CombinatoricsDifficulty 5.2AIME, harderProve itUnited States
Problem: Let A be the number of unordered pairs of ordered pairs of integers between 1 and 6 inclusive, and let B be the number of ordered pairs of unordered pairs of integers between 1 and 6 inclusive. (Repetitions are allowed in both ordered and unordered pairs.) Find A−B.
Solution
Solution: There are 6⋅6 ordered pairs of integers between 1 and 6 inclusive and 21 unordered pairs of integers ((26)=15 different pairs and 6 doubles). Then, A=(236)+36=666 and B=21⋅21=441. Therefore A−B=225.
For general n, there are n2 ordered pairs of integers and 2n(n+1) unordered pairs of integers. Then A=2n2(n2+1) and B=4n2(n+1)2 so A−B=4n2(2(n2+1)−(n+1)2)=(2n(n−1))2
Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track
puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.
Source: MathNet,
licensed CC-BY-4.0.
Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.