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Combinatorics Difficulty 6.2 National olympiad Find the answer

For each positive integer nn , find the number of nn -digit positive integers that satisfy both of the following conditions:
\bullet no two consecutive digits are equal, and
\bullet the last digit is a prime.

A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.

Solution

The answer is 25(9n+(1)n+1)\boxed{\frac{2}{5}\left(9^n+(-1)^{n+1}\right)} .
Suppose ana_n denotes the number of nn -digit numbers that satisfy the condition. We claim an=49n1an1a_n=4\cdot 9^{n-1}-a_{n-1} , with a1=4a_1=4 . Proof.\textit{Proof.} It is trivial to show that a1=4a_1=4 . Now, we can do casework on whether or not the tens digit of the nn -digit integer is prime. If the tens digit is prime, we can choose the digits before the units digit in an1a_{n-1} ways and choose the units digit in 33 ways, since it must be prime and not equal to the tens digit. Therefore, there are 3an13a_{n-1} ways in this case.
If the tens digit is not prime, we can use complementary counting. First, we consider the number of (n1)(n-1) -digit integers that do not have consecutive digits. There are 99 ways to choose the first digit and 99 ways to choose the remaining digits. Thus, there are 9n19^{n-1} integers that satisfy this. Therefore, the number of those (n1)(n-1) -digit integers whose units digit is not prime is 9n1an19^{n-1}-a_{n-1} . It is easy to see that there are 44 ways to choose the units digit, so there are 4(9n1an1)4\left(9^{n-1}-a_{n-1}\right) numbers in this case. It follows that an=3an1+4(9n1an1)=49n1an1,a_n=3a_{n-1}+4\left(9^{n-1}-a_{n-1}\right)=4\cdot 9^{n-1}-a_{n-1}, and our claim has been proven.
Then, we can use induction to show that an=25(9n+(1)n+1)a_n=\frac{2}{5}\left(9^n+(-1)^{n+1}\right) . It is easy to see that our base case is true, as a1=4a_1=4 . Then, an+1=49nan=49n25(9n+(1)n+1)=49n259n25(1)n+1,a_{n+1}=4\cdot 9^n-a_n=4\cdot 9^n-\frac{2}{5}\left(9^n+(-1)^{n+1}\right)=4\cdot 9^n-\frac{2}{5}\cdot 9^n-\frac{2}{5}(-1)^{n+1}, which is equal to an+1=(425)9n25(1)n+2(1)=1859n+25(1)n+2=25(9n+1+(1)n+2),a_{n+1}=\left(4-\frac{2}{5}\right)\cdot 9^n-\frac{2}{5}\cdot\frac{(-1)^{n+2}}{(-1)}=\frac{18}{5}\cdot 9^n+\frac{2}{5}\cdot(-1)^{n+2}=\frac{2}{5}\left(9^{n+1}+(-1)^{n+2}\right), as desired. \square
Solution by TheUltimate123.

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