CombinatoricsDifficulty 6.5National olympiadFind the answer
Twenty-one rectangles of size 3×1 are placed on an 8×8 chessboard, leaving only one free unit square. What position can the free square lie at?
A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.
Solution
1. Coloring the Chessboard: We start by coloring the 8×8 chessboard in a specific pattern to help us analyze the problem. The coloring is done in such a way that each 3×1 rectangle covers exactly one square of each color (1, 2, and 3). The coloring is as follows: 1231231231231231231231231231231231231231231231231231231231231231
2. Counting the Squares: In this coloring, there are 22 squares with a 1, 21 squares with a 2, and 21 squares with a 3. Since each 3×1 rectangle covers one square of each color, placing 21 rectangles will cover all 21 squares with a 2, all 21 squares with a 3, and 21 out of the 22 squares with a 1. This leaves exactly one square with a 1 uncovered.
3. Symmetry Consideration: To ensure that the solution is not dependent on the specific arrangement, we reflect the coloring matrix: 3123123112312312231231233123123112312312231231233123123112312312 By symmetry, the same rules apply, and the leftover square must be a 1-square in both colorings.
4. Identifying Possible Positions: The only positions that satisfy this condition in both colorings are: 1231231231231231231231231231231231231231231231231231231231231231 These positions are (3,3), (3,6), (6,3), and (6,6).
5. Verification by Placement: We can verify that it is possible to place the 3×1 rectangles such that one of these squares is left uncovered. For example: 111782227834783455534666 The rest of the board can be filled similarly, ensuring that one of the identified squares remains uncovered.
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: NuminaMath-1.5,
licensed Apache-2.0.
Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.