2009 AIME I Problems/Problem 3

Problem

A coin that comes up heads with probability $p > 0$ and tails with probability $1 - p > 0$ independently on each flip is flipped eight times. Suppose the probability of three heads and five tails is equal to $\frac {1}{25}$ of the probability of five heads and three tails. Let $p = \frac {m}{n}$ , where $m$ and $n$ are relatively prime positive integers. Find $m + n$ .

Solution

The probability of three heads and five tails is $\binom {8}{3}p^3(1-p)^5$ and the probability of five heads and three tails is $\binom {8}{3}p^5(1-p)^3$ .

$\begin{align*} 25\binom {8}{3}p^3(1-p)^5&=\binom {8}{3}p^5(1-p)^3 \\ 25(1-p)^2&=p^2 \\ 25p^2-50p+25&=p^2 \\ 24p^2-50p+25&=0 \\ p&=\frac {5}{6}\end{align*}$

Therefore, the answer is $5+6=\boxed{011}$ .

Solution 2

We start as shown above, however, as we get to $25(1-p)^2=p^2$ , we square root both sides to get $5(1-p)=p$ . Then, we get:

$\begin{align*} 5(1-p)&=p \\ 5-5p&=p \\ 5&=6p \\ p&=\frac {5}{6}\end{align*}$

We get the same answer as above, $5+6=\boxed{011}$

-Jerry_Guo

Video Solution

https://youtu.be/NL79UexadzE

~IceMatrix

2009 AIME I (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by Problem 2	Followed by Problem 4
1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15
All AIME Problems and Solutions

Page

Toolbox

Search

2009 AIME I Problems/Problem 3

Contents

Problem

Solution

Solution 2

Video Solution

See also