Maths Olympiad Prep

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Algebra Difficulty 3.2 AMC 10/12 Find the answer

Max and Minnie each add up sets of three-digit positive integers. Each of them adds three different three-digit integers whose nine digits are all different. Max creates the largest possible sum. Minnie creates the smallest possible sum. What is the difference between Max's sum and Minnie's sum?

A number or a short expression. Spacing and $ signs are ignored.

Solution

Consider three three-digit numbers with digits RST,UVW RST, UVW and XYZ XYZ . The integer with digits RST RST equals 100R+10S+T 100R+10S+T , the integer with digits UVW UVW equals 100U+10V+W 100U+10V+W , and the integer with digits XYZ XYZ equals 100X+10Y+Z 100X+10Y+Z . Therefore, RST+UVW+XYZ=100(R+U+X)+10(S+V+Y)+(T+W+Z) RST+UVW+XYZ=100(R+U+X)+10(S+V+Y)+(T+W+Z) . We note that each of R,S,T,U,V,W,X,Y,Z R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z can be any digit from 0 to 9, except that R,U R, U and X X cannot be 0. Max wants to make 100(R+U+X)+10(S+V+Y)+(T+W+Z) 100(R+U+X)+10(S+V+Y)+(T+W+Z) as large as possible. He does this by placing the largest digits (9,8 (9,8 and 7) as hundreds digits, the next largest digits (6, 5 and 4) as tens digits, and the next largest digits (3,2 (3,2 and 1) as units digits. We note that no digits can be repeated, and that the placement of the digits assigned to any of the place values among the three different three-digit numbers is irrelevant as it does not affect the actual sum. Max's sum is thus 100(9+8+7)+10(6+5+4)+(3+2+1)=2400+150+6=2556 100(9+8+7)+10(6+5+4)+(3+2+1)=2400+150+6=2556 . Minnie wants to make 100(R+U+X)+10(S+V+Y)+(T+W+Z) 100(R+U+X)+10(S+V+Y)+(T+W+Z) as small as possible. She does this by placing the smallest allowable digits (1,2 and 3) as hundreds digits, the next smallest remaining digits (0,4 (0,4 and 5) as tens digits, and the next smallest digits (6,7 (6,7 and 8) as units digits. Minnie's sum is thus 100(1+2+3)+10(0+4+5)+(6+7+8)=600+90+21=711 100(1+2+3)+10(0+4+5)+(6+7+8)=600+90+21=711 . The difference between their sums is 2556711=1845 2556-711=1845 .

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Source: Omni-MATH, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.