# American Mathematics contest 8 (AMC 8) - Combinatorics problems

Try these AMC 8 Combinatorics Questions and check your knowledge!

#### AMC 8, 2019, Problem 6

There are $81$ grid points (uniformly spaced) in the square shown in the diagram below, including the points on the edges. Point $P$ is in the center of the square. Given that point $Q$ is randomly chosen among the other $80$ points, what is the probability that the line $PQ$ is a line of symmetry for the square?

$\textbf{(A) }\frac{1}{5}\qquad\textbf{(B) }\frac{1}{4} \qquad\textbf{(C) }\frac{2}{5} \qquad\textbf{(D) }\frac{9}{20}\qquad\textbf{(E) }\frac{1}{2}$

#### AMC 8, 2014, Problem 18

The faces of each of two fair dice are numbered $1$, $2$, $3$, $5$, $7$, and $8$. When the two dice are tossed, what is the probability that their sum will be an even number?

$\textbf{(A) }\frac{4}{9}\qquad\textbf{(B) }\frac{1}{2}\qquad\textbf{(C) }\frac{5}{9}\qquad\textbf{(D) }\frac{3}{5}\qquad\textbf{(E) }\frac{2}{3}$

#### AMC 8, 2019, Problem 10

The diagram shows the number of students at soccer practice each weekday during last week. After computing the mean and median values, Coach discovers that there were actually $21$ participants on Wednesday. Which of the following statements describes the change in the mean and median after the correction is made?

$\textbf{(A) }$The mean increases by $1$ and the median does not change.

$\textbf{(B) }$ The mean increases by $1$ and the median increases by $1$.

$\textbf{(C) }$ The mean increases by $1$ and the median increases by $5$.

$\textbf{(D) }$ The mean increases by $5$ and the median increases by $1$.

$\textbf{(E) }$ The mean increases by $5$ and the median increases by $5$.

#### AMC 8, 2019, Problem 16

Qiang drives $15$ miles at an average speed of $30$ miles per hour. How many additional miles will he have to drive at $55$ miles per hour to average $50$ miles per hour for the entire trip?

$\textbf{(A) }45\qquad\textbf{(B) }62\qquad\textbf{(C) }90\qquad\textbf{(D) }110\qquad\textbf{(E) }135$

#### AMC 8, 2019, Problem 19

In a tournament there are six teams that play each other twice. A team earns $3$ points for a win, $1$ point for a draw, and $0$ points for a loss. After all the games have been played it turns out that the top three teams earned the same number of total points. What is the greatest possible number of total points for each of the top three teams?

$\textbf{(A) }22\qquad\textbf{(B) }23\qquad\textbf{(C) }24\qquad\textbf{(D) }26\qquad\textbf{(E) }30$

#### AMC 8, 2019, Problem 20

How many different real numbers $x$ satisfy the equation$(x^{2}-5)^{2}=16?$
$\textbf{(A) }0\qquad\textbf{(B) }1\qquad\textbf{(C) }2\qquad\textbf{(D) }4\qquad\textbf{(E) }8$

#### AMC 8, 2019, Problem 25

Alice has $24$ apples. In how many ways can she share them with Becky and Chris so that each of the people has at least $2$ apples?

$\textbf{(A) }105\qquad\textbf{(B) }114\qquad\textbf{(C) }190\qquad\textbf{(D) }210\qquad\textbf{(E) }380$

#### AMC 8, 2019, Problem 14

Isabella has $6$ coupons that can be redeemed for free ice cream cones at Pete’s Sweet Treats. In order to make the coupons last, she decides that she will redeem one every $10$ days until she has used them all. She knows that Pete’s is closed on Sundays, but as she circles the $6$ dates on her calendar, she realizes that no circled date falls on a Sunday. On what day of the week does Isabella redeem her first coupon?

$\textbf{(A) }\text{Monday}\qquad\textbf{(B) }\text{Tuesday}\qquad\textbf{(C) }\text{Wednesday}\qquad\textbf{(D) }\text{Thursday}\qquad\textbf{(E) }\text{Friday}$

#### AMC 8, 2019, Problem 18

The faces of each of two fair dice are numbered $1$, $2$, $3$, $5$, $7$, and $8$. When the two dice are tossed, what is the probability that their sum will be an even number?

