During AMC testing, the AoPS Wiki is in read-only mode and no edits can be made.

Difference between revisions of "2011 AMC 10A Problems/Problem 6"

m (Solution)
 
(4 intermediate revisions by 3 users not shown)
Line 4: Line 4:
 
<math> \textbf{(A)}5 \qquad\textbf{(B)}\ 15 \qquad\textbf{(C)}\ 20\qquad\textbf{(D)}\ 35\qquad\textbf{(E)}\ 300 </math>
 
<math> \textbf{(A)}5 \qquad\textbf{(B)}\ 15 \qquad\textbf{(C)}\ 20\qquad\textbf{(D)}\ 35\qquad\textbf{(E)}\ 300 </math>
  
== Solution ==
+
== Solution 1 ==
  
 
<math>A \cup B</math> will be smallest if <math>B</math> is completely contained in <math>A</math>, in which case all the elements in <math>B</math> would be counted for in <math>A</math>. So the total would be the number of elements in <math>A</math>, which is <math>\boxed{20 \ \mathbf{(C)}}</math>.
 
<math>A \cup B</math> will be smallest if <math>B</math> is completely contained in <math>A</math>, in which case all the elements in <math>B</math> would be counted for in <math>A</math>. So the total would be the number of elements in <math>A</math>, which is <math>\boxed{20 \ \mathbf{(C)}}</math>.
 +
 +
==Solution 2==
 +
 +
Assume WLOG that <math>A={1, 2, 3, 4, \cdots , 20}</math>, and <math>B={6, 7, 8, 9, 10, \cdots , 20}</math>. Then, all the integers <math>6</math> through <math>20</math> would be redundant in <math>A \cup B</math>, so <math>A \cup B = 1, 2, 3, 4, \cdots, 20 \implies \boxed{\textbf{(C) }20}</math>.
 +
 +
~MrThinker
 +
 +
==Solution 3 (Same Approach as Solution 1)==
 +
 +
If <math> A \supset B </math> (<math>\supset</math> in this case is the superset), then <math> A \cup B </math> will contain 15 of the same elements in <math> A </math> and <math> B </math> because <math> B \subset A </math> (<math>\subset</math> in this case is the subset). Therefore our new set must contain 15 elements already variant in both <math> A </math> and <math> B </math> as well as 5 additional elements only the superset <math> A </math> contains, and so our answer is <math> 15+5= \boxed{\textbf{(C) }20}</math>.
 +
 +
~Pinotation
  
 
== See Also ==
 
== See Also ==
 
{{AMC10 box|year=2011|ab=A|num-b=5|num-a=7}}
 
{{AMC10 box|year=2011|ab=A|num-b=5|num-a=7}}
 +
{{MAA Notice}}

Latest revision as of 09:29, 17 October 2025

Problem 6

Set $A$ has $20$ elements, and set $B$ has $15$ elements. What is the smallest possible number of elements in $A \cup B$?

$\textbf{(A)}5 \qquad\textbf{(B)}\ 15 \qquad\textbf{(C)}\ 20\qquad\textbf{(D)}\ 35\qquad\textbf{(E)}\ 300$

Solution 1

$A \cup B$ will be smallest if $B$ is completely contained in $A$, in which case all the elements in $B$ would be counted for in $A$. So the total would be the number of elements in $A$, which is $\boxed{20 \ \mathbf{(C)}}$.

Solution 2

Assume WLOG that $A={1, 2, 3, 4, \cdots , 20}$, and $B={6, 7, 8, 9, 10, \cdots , 20}$. Then, all the integers $6$ through $20$ would be redundant in $A \cup B$, so $A \cup B = 1, 2, 3, 4, \cdots, 20 \implies \boxed{\textbf{(C) }20}$.

~MrThinker

Solution 3 (Same Approach as Solution 1)

If $A \supset B$ ($\supset$ in this case is the superset), then $A \cup B$ will contain 15 of the same elements in $A$ and $B$ because $B \subset A$ ($\subset$ in this case is the subset). Therefore our new set must contain 15 elements already variant in both $A$ and $B$ as well as 5 additional elements only the superset $A$ contains, and so our answer is $15+5= \boxed{\textbf{(C) }20}$.

~Pinotation

See Also

2011 AMC 10A (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 5
Followed by
Problem 7
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
All AMC 10 Problems and Solutions

These problems are copyrighted © by the Mathematical Association of America, as part of the American Mathematics Competitions. AMC Logo.png