2005 AMC 10B Problems/Problem 18

Problem

All of David's telephone numbers have the form $555-abc-defg$, where $a$, $b$, $c$, $d$, $e$, $f$, and $g$ are distinct digits and in increasing order, and none is either $0$ or $1$. How many different telephone numbers can David have?

$\textbf{(A) } 1 \qquad \textbf{(B) } 2 \qquad \textbf{(C) } 7 \qquad \textbf{(D) } 8 \qquad \textbf{(E) } 9$

Solution

The only digits available to use in the phone number are $2$, $3$, $4$, $5$, $6$, $7$, $8$, and $9$. There are only $7$ spots left among the $8$ numbers, so we need to find the number of ways to choose $7$ numbers from $8$. The answer is then $\dbinom{8}{7}=\dfrac{8!}{7!\,(8-7)!}=\boxed{\textbf{(D) } 8}$

Alternatively, we could just choose $1$ out of the $8$ numbers not to be used. There are obviously $\boxed{8}$ ways to do so.

Note: for each combination of 7 numbers, exactly 1 is in increasing order -Williamgolly

See Also

2005 AMC 10B (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 17
Followed by
Problem 19
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All AMC 10 Problems and Solutions

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