$\textbf{(A) }\frac{4}{9}\qquad\textbf{(B) }\frac{1}{2}\qquad\textbf{(C) }\frac{5}{9}\qquad\textbf{(D) }\frac{3}{5}\qquad\textbf{(E) }\frac{2}{3}$

#### AMC 8, 2019, Problem 25

Alice has $24$ apples. In how many ways can she share them with Becky and Chris so that each of the people has at least $2$ apples?

$\textbf{(A) }105\qquad\textbf{(B) }114\qquad\textbf{(C) }190\qquad\textbf{(D) }210\qquad\textbf{(E) }380$

#### AMC 8, 2018, Problem 11

Abby, Bridget, and four of their classmates will be seated in two rows of three for a group picture, as shown.

If the seating positions are assigned randomly, what is the probability that Abby and Bridget are adjacent to each other in the same row or the same column?

$\textbf{(A) } \frac{1}{3} \qquad \textbf{(B) } \frac{2}{5} \qquad \textbf{(C) } \frac{7}{15} \qquad \textbf{(D) } \frac{1}{2} \qquad \textbf{(E) } \frac{2}{3}$

#### AMC 8, 2018, Problem 16

Professor Chang has nine different language books lined up on a bookshelf: two Arabic, three German, and four Spanish. How many ways are there to arrange the nine books on the shelf keeping the Arabic books together and keeping the Spanish books together?

$\textbf{(A) }1440\qquad\textbf{(B) }2880\qquad\textbf{(C) }5760\qquad\textbf{(D) }182,440\qquad \textbf{(E) }362,880$

#### AMC 8, 2018, Problem 19

n a sign pyramid a cell gets a “+” if the two cells below it have the same sign, and it gets a “-” if the two cells below it have different signs. The diagram below illustrates a sign pyramid with four levels. How many possible ways are there to fill the four cells in the bottom row to produce a “+” at the top of the pyramid?

$\textbf{(A) } 2 \qquad \textbf{(B) } 4 \qquad \textbf{(C) } 8 \qquad \textbf{(D) } 12 \qquad \textbf{(E) } 16$

#### AMC 8, 2018, Problem 23

From a regular octagon, a triangle is formed by connecting three randomly chosen vertices of the octagon. What is the probability that at least one of the sides of the triangle is also a side of the octagon?

$\textbf{(A) } \frac{2}{7} \qquad \textbf{(B) } \frac{5}{42} \qquad \textbf{(C) } \frac{11}{14} \qquad \textbf{(D) } \frac{5}{7} \qquad \textbf{(E) } \frac{6}{7}$

#### AMC 8, 2017, Problem 10

A box contains five cards, numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Three cards are selected randomly without replacement from the box. What is the probability that 4 is the largest value selected?

$\textbf{(A) }\frac{1}{10}\qquad\textbf{(B) }\frac{1}{5}\qquad\textbf{(C) }\frac{3}{10}\qquad\textbf{(D) }\frac{2}{5}\qquad\textbf{(E) }\frac{1}{2}$

#### AMC 8, 2017, Problem 11

A square-shaped floor is covered with congruent square tiles. If the total number of tiles that lie on the two diagonals is 37, how many tiles cover the floor?

$\textbf{(A) }148\qquad\textbf{(B) }324\qquad\textbf{(C) }361\qquad\textbf{(D) }1296\qquad\textbf{(E) }1369$

#### AMC 8, 2017, Problem 15

A square-shaped floor is covered with congruent square tiles. If the total number of tiles that lie on the two diagonals is 37, how many tiles cover the floor?

$\textbf{(A) }148\qquad\textbf{(B) }324\qquad\textbf{(C) }361\qquad\textbf{(D) }1296\qquad\textbf{(E) }1369$

#### AMC 8, 2017, Problem 19

For any positive integer $M$, the notation $M!$ denotes the product of the integers $1$ through $M$. What is the largest integer $n$ for which $5^n$ is a factor of the sum $98!+99!+100!$ ?

