Difference between revisions of "2022 AMC 10B Problems/Problem 6"

(Solution 1 (Generalization): Rewrote using summation.)
Line 6: Line 6:
 
==Solution 1 (Generalization)==
 
==Solution 1 (Generalization)==
 
The <math>n</math>th term of this sequence is
 
The <math>n</math>th term of this sequence is
<cmath>\begin{align*}
+
<cmath>\sum_{k=n}^{2n}10k + \sum_{k=0}^{n}10^k = 10^n\sum_{k=0}^{n}10^k + \sum_{k=0}^{n}10^k = \left(10^n+1\right)\sum_{k=0}^{n}10^k.</cmath>
\left(10^{2n}+10^{2n-1}+\cdots+10^{n}\right)+\left(10^{n}+10^{n-1}+\cdots+10^{0}\right) &= 10^n\left(10^{n}+10^{n-1}+\cdots+10^{0}\right)+\left(10^{n}+10^{n-1}+\cdots+10^{0}\right) \\
 
&= \left(10^n + 1\right)\left(10^{n}+10^{n-1}+\cdots+10^{0}\right).
 
\end{align*}</cmath>
 
 
It follows that the terms are
 
It follows that the terms are
 
<cmath>\begin{align*}
 
<cmath>\begin{align*}

Revision as of 18:06, 30 November 2022

Problem

How many of the first ten numbers of the sequence $121, 11211, 1112111, \ldots$ are prime numbers?

$\textbf{(A) } 0 \qquad \textbf{(B) }1 \qquad \textbf{(C) }2 \qquad \textbf{(D) }3 \qquad \textbf{(E) }4$

Solution 1 (Generalization)

The $n$th term of this sequence is \[\sum_{k=n}^{2n}10k + \sum_{k=0}^{n}10^k = 10^n\sum_{k=0}^{n}10^k + \sum_{k=0}^{n}10^k = \left(10^n+1\right)\sum_{k=0}^{n}10^k.\] It follows that the terms are \begin{align*} 121 &= 11\cdot11, \\ 11211 &= 101\cdot111, \\ 1112111 &= 1001\cdot1111, \\ & \ \vdots \end{align*} Therefore, there are $\boxed{\textbf{(A) } 0}$ prime numbers in this sequence.

~MRENTHUSIASM

Solution 2 (Educated Guesses)

Note that it's obvious that $121$ is divisible by $11$ and $11211$ is divisible by $3;$ therefore, since this an AMC 10 problem 6, we may safely assume that we do not need to check two-digit prime divisibility or use obscure theorems. So, the answer is $\boxed{\textbf{(A) } 0}.$

~Dhillonr25

See Also

2022 AMC 10B (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 5
Followed by
Problem 7
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
All AMC 10 Problems and Solutions

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