Difference between revisions of "2022 AIME I Problems/Problem 9"

Revision as of 18:43, 23 February 2022

Problem

Ellina has twelve blocks, two each of red ( $\textbf{R}$ ), blue ( $\textbf{B}$ ), yellow ( $\textbf{Y}$ ), green ( $\textbf{G}$ ), orange ( $\textbf{O}$ ), and purple ( $\textbf{P}$ ). Call an arrangement of blocks $\textit{even}$ if there is an even number of blocks between each pair of blocks of the same color. For example, the arrangement $\textbf{R B B Y G G Y R O P P O}$ is even. Ellina arranges her blocks in a row in random order. The probability that her arrangement is even is $\frac{m}{n},$ where $m$ and $n$ are relatively prime positive integers. Find $m+n.$

Solution 1

Consider this position chart: ${\text {\bf 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12}}$ Since there has to be an even number of spaces between each ball of the same color, spots $1$ , $3$ , $5$ , $7$ , $9$ , and $11$ contain some permutation of all 6 colored balls. Likewise, so do the even spots, so the number of even configurations is $6! \cdot 6!$ (after putting every pair of colored balls in opposite parity positions, the configuration can be shown to be even). This is out of $\frac{12!}{(2!)^6}$ possible arrangements, so the probability is: $\frac{6!\cdot6!}{\frac{12!}{(2!)^6}} = \frac{6!\cdot2^6}{7\cdot8\cdot9\cdot10\cdot11\cdot12} = \frac{2^6}{7\cdot11\cdot12} = \frac{16}{231}$ , which is in simplest form. So $m + n = 16 + 231 = \boxed{247}$ .

-Oxymoronic15

Video Solution (Mathematical Dexterity)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkoF7StwtrM

Video Solution (Power of Logic)

https://youtu.be/AF6TOG7MSwA

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 == Problem ==
-Ellina has twelve blocks, two each of red <math>\left({\bf R}\right),</math> blue <math>\left({\bf B}\right),</math> yellow <math>\left({\bf Y}\right),</math> green <math>\left({\bf G}\right),</math> orange <math>\left({\bf O}\right),</math> and purple <math>\left({\bf P}\right).</math> Call an arrangement of blocks even if there is an even number of blocks between each pair of blocks of the same color. For example, the arrangement
+Ellina has twelve blocks, two each of red (<math>\textbf{R}</math>), blue (<math>\textbf{B}</math>), yellow (<math>\textbf{Y}</math>), green (<math>\textbf{G}</math>), orange (<math>\textbf{O}</math>), and purple (<math>\textbf{P}</math>). Call an arrangement of blocks <math>\textit{even}</math> if there is an even number of blocks between each pair of blocks of the same color. For example, the arrangement
-<cmath> {\text {\bf R B B Y G G Y R O P P O}}</cmath>is even. Ellina arranges her blocks in a row in random order. The probability that her arrangement is even is <math>\frac mn</math>, where <math>m</math> and <math>n</math> are relatively prime positive integers. Find <math>m+n</math>.
+<cmath>\textbf{R B B Y G G Y R O P P O}</cmath>
+is even. Ellina arranges her blocks in a row in random order. The probability that her arrangement is even is <math>\frac{m}{n},</math> where <math>m</math> and <math>n</math> are relatively prime positive integers. Find <math>m+n.</math>
 == Solution 1 ==

2022 AIME I (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
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