1969 AMC 12 Problem 1

Attempt Problem 1 of the 1969 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 1969 AMC 12 solutions, or check the answer key.

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

1.

When xx is added to both the numerator and the denominator of the fraction ab,\frac{a}{b}, a≠b,a\ne b, b≠0,b\ne0, the value of the fraction is changed to cd.\frac{c}{d}. Then xx equals:
1c−d\dfrac1{c-d}
ad−bcc−d\dfrac{ad-bc}{c-d}
ad−bcc+d\dfrac{ad-bc}{c+d}
bc−adc−d\dfrac{bc-ad}{c-d}
bc−adc+d\dfrac{bc-ad}{c+d}
Answer: B
Concepts:rational equationalgebraic manipulationfraction
Small hint:
Translate the change into a+xb+x=cd\frac{a+x}{b+x}=\frac{c}{d}
Big hint:
Cross-multiply and collect the terms containing xx
Solution:
From a+xb+x=cd \frac{a+x}{b+x}=\frac cd we obtain ad+dx=bc+cx.ad+dx=bc+cx. Hence x(d−c)=bc−ad,x(d-c)=bc-ad, so x=bc−add−c=ad−bcc−d. x=\frac{bc-ad}{d-c}=\frac{ad-bc}{c-d}.
Therefore, the correct answer is B.
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