2019 AMC 12B Problems/Problem 16
Contents
Problem
Lily pads numbered from to
lie in a row on a pond. Fiona the frog sits on pad
, a morsel of food sits on pad
, and predators sit on pads
and
. At each unit of time the frog jumps either to the next higher numbered pad or to the pad after that, each with probability
, independently from previous jumps. What is the probability that Fiona skips over pads
and
and lands on pad
?
Solution 1
First, notice that Fiona, if she jumps over the predator on pad , must land on pad
. Similarly, she must land on
if she makes it past
. Thus, we can split it into
smaller problems counting the probability Fiona skips
, Fiona skips
(starting at
) and
skip
(starting at
). Incidentally, the last one is equivalent to the first one minus
.
Let's call the larger jump a -jump, and the smaller a
-jump.
For the first mini-problem, let's see our options. Fiona can either go (probability of
), or she can go
(probability of
). These are the only two options, so they together make the answer
. We now also know the answer to the last mini-problem (
).
For the second mini-problem, Fiona go
(probability of
). Any other option results in her death to a predator.
Thus, the final answer is
Solution 2
See Also
2019 AMC 12B (Problems • Answer Key • Resources) | |
Preceded by Problem 15 |
Followed by Problem 17 |
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All AMC 12 Problems and Solutions |
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