2023 AMC 12B Problems

Problem 1

Mrs. Jones is pouring orange juice into four identical glasses for her four sons. She
fills the first three glasses completely full but runs out of juice when the fourth glass
1
is only full. What fraction of a glass must Mrs. Jones pour from each of the first
3

three glasses into the fourth glass so that all four glasses will have the same amount
of juice?
1 1 1 1 2
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)
12 4 6 8 9

Problem 2

Carlos went to a sports store to buy running shoes. Running shoes were on sale, with
prices reduced by 20% on every pair of shoes. Carlos also knew that he had to pay a
7.5% sales tax on the discounted price. He had $43. What is the original (before
discount) price of the most expensive shoes he could afford to buy?

(A) $46 (B) $50 (C) $48 (D) $47 (E) $49

Problem 3

A 3-4-5 right triangle is inscribed in circle 𝐴, and a 5-12-13 right triangle is inscribed
in circle 𝐵. What is the ratio of the area of circle 𝐴 to the area of circle 𝐵?

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Problem 4

Jackson’s paintbrush makes a narrow strip with a width of 6.5 millimeters. Jackson
has enough paint to make a strip 25 meters long. How many square centimeters of
paper could Jackson cover with paint?

(A) 162,500 (B) 162.5 (C) 1,625 (D) 1,625,000 (E) 16,250

Problem 5

You are playing a game. A 2 × 1 rectangle covers two adjacent squares (oriented
either horizontally or vertically) of a 3 × 3 grid of squares, but you are not told
which two squares are covered. Your goal is to find at least one square that is covered
by the rectangle. A "turn" consists of you guessing a square, after which you are told
whether that square is covered by the hidden rectangle. What is the minimum
number of turns you need to ensue that at least one of your guessed squares is
covered by the rectangle?

Problem 6

When the roots of the polynomial

𝑃(𝑥) = (𝑥 − 1)1 (𝑥 − 2)2 (𝑥 − 3)3 ⋯ (𝑥 − 10)10

are removed from the real number line, what remains is the union of disjoint open
intervals. On how many of those intervals is 𝑃(𝑥) positive?

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(A) 3 (B) 7 (C) 6 (D) 4 (E) 5

Problem 7

For how many integers 𝑛 does the expression

represent a real number, where log denotes the base 10 logarithm?

(A) 2 (B) 3 (C) 900 (D) 901 (E) 902

Problem 8

How many nonempty subsets 𝐵 of {0, 1, 2, 3, ⋯ , 12} have the property that the
number of elements in 𝐵 is equal to the least element of 𝐵? For example, 𝐵 =
{4, 6, 8, 11} satisfies the condition.

Problem 9

What is the area of the region in the coordinate plane defined by

(A) 2 (B) 8 (C) 4 (D) 15 (E) 12

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Problem 10

In the 𝑥𝑦-plane, a circle of radius 4 with center on the positive 𝑥 axis is tangent to
the 𝑦-axis at the origin, and a circle of radius 10 with center on the positive 𝑦-axis
is tangent to the 𝑥-axis at the origin. What is the slope of the line passing through
the two points at which these circles intersect?
2 3 2 1 2
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)
7 7 √29 √29 5

Problem 11

What is the maximum area of an isosceles trapezoid that has legs of length 1 and one
base twice as long as the other?

Problem 12

For complex numbers 𝑤 = 𝑎 + 𝑏𝑖 and 𝑧 = 𝑐 + 𝑑𝑖 (where 𝑖 = √−1 ), define the

𝑤 ∘ 𝑧 = 𝑎𝑐 + 𝑏𝑑𝑖.

Suppose 𝑧 is a complex number such that 𝑧 ∘ 𝑧 = 𝑧 2 + 40. What is |𝑧|?

(A) 2 (B) 5 (C) √5 (D) √10 (E) 5√2

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Problem 13

A rectangular box 𝒫 has distinct edge lengths 𝑎, 𝑏, and 𝑐. The sum of the lengths of
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all 12 edges of 𝒫 is 13, the sum of the areas of all 6 faces of 𝒫 is , and the volume
2
1
of 𝒫 is . What is the length of the longest interior diagonal connecting two vertices
2

of 𝒫?

Problem 14

For how many ordered pairs (𝑎, 𝑏) of integers does the polynomial 𝑥 3 + 𝑎𝑥 2 +
𝑏𝑥 + 6 have 3 distinct integer roots?

Problem 15

Suppose 𝑎, 𝑏, and 𝑐 are positive integers such that

𝑎 𝑏 𝑐
+ = .
14 15 210
Which of the following statements are necessarily true?

