Problem:
Patty has coins consisting of nickels and dimes. If her nickels were dimes and her dimes were nickels, she would have cents more. How much are her coins worth?
Answer Choices:
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Solution:
Because the value of Patty's money would increase if the dimes and nickels were interchanged, she must have more nickels than dimes. Interchanging one nickel for a dime increases the amount by cents, so she has more nickels than dimes. Therefore she has
and her coins are worth cents .
Answer: .
The problems on this page are the property of the MAA's American Mathematics Competitions