Maths Olympiad Prep

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Problem 1160

AIME late
Combinatorics Difficulty 5.2 Prove it HMMT February · United States · 2020

How many ways can the vertices of a cube be colored red or blue so that the color of each vertex is the color of the majority of the three vertices adjacent to it?

This one wants a proof. Work it on paper, then read the official solution and mark yourself. Be honest about it: the record is only any use to you if it is.

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Official solution

Solution:

If all vertices of the cube are of the same color, then there are 2 ways. Otherwise, look at a red vertex. Since it must have at least 2 red neighbors, there is a face of the cube containing 3 red vertices. The last vertex on this face must also be red. Similarly, all vertices on the opposite face must be blue. Thus, all vertices on one face of the cube are red while the others are blue. Since a cube has 6 faces, the answer is 2+6=82+6=8.

Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty, ordering) added by this project.