$\textbf{(A) }23\qquad\textbf{(B) }24\qquad\textbf{(C) }25\qquad\textbf{(D) }26\qquad\textbf{(E) }27$

#### AMC 8, 2016, Problem 13

Two different numbers are randomly selected from the set ${ – 2, -1, 0, 3, 4, 5}$ and multiplied together. What is the probability that the product is $0$?

$\textbf{(A) }\dfrac{1}{6}\qquad\textbf{(B) }\dfrac{1}{5}\qquad\textbf{(C) }\dfrac{1}{4}\qquad\textbf{(D) }\dfrac{1}{3}\qquad \textbf{(E) }\dfrac{1}{2}$

#### AMC 8, 2016, Problem 17

An ATM password at Fred’s Bank is composed of four digits from $0$ to $9$, with repeated digits allowable. If no password may begin with the sequence $9,1,1,$ then how many passwords are possible?

$\textbf{(A)}\mbox{ }30\qquad\textbf{(B)}\mbox{ }7290\qquad\textbf{(C)}\mbox{ }9000\qquad\textbf{(D)}\mbox{ }9990\qquad\textbf{(E)}\mbox{ }9999$

#### AMC 8, 2016, Problem 18

In an All-Area track meet, $216$ sprinters enter a $100-$meter dash competition. The track has $6$ lanes, so only $6$ sprinters can compete at a time. At the end of each race, the five non-winners are eliminated, and the winner will compete again in a later race. How many races are needed to determine the champion sprinter?

$\textbf{(A)}\mbox{ }36\qquad\textbf{(B)}\mbox{ }42\qquad\textbf{(C)}\mbox{ }43\qquad\textbf{(D)}\mbox{ }60\qquad\textbf{(E)}\mbox{ }72$

#### AMC 8, 2016, Problem 21

A top hat contains 3 red chips and 2 green chips. Chips are drawn randomly, one at a time without replacement, until all 3 of the reds are drawn or until both green chips are drawn. What is the probability that the 3 reds are drawn?

$\textbf{(A) }\dfrac{3}{10}\qquad\textbf{(B) }\dfrac{2}{5}\qquad\textbf{(C) }\dfrac{1}{2}\qquad\textbf{(D) }\dfrac{3}{5}\qquad \textbf{(E) }\dfrac{7}{10}$

#### AMC 8, 2015, Problem 4

The Dragonvale Middle School chess team consists of two boys and three girls. A photographer wants to take a picture of the team to appear in the local newspaper. She decides to have them sit in a row with a boy at each end and the three girls in the middle. How many such arrangements are possible?

$\textbf{(A) }2\qquad\textbf{(B) }4\qquad\textbf{(C) }5\qquad\textbf{(D) }6\qquad \textbf{(E) }12$

#### AMC 8, 2015, Problem 7

Each of two boxes contains three chips numbered $1$, $2$, $3$. A chip is drawn randomly from each box and the numbers on the two chips are multiplied. What is the probability that their product is even?

$\textbf{(A) }\frac{1}{9}\qquad\textbf{(B) }\frac{2}{9}\qquad\textbf{(C) }\frac{4}{9}\qquad\textbf{(D) }\frac{1}{2}\qquad \textbf{(E) }\frac{5}{9}$

#### AMC 8, 2015, Problem 11

In the small country of Icosahedrontopia, all automobile license plates have four symbols. The first must be a vowel ($A, E, I, O,$ or $U$), the second and third must be two different letters among the $21$ non-vowels, and the fourth must be a digit ($0$ through $9$). If the symbols are chosen at random subject to these conditions, what is the probability that the plate will read “$AMC8$”?

$\textbf{(A) } \frac{1}{22,050} \qquad \textbf{(B) } \frac{1}{21,000}\qquad \textbf{(C) } \frac{1}{10,500}\qquad \textbf{(D) } \frac{1}{2,100} \qquad \textbf{(E) } \frac{1}{1,050}$

#### AMC 8, 2015, Problem 12

How many pairs of parallel edges, such as $\overline{AB}$ and $\overline{GH}$ or $\overline{EH}$ and $\overline{FG}$, does a cube have?

$\textbf{(A) }6 \quad\textbf{(B) }12 \quad\textbf{(C) } 18 \quad\textbf{(D) } 24 \quad \textbf{(E) } 36$

#### AMC 8, 2015, Problem 13

How many subsets of two elements can be removed from the set $\{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11\}$ so that the mean (average) of the remaining numbers is $6$?

