How many times does the digit 3 appear in the counts from 1 to 100?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → 20
A digit can appear in the units place and in the tens place, so the two places are counted separately.
3 in the units place: 3, 13, 23, 33, 43, 53, 63, 73, 83, 93, that is, 10 times
3 in the tens place: 30, 31, 32, …, 39, that is, 10 times
Total \(=10+10=\) 20
Tip: The question counts how many times the digit appears, not how many numbers contain it. Numbers containing a 3 are only 19, because 33 is one number with two 3s.