2010 AMC 10B Problem 9


Lucky Larry’s teacher asked him to substitute numbers for aa , bb , cc , dd , and ee in the expression a(b(c(d+e)))a-(b-(c-(d+e))) and evaluate the result. Larry ignored the parentheses but added and subtracted correctly and obtained the correct result by coincidence. The numbers Larry substituted for aa , bb , cc , and dd were 11 , 22 , 33 , and 44 , respectively. What number did Larry substitute for ee ?

(A) 5(B) 3(C) 0(D) 3(E) 5\textbf{(A)}\ -5 \qquad \textbf{(B)}\ -3 \qquad \textbf{(C)}\ 0 \qquad \textbf{(D)}\ 3 \qquad \textbf{(E)}\ 5


Full credit goes to MAA for authoring these problems. These problems were taken on the AOPS website.

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Category: AMC 10B
Points: 1
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