1972 IMO Problems/Problem 1

Problem

Prove that from a set of ten distinct two-digit numbers (in the decimal system), it is possible to select two disjoint subsets whose members have the same sum.

Solution

Note that there are $2^{10}-2=1022$ distinct subsets of our set of 10 two-digit numbers. Also note that the sum of the elements of any subset of our set of 10 two-digit numbers must be between 10 and $90+91+92+93+94+95+96+97+98+99=945$ . This shows that there are 846 attainable sums. The Pigeonhole Principle then implies that there are two distinct subsets whose members have the same sum. Let these sets be $A$ and $B$ . Note that $A- (A\cap B)$ and $B- (A\cap B)$ are two distinct sets whose members have the same sum. These two sets are subsets of our set of 10 distinct two-digit numbers, so this proves the claim. $\blacksquare$

Alternate solutions are always welcome. If you have a different, elegant solution to this problem, please add it to this page.

1972 IMO (Problems) • Resources
Preceded by First Problem	1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6	Followed by Problem 2
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1972 IMO Problems/Problem 1

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