• Brochure
  
  
• Factoids
  
  
• Dates
  
  
• State Directors
  
  
• Registration Information
  
  
• FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions on the A & B Exams
  
  
• Registration Form - A
  
  
• Registration Form - B
  
  
• Publications Descriptions
  
  
• Publications Form
  
  
• 2001 Sample Questions
  
  
• 2001 AMC 10 Answers
  
  
• 2001 AMC 10 Perfect Scores
  
  
• 2001 AMC 10 General Statistics
  
  
• 2000 Sliffe Award Winners
  
  
  
  
• Home

The main purpose of the AMC 10 is to spur interest in mathematics and to develop talent through the excitement of solving challenging problems in a timed multiple-choice format. The problems range from the very easy to the extremely difficult. Students who participate in the AMC 10 should find that most of the problems are challenging but within their grasp. The contest is intended for everyone from the average student at a typical school who enjoys mathematics to the very best student at the most special school.

Learning will take place if students singly, jointly and, especially with their teachers, strive to solve those contest problems they did not see how to solve in the allotted time as well as to understand the solutions to those problems that they did not solve correctly. The problems on the AMC 10 are chosen so that the solutions illustrate important mathematical principles. Occasionally, problems are chosen so that certain subtle but significant confusions, as well as some common computational errors, will be identified by the wrong answers listed. These principles and confusions are highlighted in the carefully prepared solutions manual. Some problems have quick solutions which seem like “tricks”. What appears to be a trick the first time it is encountered often becomes a technique for solving other problems. A student’s mathematical tool kit for solving problems can be greatly expanded by the acquisition of these techniques.

A special purpose of the AMC 10 is to help identify those few students with truly exceptional mathematics talent. Students who are among the very best deserve some indication of how they stand relative to other students in the country and around the world . The AMC 10 provides one such indication, and it is the first in a series of examinations. In this way the very best young mathematicians are recognized, encouraged and developed.

The AMC 10 is not an end in itself. Outstanding performance on it is neither necessary nor sufficient for becoming an outstanding mathematician. The ability to gain insights and do computations quickly are wonderful talents, but many eminent mathematicians are not quick in this way. Also, the multiple-choice format (necessary for the prompt scoring of over 400,000 examinations) benefits those who are shrewd at eliminating wrong answers and guessing, but this is not particularly a mathematical talent. In short, students who do not receive nationally recognized scores should not shrink from pursuing mathematics further, and those who do receive such high scores should not think that they have forever proved their mathematical merit. This examination, like all mathematical competitions, remains but a means for furthering mathematical development.