Maths Olympiad Prep

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, 2025

Number theory Difficulty 2.2 Junior Find the answer Canada

The list of seven numbers 33,
1515, 88, 88, 99, 99, nn
has exactly one mode, which is 88.
What is the value of nn?

Pick one

Solution

In a list of numbers having exactly one mode, the mode is the
number that appears in the list the greatest number of times. Since the
mode of the given list is 88, and
the list has exactly one mode, then 88 must appear more times than each of the
other numbers in the list.

If n=8n=8, then 88 appears in the list three times, which
is more than any other number in the list, and so the list has exactly
one mode, which is 88, as
required.

If the value of nn is 1515 or 33, then the list has three numbers that
each appear twice, and thus the list does not have exactly one
mode.

If n=9n=9, then 99 appears more times than any other
number and so the mode is 99.

If n=10n=10, then both 88 and 99 each appear twice (which is more than
any other number in the list), and thus the list does not have exactly
one mode.

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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.