Difference between revisions of "Mock AIME 1 Pre 2005 Problems/Problem 7"

m (Solution: typo fix)
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== Problem ==
 
== Problem ==
Let <math>N</math> denote the number of permutations of the <math>15</math>-character string <tt>AAAABBBBBCCCCCC</tt> such that
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Let <math>N</math> denote the number of permutations of the <math>15</math>-character string <math>AAAABBBBBCCCCCC</math> such that
  
# None of the first four letter is an <tt>A</tt>.
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# None of the first four letters is an <math>A</math>.
# None of the next five letters is a <tt>B</tt>.
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# None of the next five letters is a <math>B</math>.
# None of the last six letters is a <tt>C</tt>.
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# None of the last six letters is a <math>C</math>.
  
 
Find the remainder when <math>N</math> is divided by <math>1000</math>.
 
Find the remainder when <math>N</math> is divided by <math>1000</math>.

Latest revision as of 16:27, 23 February 2013

Problem

Let $N$ denote the number of permutations of the $15$-character string $AAAABBBBBCCCCCC$ such that

  1. None of the first four letters is an $A$.
  2. None of the next five letters is a $B$.
  3. None of the last six letters is a $C$.

Find the remainder when $N$ is divided by $1000$.

Solution

Let there be $k$ As amongst the five numbers in the middle (those mentioned in condition [2]). There are $4-k$ As amongst the last six numbers then. Also, there are $5-k$ Cs amongst the middle five numbers, and so there are $6-(5-k) = k+1$ Cs amongst the first four numbers.

Thus, there are ${4 \choose k+1}$ ways to arrange the first four numbers, ${5 \choose k}$ ways to arrange the middle five numbers, and ${6 \choose 4-k} = {6\choose k+2}$ ways to arrange the last six numbers. Notice that $k=4$ leads to a contradiction, so the desired sum is \[\sum_{k=0}^{3} {4\choose k+1}{5\choose k}{6\choose k+2} = 60 + 600 + 600 + 60 = 1320\] And $N \equiv \boxed{320} \pmod{1000}$.

See also

Mock AIME 1 Pre 2005 (Problems, Source)
Preceded by
Problem 6
Followed by
Problem 8
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15