| > 12. In a game of Chomp, ...
Easy. Suppose a squares have been removed from the first row; let b <= a
be removed from the second row; let c <= b be removed from the third row, etc.
Then the total number of diagrams is:
7 a b c d
Sum Sum Sum Sum Sum 1
a=0 b=0 c=0 d=0 e=0
|
| Wow! The AIME! This was my favorite exam in high school, probably
because its the one I did best on, and won some money from. It wasn't
much, but $40 to a high school student with no job seems like a lot of
money, especially for doing something you enjoy!
This will be fun trying to figure these out. If I can find my copies of
the first 2 AIME exams back in 1983 and 1984 I'll post the problems from
them.
> 9. Trapezoid ABCD has sides AB=92, BC=50, CD=19, and AD=70, with AB
> parallel to CD. A circle with center P on AB is drawn tangent to BC
> and AD. Given that AP=m/n, where m and n are relatively prime positive
> integers, find m+n.
This one's easy once you see how to do it.
Of course, you want to find where the center P of the circle is on AB.
A simple way to do this is to find the point on AB where 2 equal length
line segments can be drawn to AD and BC, respectively, which will
meet them at right angles. The point where they meet will be the
tangent points of the circle mentioned in the problem; call these points
T and T .
ad bc
The line segments will be radii of the circle, so call their length r.
Now draw lines segments from AB and perpendicular to AB up to D and C
and call the perpendicular points on AB, D' and C', respectively. The
length of these lines will be the height of the trapezoid, h.
Now notice that the right triangle APT is similar to ADD', with a
ad
ratio in lengths of sides of r/h. Also notice that BPT is similar
bc
to BCC', with the same r/h ratio in lengths.
So AP = (r/h) AD = (r/h) 70
and PB = (r/h) BC = (r/h) 50
So AP = (7/5) PB
and AP = (7/12) AB = (7/12) 92 = 161/3
m=161, n=3, m+n = 164
Jon
|
| > > 12. In a game of Chomp, ...
>
> Easy. Suppose a squares have been removed from the first row; let b <= a
> be removed from the second row; let c <= b be removed from the third row, etc.
> Then the total number of diagrams is:
>
> 7 a b c d
> Sum Sum Sum Sum Sum 1
> a=0 b=0 c=0 d=0 e=0
Well, that's halfway to the answer. For those unfamiliar with the AIME,
all the answers are integers between 0 and 999. So it's kind of like a
multiple choice, with 1000 choices on each problem. They don't care how
you solve it, just that you get the right integer.
So the other half of this problem is to figure out how to count up all
those sums.
There's a short cut to do this. Using the observation above that the set
of possible diagrams is the set of all diagrams for which each row has
at least as many squares as the one below it, you can make a further
observation that each possible diagram can be generated by simply starting
at the top of the grid and limiting yourself to downward and rightward
movements until you reach the bottom right corner of the grid. If you
start at the top left of the grid and generate every possible "path"
along the edges of the squares to the bottom right corner, moving only
right or down, you will generate every possible diagram.
Each of these paths will have length 12 (5 down, 7 to the right).
Counting the paths can be done by simply counting the number of ways
you can choose when to take your 5 "down steps" out of your 12 total
steps (or your 7 "right steps" out of your 12 total).
This is "12 choose 5", or 12!
------- = 11 * 9 * 8 = 792
5! 7!
Jon
|