Difference between revisions of "2011 AIME I Problems/Problem 12"
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== Problem == | == Problem == | ||
− | Six men and some number of women stand in a line in random order. Let <math>p</math> be the probability that a group of at least four men stand together in the line, given that | + | Six men and some number of women stand in a line in random order. Let <math>p</math> be the probability that a group of at least four men stand together in the line, given that every man stands next to at least one other man. Find the least number of women in the line such that <math>p</math> does not exceed 1 percent. |
== Solution == | == Solution == | ||
− | + | Let <math>n</math> be the number of women present, and let _ be some positive number of women between groups of men. Since the problem states that every man stands next to another man, there cannot be isolated men. Thus, there are five cases to consider, where <math>(k)</math> refers to a consecutive group of <math>k</math> men: | |
− | |||
− | |||
_(2)_(2)_(2)_ | _(2)_(2)_(2)_ | ||
Line 17: | Line 15: | ||
_(6)_ | _(6)_ | ||
− | + | For the first case, we can place the three groups of men in between women. We can think of the groups of men as dividers splitting up the <math>n</math> women. Since there are <math>n+1</math> possible places to insert the dividers, and we need to choose any three of these locations, we have <math>\dbinom{n+1}{3}</math> ways. | |
+ | |||
+ | The second, third, and fourth cases are like the first, only that we need to insert two dividers among the <math>n+1</math> possible locations. Each gives us <math>\dbinom{n+1}{2}</math> ways, for a total of <math>3\dbinom{n+1}{2}</math> ways. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The last case gives us <math>\dbinom{n+1}{1}=n+1</math> ways. | ||
− | + | Therefore, the total number of possible ways where there are no isolated men is | |
− | |||
− | + | <cmath>\dbinom{n+1}{3}+3\dbinom{n+1}{2}+(n+1).</cmath> | |
− | + | The total number of ways where there is a group of at least four men together is the sum of the third, fourth, and fifth case, or | |
− | + | <cmath>2\dbinom{n+1}{2}+(n+1).</cmath> | |
− | + | Thus, we want to find the minimum possible value of <math>n</math> where <math>n</math> is a positive integer such that | |
− | + | <cmath>\dfrac{2\dbinom{n+1}{2}+(n+1)}{\dbinom{n+1}{3}+3\dbinom{n+1}{2}+(n+1)}\le\dfrac{1}{100}.</cmath> | |
− | + | After simplification, we arrive at <cmath>\dfrac{6(n+1)}{n^2+8n+6}\le\dfrac{1}{100}.</cmath> | |
− | + | Simplifying again, we see that we seek the smallest positive integer value of <math>n</math> such that <math>n(n-592)\ge594</math>. Clearly <math>n>592</math>, or the left side will not even be positive; we quickly see that <math>n=593</math> is too small but <math>n=\boxed{594}</math> satisfies the inequality. | |
== See also == | == See also == | ||
{{AIME box|year=2011|n=I|num-b=11|num-a=13}} | {{AIME box|year=2011|n=I|num-b=11|num-a=13}} | ||
+ | {{MAA Notice}} |
Latest revision as of 11:46, 17 February 2020
Problem
Six men and some number of women stand in a line in random order. Let be the probability that a group of at least four men stand together in the line, given that every man stands next to at least one other man. Find the least number of women in the line such that
does not exceed 1 percent.
Solution
Let be the number of women present, and let _ be some positive number of women between groups of men. Since the problem states that every man stands next to another man, there cannot be isolated men. Thus, there are five cases to consider, where
refers to a consecutive group of
men:
_(2)_(2)_(2)_
_(3)_(3)_
_(2)_(4)_
_(4)_(2)_
_(6)_
For the first case, we can place the three groups of men in between women. We can think of the groups of men as dividers splitting up the women. Since there are
possible places to insert the dividers, and we need to choose any three of these locations, we have
ways.
The second, third, and fourth cases are like the first, only that we need to insert two dividers among the possible locations. Each gives us
ways, for a total of
ways.
The last case gives us ways.
Therefore, the total number of possible ways where there are no isolated men is
The total number of ways where there is a group of at least four men together is the sum of the third, fourth, and fifth case, or
Thus, we want to find the minimum possible value of where
is a positive integer such that
After simplification, we arrive at
Simplifying again, we see that we seek the smallest positive integer value of such that
. Clearly
, or the left side will not even be positive; we quickly see that
is too small but
satisfies the inequality.
See also
2011 AIME I (Problems • Answer Key • Resources) | ||
Preceded by Problem 11 |
Followed by Problem 13 | |
1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 | ||
All AIME Problems and Solutions |
The problems on this page are copyrighted by the Mathematical Association of America's American Mathematics Competitions.