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Algebra Difficulty 3.2 AMC 10/12 Find the answer

The set SS consists of 9 distinct positive integers. The average of the two smallest integers in SS is 5. The average of the two largest integers in SS is 22. What is the greatest possible average of all of the integers of SS?

A number or a short expression. Spacing and $ signs are ignored.

Solution

Since the average of the two smallest integers in SS is 5, their sum is 25=102 \cdot 5=10. Since the average of the two largest integers in SS is 22, their sum is 222=442 \cdot 22=44. Suppose that the other five integers in the set SS are p<q<r<t<up<q<r<t<u. (Note that the integers in SS are all distinct.) The average of the nine integers in SS is thus equal to 10+44+p+q+r+t+u9\frac{10+44+p+q+r+t+u}{9} which equals 6+p+q+r+t+u96+\frac{p+q+r+t+u}{9}. We would like this average to be as large as possible. To make this average as large as possible, we want p+q+r+t+u9\frac{p+q+r+t+u}{9} to be as large as possible, which means that we want p+q+r+t+up+q+r+t+u to be as large as possible. What is the maximum possible value of uu? Let xx and yy be the two largest integers in SS, with x<yx<y. Since xx and yy are the two largest integers, then u<x<yu<x<y. Since x+y=44x+y=44 and x<yx<y and xx and yy are integers, then x21x \leq 21. For uu to be as large as possible (which will allow us to make p,q,r,tp, q, r, t as large as possible), we set x=21x=21. In this case, we can have u=20u=20. To make p,q,r,tp, q, r, t as large as possible, we can take p=16,q=17,r=18,t=19p=16, q=17, r=18, t=19. Here, p+q+r+t+u=90p+q+r+t+u=90. If x<21x<21, then p+q+r+t+up+q+r+t+u will be smaller and so not give the maximum possible value. This means that the maximum possible average of the integers in SS is 6+909=166+\frac{90}{9}=16.

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