1966 AMC 12 Problem 37

Attempt Problem 37 of the 1966 AMC 12 below, then check your answer against the professionally curated solution from LIVE by Po-Shen Loh. You can also try the full timed exam, view all 1966 AMC 12 solutions, or check the answer key.

All problems are used with official legal permission of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA).

37.

Three men, Alpha, Beta, and Gamma, working together, do a job in 66 hours less time than Alpha alone, in 11 hour less time than Beta alone, and in one-half the time needed by Gamma when working alone. Let hh be the number of hours needed by Alpha and Beta, working together, to do the job. Then hh equals:
52\dfrac52
32\dfrac32
43\dfrac43
54\dfrac54
34\dfrac34
Answer: C
Concepts:raterational equationsystem of equations
Small hint:
Let tt be the time all three take together
Big hint:
Their individual times are t+6,t+6, t+1,t+1, and 2t2t; add reciprocal rates
Solution:
If all three together take tt hours, then 1t+6+1t+1+12t=1t. \frac1{t+6}+\frac1{t+1}+\frac1{2t}=\frac1t. This simplifies to 3t2+7t−6=0,3t^2+7t-6=0, so t=23.t=\frac{2}{3}. Alpha and Beta alone take 203\frac{20}{3} and 53\frac{5}{3} hours, so their combined rate is 320+35=34.\frac{3}{20}+\frac{3}{5}=\frac{3}{4}. Hence h=43.h=\frac{4}{3}.
Therefore, the correct answer is C.
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