1987 AMC 12 Problem 5

Attempt Problem 5 of the 1987 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 1987 AMC 12 solutions, or check the answer key.

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

5.

A student recorded the exact percentage frequency distribution for a set of measurements, as shown below. However, the student neglected to indicate N,N, the total number of measurements. What is the smallest possible value of N?N?
measured value percent frequency
00 12.512.5
11 00
22 5050
33 2525
44 12.512.5
100100
55
88
1616
2525
5050
Answer: B
Concepts:percentage frequencydivisibilitysample size
Small hint:
Express each nonzero percentage as a reduced fraction of the total
Big hint:
Every resulting frequency must be a whole number
Solution:
Since 12.5%=18,12.5\%=\frac{1}{8}, the total NN must be divisible by 8.8. Taking N=8N=8 gives frequencies 1,0,4,2,1,1,0,4,2,1, all whole numbers. Thus the smallest possible total is 8.8.
Therefore the correct answer is B.
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