2019 AMC 10 B

Complete problem set with solutions and individual problem pages

Problem 14 Medium

The base-ten representation for 19! is 121,6T5,100,40M,832,H00, where T, M, and H denote digits that are not given. What is T+ M+H? (2019 AMC 10B Problem, Question#14)

  • A.

    3

  • B.

    8

  • C.

    12

  • D.

    14

  • E.

    17

Answer:C

We can figure out H=0 by noticing that 19! will end with 3 zeroes, as there are three \rm 5s in its prime factorization. Next, we use the fact that 19! is a mutiple of both 11 and 9. Their divisibilty rules (see Solution 2) tell us that T+ M\equiv 3 (mod 9) and that T- M\equiv7 (mod 11) By inspection, we see that T=4, M=8 is a valid solution. Therefore the answers 4+8+0=\text {(C)}12.

We know that 9 and 11 are both factors of 19!, Furthermore, we know that H=0, because 19! ends in three zeroes (see Solution 1). We can simply use the divisibility rules for 9 and 11 for this problem to find T and M. For 19! to be divisible by 9, the sum of digits must simply be divisible by 9. Summing the digits, we get that T+ M+33 must be divisible by 9. This leaves either A or C as our answer choice. Now we test for divisibility by 11. For a number to be divisible by 11, the alternating sum must be divisible by 11 (for example, with the number 2728, 2 -7+2-8=-11, so 2728 is divisible by 11). Applying the alternating sum test to this problem, we see that T-M-7 must be divisible by 11. By inspection, we can see that this holds if T=4 and M=8 The sum 8+4+0= \text {(C)}12.