$\textbf{(A)}\text{ 1}\qquad\textbf{(B)}\text{ 2}\qquad\textbf{(C)}\text{ 3}\qquad\textbf{(D)}\text{ 5}\qquad\textbf{(E)}\text{ 6}$

#### AMC 8, 2015, Problem 18

An arithmetic sequence is a sequence in which each term after the first is obtained by adding a constant to the previous term. For example, $2,5,8,11,14$ is an arithmetic sequence with five terms, in which the first term is $2$ and the constant added is $3$. Each row and each column in this $5\times5$ array is an arithmetic sequence with five terms. What is the value of $X$?

$\textbf{(A) }21\qquad\textbf{(B) }31\qquad\textbf{(C) }36\qquad\textbf{(D) }40\qquad \textbf{(E) }42$

#### AMC 8, 2015, Problem 23

Tom has twelve slips of paper which he wants to put into five cups labeled $A$, $B$, $C$, $D$, $E$. He wants the sum of the numbers on the slips in each cup to be an integer. Furthermore, he wants the five integers to be consecutive and increasing from $A$ to $E$. The numbers on the papers are $2, 2, 2, 2.5, 2.5, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3.5, 4,$ and $4.5$. If a slip with $2$ goes into cup $E$ and a slip with $3$ goes into cup $B$, then the slip with $3.5$ must go into what cup?

$\textbf{(A) } A \qquad \textbf{(B) } B \qquad \textbf{(C) } C \qquad \textbf{(D) } D \qquad \textbf{(E) } E$

#### AMC 8, 2014, Problem 12

A magazine printed photos of three celebrities along with three photos of the celebrities as babies. The baby pictures did not identify the celebrities. Readers were asked to match each celebrity with the correct baby pictures. What is the probability that a reader guessing at random will match all three correctly?

$\textbf{(A) }\frac{1}{9}\qquad\textbf{(B) }\frac{1}{6}\qquad\textbf{(C) }\frac{1}{4}\qquad\textbf{(D) }\frac{1}{3}\qquad\textbf{(E) }\frac{1}{2}$

#### AMC 8, 2014, Problem 14

The “Middle School Eight” basketball conference has 8 teams. Every season, each team plays every other conference team twice (home and away), and each team also plays 4 games against non-conference opponents. What is the total number of games in a season involving the “Middle School Eight” teams?

$\textbf{(A) }60\qquad\textbf{(B) }88\qquad\textbf{(C) }96\qquad\textbf{(D) }144\qquad\textbf{(E) }160$

#### AMC 8, 2013, Problem 1

Danica wants to arrange her model cars in rows with exactly 6 cars in each row. She now has 23 model cars. What is the smallest number of additional cars she must buy in order to be able to arrange all her cars this way?

$\textbf{(A)}\ 1 \qquad \textbf{(B)}\ 2 \qquad \textbf{(C)}\ 3 \qquad \textbf{(D)}\ 4 \qquad \textbf{(E)}\ 5$

#### AMC 8, 2013, Problem 8

A fair coin is tossed 3 times. What is the probability of at least two consecutive heads?

$\textbf{(A)}\ \frac18 \qquad \textbf{(B)}\ \frac14 \qquad \textbf{(C)}\ \frac38 \qquad \textbf{(D)}\ \frac12 \qquad \textbf{(E)}\ \frac34$

#### AMC 8, 2013, Problem 14

Abe holds 1 green and 1 red jelly bean in his hand. Bob holds 1 green, 1 yellow, and 2 red jelly beans in his hand. Each randomly picks a jelly bean to show the other. What is the probability that the colors match?

$\textbf{(A)}\ \frac14 \qquad \textbf{(B)}\ \frac13 \qquad \textbf{(C)}\ \frac38 \qquad \textbf{(D)}\ \frac12 \qquad \textbf{(E)}\ \frac23$

#### AMC 8, 2013, Problem 22

Toothpicks are used to make a grid that is 60 toothpicks long and 32 toothpicks wide. How many toothpicks are used altogether?

