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Number theory Difficulty 7.2 National olympiad, round 2 Prove it Argentina

Several white and black balls can be divided into pairs so that exactly 1011\frac{10}{11} of the white balls are in mixed pairs (with one white and one black ball), and the remaining ones are in pairs with the same color. Also the balls can be divided into pairs so that exactly 1213\frac{12}{13} of the black balls are in mixed pairs, and the remaining ones are in pairs with the same color. The number of white balls is between 150 and 200. How many balls of each color can there be?

Solution

Let there be xx white and yy black balls. Since 1011x\frac{10}{11}x is an integer, xx is divisible by 1111. Next, the x1011x=x11x - \frac{10}{11}x = \frac{x}{11} balls not in a mixed pair in the first division must be paired up among themselves. Hence x11\frac{x}{11} is even, i.e. xx is even. Thus xx is divisible by 2222. Similar observations on the second division show that yy is divisible by 2626.

In order to pair up 1011x\frac{10}{11}x white balls with black ones it is necessary to have at least 1011x\frac{10}{11}x black balls, i.e. 1011xy\frac{10}{11}x \le y. Likewise 1213yx\frac{12}{13}y \le x, or y1312xy \le \frac{13}{12}x. In summary 22x22|x, 26y26|y and 1011xy1312x\frac{10}{11}x \le y \le \frac{13}{12}x. Conversely, if xx and yy satisfy these conditions then both divisions are possible.

The multiples of 2222 in [150,200][150, 200] are 154154, 176176 and 198198. Since 22x22|x and 150x200150 \le x \le 200, we have x{154,176,198}x \in \{154, 176, 198\}. For x=154x = 154, x=176x = 176, x=198x = 198 the condition 1011xy1312x\frac{10}{11}x \le y \le \frac{13}{12}x yields y[140,166]y \in [140, 166], y[160,190]y \in [160, 190], y[180,214]y \in [180, 214] respectively. Taking 26y26|y into account we obtain 4 solutions: (154,156)(154, 156), (176,182)(176, 182), (198,182)(198, 182), (198,208)(198, 208).

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