I. If gcd(𝑎, 14) = 1 or gcd(𝑏, 15) = 1 or both, then gcd(𝑐, 21) = 1.

II. If gcd(𝑐, 21) = 1, then gcd(𝑎, 14) = 1 or gcd(𝑏, 15) = 1 or both.

III. gcd(𝑐, 21) = 1 if and only if gcd(𝑎, 14) = gcd(𝑏, 15) = 1.

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Problem 16

In the state of Coinland, coins have values of values of 6, 10, and 15. Suppose 𝑥 is
the value of the most expensive item in Coinland that cannot be purchased using
these coins with exact change. What is the sum of the digits of 𝑥?

(A) 8 (B) 10 (C) 7 (D) 11 (E) 9

Problem 17

The three side lengths of a triangle are in arithmetic progression with shortest side
of length 6 . One of the interior angles measures 120°. What is the area of the triangle?

(A) 12√3 (B) 8√6 (C) 14√2 (D) 20√2 (E) 15√3

Problem 18

Last academic year Yolanda and Zelda took different courses that did not necessarily
administer the same number of quizzes during each of the two semesters. Yolanda's
average on all the quizzes she took during the first semester was 3 points higher than
Zelda's average on all the quizzes she took during the first semester. Yolanda's
average on all the quizzes she took during the second semester was 18 points higher
than her average for the first semester and was again 3 points higher than Zelda's

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average on all the quizzes Zelda took during her second semester. Which one of the
following statements cannot possibly be true?

(A) Yolanda's quiz average for the academic year was 22 points higher than Zelda's.

(B) Zelda's quiz average for the academic year was higher than Yolanda's.

(C) Yolanda's quiz average for the academic year was 3 points higher than Zelda's.

(D) Zelda's quiz average for the academic year equaled Yolanda's.

(E) If Zelda had scored 3 points higher on each quiz she took, then she would have
had the same average for the academic year as Yolanda.

Problem 19

Each of 2023 balls is placed in on of 3 bins. Which of the following is closest to the
probability that each of the bins will contain an odd number of balls?

Problem 20

Cyrus the frog sits on a flat surface. He jumps, landing 2 feet away. He then chooses
a direction at random and again jumps 2 feet. What is the probability that after the
second jump Cyrus lands within 1 foot of his starting position?

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Problem 21

A lampshade is made in the form of the lateral surface of the frustum of a right
circular cone. The height of the frustum is 3√3 inches, its top diameter is 6 inches,
and its bottom diameter is 12 inches. A bug is at the bottom of the lampshade and
there is a glob of honey on the top edge of the lampshade at the spot farthest from
the bug. The bug wants to crawl to the honey, but it must stay on the surface of the
lampshade. What is the length in inches of its shortest path to the honey?

Problem 22

A real-valued function 𝑓 has the property that for all real numbers 𝑎 and 𝑏,

𝑓(𝑎 + 𝑏) + 𝑓(𝑎 − 𝑏) = 2𝑓(𝑎)𝑓(𝑏).

Which one of the following cannot be the value of 𝑓(1)?

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Problem 23

When 𝑛 standard six-sided dice are rolled, the product of the numbers rolled can be
any of 936 possible values. What is 𝑛?

(A) 11 (B) 6 (C) 8 (D) 10 (E) 9

Problem 24

Suppose that 𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐, and 𝑑 are positive integers satisfying all of the following
relations:

𝑎𝑏𝑐𝑑 = 26 ⋅ 39 ⋅ 57

lcm(𝑎, 𝑏) = 23 ⋅ 32 ⋅ 53

lcm(𝑎, 𝑐) = 23 ⋅ 33 ⋅ 53

lcm(𝑎, 𝑑) = 23 ⋅ 33 ⋅ 53

lcm(𝑏, 𝑐) = 21 ⋅ 33 ⋅ 52

lcm(𝑏, 𝑑) = 22 ⋅ 33 ⋅ 52

lcm(𝑐, 𝑑) = 22 ⋅ 33 ⋅ 52

What is gcd(𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐, 𝑑)?

(A) 30 (B) 45 (C) 3 (D) 15 (E) 6

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Problem 25

A regular pentagon with area √5 + 1 is printed on paper and cut out. The five
vertices of the pentagon are folded into the center of the pentagon, creating a smaller
pentagon. What is the area of the new pentagon?

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 Answer Key
1. C
2. B
3. D
4. C
5. C
6. C
7. E
8. D
9. B
10.E
11.D
12.E
13.D
14.A
15.E
16.D
17.E
18.A
19.E
20.E
21.E
22.E
23.A
24.C
25.B

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