$\textbf{(A)}\ 1920 \qquad \textbf{(B)}\ 1952 \qquad \textbf{(C)}\ 1980 \qquad \textbf{(D)}\ 2013 \qquad \textbf{(E)}\ 3932$

#### AMC 8, 2012, Problem 10

How many 4-digit numbers greater than 1000 are there that use the four digits of 2012?

$\textbf{(A)}\hspace{.05in}6\qquad\textbf{(B)}\hspace{.05in}7\qquad\textbf{(C)}\hspace{.05in}8\qquad\textbf{(D)}\hspace{.05in}9\qquad\textbf{(E)}\hspace{.05in}12$

#### AMC 8, 2012, Problem 16

Each of the digits 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 is used only once to make two five-digit numbers so that they have the largest possible sum. Which of the following could be one of the numbers?

$\textbf{(A)}\hspace{.05in}76531\qquad\textbf{(B)}\hspace{.05in}86724\qquad\textbf{(C)}\hspace{.05in}87431\qquad\textbf{(D)}\hspace{.05in}96240\qquad\textbf{(E)}\hspace{.05in}97403$

#### AMC 8, 2012, Problem 22

Let $R$ be a set of nine distinct integers. Six of the elements are 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, and 14. What is the number of possible values of the median of $R$ ?

$\textbf{(A)}\hspace{.05in}4\qquad\textbf{(B)}\hspace{.05in}5\qquad\textbf{(C)}\hspace{.05in}6\qquad\textbf{(D)}\hspace{.05in}7\qquad\textbf{(E)}\hspace{.05in}8$

#### AMC 8, 2011, Problem 8

Bag A has three chips labeled 1, 3, and 5. Bag B has three chips labeled 2, 4, and 6. If one chip is drawn from each bag, how many different values are possible for the sum of the two numbers on the chips?

$\textbf{(A) }4 \qquad\textbf{(B) }5 \qquad\textbf{(C) }6 \qquad\textbf{(D) }7 \qquad\textbf{(E) }9$

#### AMC 8, 2011, Problem 12

Angie, Bridget, Carlos, and Diego are seated at random around a square table, one person to a side. What is the probability that Angie and Carlos are seated opposite each other?

$\textbf{(A) } \frac14 \qquad\textbf{(B) } \frac13 \qquad\textbf{(C) } \frac12 \qquad\textbf{(D) } \frac23 \qquad\textbf{(E) } \frac34$

#### AMC 8, 2011, Problem 18

A fair 6-sided die is rolled twice. What is the probability that the first number that comes up is greater than or equal to the second number?

$\textbf{(A) }\dfrac16\qquad\textbf{(B) }\dfrac5{12}\qquad\textbf{(C) }\dfrac12\qquad\textbf{(D) }\dfrac7{12}\qquad\textbf{(E) }\dfrac56$

#### AMC 8, 2009, Problem 4

The five pieces shown below can be arranged to form four of the five figures shown in the choices. Which figure cannot be formed?

#### AMC 8, 2009, Problem 10

On a checkerboard composed of 64 unit squares, what is the probability that a randomly chosen unit square does not touch the outer edge of the board?
$\textbf{(A)}\ \frac{1}{16}\qquad\textbf{(B)}\ \frac{7}{16}\qquad\textbf{(C)}\ \frac{1}2\qquad\textbf{(D)}\ \frac{9}{16}\qquad\textbf{(E)}\ \frac{49}{64}$

#### AMC 8, 2009, Problem 13

A three-digit integer contains one of each of the digits $1$, $3$, and $5$. What is the probability that the integer is divisible by $5$?

$\textbf{(A)}\ \frac{1}{6}\qquad\textbf{(B)}\ \frac{1}{3}\qquad\textbf{(C)}\ \frac{1}{2}\qquad\textbf{(D)}\ \frac{2}{3}\qquad\textbf{(E)}\ \frac{5}{6}$

#### AMC 8, 2009, Problem 16

How many 3-digit positive integers have digits whose product equals $24$?

$\textbf{(A)}\ 12\qquad\textbf{(B)}\ 15\qquad\textbf{(C)}\ 18\qquad\textbf{(D)}\ 21\qquad\textbf{(E)}\ 24$