AMC 10 · 2025 · #1

Grade 5 arithmetic
floor-functionratemulti-digit-arithmetic dimensional-analysis ↑ Prerequisites: multi-digit-arithmetic
📏 Short solution 💡 1 insight
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Problem
A bag holds 350 grams of coffee beans. Each properly brewed large mug uses exactly 20 grams. Find the greatest number of full mugs you can make from the bag.

Pick an answer.

(A)
16
(B)
17
(C)
18
(D)
19
(E)
20

AMC 10 2025 problem © Mathematical Association of America (MAA AMC). Reproduced for educational use.

How to solve
Strategy Analyze the Units

The two numbers carry units: 350 grams total and 20 grams per mug. Tool #8 (Analyze the Units) shows that grams ÷ grams-per-mug cancels to give a count of mugs, so a single division does the work. Because the question asks for the greatest number of full mugs and leftover beans cannot fill another mug, Tool #14 (Extreme Principle) says to push to the boundary and round the quotient down to a whole number rather than up.

1STEP 1

Turn the words into a division

Fitting 20-gram portions inside 350 grams is a division: grams ÷ grams-per-mug cancels down to just mugs.

mugs = (350 grams)/(20 grams/mug)
2STEP 2

Divide 350 by 20

20×18=360 overshoots 350 while 20×17=340 fits, so the division gives 17 remainder 10.

350÷20 = 17 remainder 10
3STEP 3

Round down to whole mugs

The leftover 10 grams cannot fill a mug that needs 20, so round the quotient down: the answer is (B) 17.

⌊ 350/20 ⌋ = 17 → (B)
Answer
17
Check the boundary both ways: 17 mugs use 17×20=340 grams, which fits inside 350; 18 mugs would need 18×20=360 grams, which overshoots the 350 available. So 17 is exactly the largest count that stays within the bag, matching (B). Choices (C)–(E) all demand more than 350 grams, and (A) 16 wastes a whole extra mug's worth of beans.
💡Key takeaway

When you split a total into fixed portions and only whole ones count, divide and then round down — leftovers that are too small to fill another portion just get left behind.

  • Turn the words into a division
  • Divide 350 by 20
  • Round down to whole mugs