Maths Olympiad Prep

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Combinatorics Difficulty 6.0 AIME, harder Prove it United States

Problem:

Zaineb makes a large necklace from beads labeled 290,291,292,,2023290, 291, 292, \ldots, 2023. She uses each bead exactly once, arranging the beads in the necklace any order she likes. Prove that no matter how the beads are arranged, there must be three beads in a row whose labels are the side lengths of a triangle.

Solution

Solution:

More generally, we will prove that if there are 6n6n beads labeled n+1,n+2,,7nn+1, n+2, \ldots, 7n, there must be three beads in a row whose labels are the side lengths of a triangle. (When n=289n=289, this coincides with the problem statement.)

Aiming for a contradiction, assume there are no three beads in a row whose labels are the side lengths of a triangle.

By starting at an arbitrary position on the necklace and counting off three beads at a time, partition the 6n6n beads into 2n2n trios of consecutive beads. Let SS be the sum obtained by adding together the smallest two numbers from every trio. (Thus, SS is a sum of 4n4n numbers.) Let TT be the sum obtained by adding the largest number from every trio.

By our assumption, within each trio, the sum of the two smallest numbers is less than or equal to the largest number. By adding these inequalities across all trios, we see that STS \leq T.

On the other hand, SS can be no smaller than the sum of the 4n4n smallest numbers. Using the formula for the sum of an arithmetic progression, we have
S(n+1)+(n+2)++(5n)=(4n)(6n+1)2=12n2+2n S \geq (n+1) + (n+2) + \cdots + (5n) = \frac{(4n)(6n+1)}{2} = 12n^2 + 2n
Similarly, TT can be no larger than the sum of the 2n2n largest numbers:
T(5n+1)+(5n+2)++(7n)=(2n)(12n+1)2=12n2+n T \leq (5n+1) + (5n+2) + \cdots + (7n) = \frac{(2n)(12n+1)}{2} = 12n^2 + n
Thus T12n2+n<12n2+2nST \leq 12n^2 + n < 12n^2 + 2n \leq S, which contradicts our earlier claim that STS \leq T.

We have arrived at a contradiction, so there must in fact be three beads in a row whose labels are the side lengths of a triangle.

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