2006 AMC 12B Problems/Problem 9

Problem

How many even three-digit integers have the property that their digits, read left to right, are in strictly increasing order?

$\text {(A) } 21 \qquad \text {(B) } 34 \qquad \text {(C) } 51 \qquad \text {(D) } 72 \qquad \text {(E) } 150$

Solution

Solution 1

Let's set the middle (tens) digit first. The middle digit can be anything from 2-7 (If it was 1 we would have the hundreds digit to be 0, if it was more than 8, the ones digit cannot be even).

If it was 2, there is 1 possibility for the hundreds digit, 3 for the ones digit. If it was 3, there are 2 possibilities for the hundreds digit, 3 for the ones digit. If it was 4, there are 3 possibilities for the hundreds digit, and 2 for the ones digit,

and so on.

So, the answer is $3(1+2)+2(3+4)+1(5+6)=\boxed{34} \Rightarrow B$ .

Solution 2

The last digit is 4, 6, or 8.

If the last digit is $x$ , the possibilities for the first two digits correspond to 2-element subsets of $\{1,2,\dots,x-1\}$ .

Thus the answer is ${3\choose 2} + {5\choose 2} + {7\choose 2} = 3 + 10 + 21 = 34$ .

2006 AMC 12B (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by Problem 8	Followed by Problem 10
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All AMC 12 Problems and Solutions

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2006 AMC 12B Problems/Problem 9

Contents

Problem

Solution

Solution 1

Solution 2

See also