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Problem 619

AMC 10/12, early questions
Combinatorics Difficulty 3.8 Find the answer CEMC Pascal · Canada · 2023

The integers 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 13 are to be placed in the
circles and squares below with one number in each shape.

Each integer must be used exactly once and the integer in each circle
must be equal to the sum of the integers in the two neighbouring
squares. If the integer xx is placed
in the leftmost square and the integer yy is placed in the rightmost square, what
is the largest possible value of x+yx+y?

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

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Official solutions — 3

Solution 1

From the given information, if aa and bb are in two consecutive squares, then
a+ba+b goes in the circle between
them.

Since all of the numbers that we can use are positive, then a+ba+b is larger than both aa and bb.

This means that the largest integer in the list, which is 13, cannot be
either xx or yy (and in fact cannot be placed in any
square). This is because the number in the circle next to it must be
smaller than 13 (because 13 is the largest number in the list) and so
cannot be the sum of 13 and another positive number from the list.

Thus, for x+yx+y to be as large as
possible, we would have xx and yy equal to 10 and 11 in some order. But
here we have the same problem: there is only one larger number from the
list (namely 13) that can go in the circles next to 10 and 11, and so we
could not fill in the circle next to both 10 and 11.

Therefore, the next largest possible value for x+yx+y is when x=9x=9 and y=11y=11. (We could also swap xx and yy.)

Here, we could have 13=11+213 = 11+2 and
10=9+110 = 9 + 1, giving the following
partial list:

[[IMAGE0]]

The remaining integers (4, 5 and 6) can be put in the shapes in the
following way that satisfies the requirements.

[[IMAGE1]]

This tells us that the largest possible value of x+yx+y is 20.

Solution 2

From the given information, if aa and bb are in two consecutive squares, then
a+ba+b goes in the circle between
them.

Since all of the numbers that we can use are positive, then a+ba+b is larger than both aa and bb.

This means that the largest integer in the list, which is 13, cannot be
either xx or yy (and in fact cannot be placed in any
square). This is because the number in the circle next to it must be
smaller than 13 (because 13 is the largest number in the list) and so
cannot be the sum of 13 and another positive number from the list.

Thus, for x+yx+y to be as large as
possible, we would have xx and yy equal to 10 and 11 in some order. But
here we have the same problem: there is only one larger number from the
list (namely 13) that can go in the circles next to 10 and 11, and so we
could not fill in the circle next to both 10 and 11.

Therefore, the next largest possible value for x+yx+y is when x=9x=9 and y=11y=11. (We could also swap xx and yy.)

Here, we could have 13=11+213 = 11+2 and
10=9+110 = 9 + 1, giving the following
partial list:

[[IMAGE0]]

The remaining integers (4, 5 and 6) can be put in the shapes in the
following way that satisfies the requirements.

[[IMAGE1]]

This tells us that the largest possible value of x+yx+y is 20.

Solution 3

From the given information, if aa and bb are in two consecutive squares, then
a+ba+b goes in the circle between
them.

Since all of the numbers that we can use are positive, then a+ba+b is larger than both aa and bb.

This means that the largest integer in the list, which is 13, cannot be
either xx or yy (and in fact cannot be placed in any
square). This is because the number in the circle next to it must be
smaller than 13 (which is the largest number in the list) and so cannot
be the sum of 13 and another positive number from the list.

Thus, for x+yx+y to be as large as
possible, we would have xx and yy equal to 10 and 11 in some order. But
here we have the same problem: there is only one larger number from the
list (namely 13) that can go in the circles next to 10 and 11, and so we
could not fill in the circle next to both 10 and 11.

Therefore, the next largest possible value for x+yx+y is when x=9x=9 and y=11y=11. (We could also swap xx and yy.)

Here, we could have 13=11+213 = 11+2 and
10=9+110 = 9 + 1, giving the following
partial list:

[[IMAGE0]]

The remaining integers (4, 5 and 6) can be put in the shapes in the
following way that satisfies the requirements.

[[IMAGE1]]

This tells us that the largest possible value of x+yx+y is 20.

Source: CEMC, University of Waterloo, licensed CC-BY-NC-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty, ordering) added by this project.