the ratio of the number of blueberries to the
number of raspberries is 2:52:5, and
so the number of blueberries is a positive integer multiple of 22, and the number of raspberries is the
same positive integer multiple of 55.

For example, there could be 2×1=22\times1=2 blueberries and 5×1=55\times1=5 raspberries, or 2×2=42\times2=4 blueberries and 5×2=105\times2=10 raspberries, and so on.

Thus, the number of raspberries in the second bowl has units digit 55 or 00.

There are a total of 8989
raspberries, and so the number of raspberries in the first bowl must
have units digit 44 (when the number
of raspberries in the second bowl has units digit 55), or it must have units digit 99 (when the number of raspberries in the
second bowl has units digit 00).

In the first bowl, the ratio of the number of blueberries to the number
of raspberries is 3:73:7, and so the
number of raspberries is a positive integer multiple of 77.

The positive integer multiples of 77
less than 8989 that have units digit
44 or 99 are 1414, 4949 and 8484.

If the number of raspberries in the first bowl is 1414, the number of raspberries in the
second bowl is 8914=7589-14=75.

If there are 1414 raspberries in the
first bowl, there are 3×147=63\times\dfrac{14}{7}=6 blueberries in the
first bowl (6:14=3:76:14=3:7).

If there are 7575 raspberries in the
second bowl, there are 2×755=302\times\dfrac{75}{5}=30 blueberries in
the second bowl (30:75=2:530:75=2:5).

In this case, the total number of blueberries is 6+30=366+30=36.

If the number of raspberries in the first bowl is 4949, the number of raspberries in the
second bowl is 8949=4089-49=40.

If there are 4949 raspberries in the
first bowl, there are 3×497=213\times\dfrac{49}{7}=21 blueberries in
the first bowl (21:49=3:721:49=3:7).

If there are 4040 raspberries in the
second bowl, there are 2×405=162\times\dfrac{40}{5}=16 blueberries in
the second bowl (16:40=2:516:40=2:5).

In this case, the total number of blueberries is 21+16=3721+16=37.

If the number of raspberries in the first bowl is 8484, the number of raspberries in the
second bowl is 8984=589-84=5.

If there are 8484 raspberries in the
first bowl, there are 3×847=363\times\dfrac{84}{7}=36 blueberries in
the first bowl (36:84=3:736:84=3:7).

If there are 55 raspberries in the
second bowl, there are 22
blueberries in the second bowl.

In this case, the total number of blueberries is 36+2=3836+2=38.

Thus, the smallest possible number of blueberries is 3636.

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,444 problems in a working order, from Junior Challenge level to the IMO shortlist.

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