Difference between revisions of "1992 AHSME Problems/Problem 23"

m
Line 12: Line 12:
  
 
To maximize the amount of numbers in S, we will use 1 number equivalent to 0 mod 7, 8 numbers equivalent to 1, and 14 numbers equivalent to 2-5. This is obvious if you think for a moment. Therefore the answer is 1+8+14=23 numbers.
 
To maximize the amount of numbers in S, we will use 1 number equivalent to 0 mod 7, 8 numbers equivalent to 1, and 14 numbers equivalent to 2-5. This is obvious if you think for a moment. Therefore the answer is 1+8+14=23 numbers.
 +
$\fbox{E}
 +
 +
== See also ==
 +
{{AHSME box|year=1992|num-b=22|num-a=24}} 
 +
 +
[[Category: Intermediate Number Theory Problems]]
 
{{MAA Notice}}
 
{{MAA Notice}}

Revision as of 17:03, 27 September 2014

Problem

Let $S$ be a subset of $\{1,2,3,...,50\}$ such that no pair of distinct elements in $S$ has a sum divisible by $7$. What is the maximum number of elements in $S$?

Solution

The fact that $x \equiv 0$ mod $7 \Rightarrow 7 \mid x$ is assumed as common knowledge in this answer.

First, note that there are 8 possible numbers that are equivalent to 1 mod 7, and there are 7 possible numbers equivalent to each of 2-6 mod 7.

Second, note that there can be no pairs of numbers a & b such that $a \equiv -b$ mod $7$, because then a+b mod 7 = 0. These pairs are (0,0), (1,6), (2,5), and (3,4) mod 7. Because (0,0) is a pair, there can always be 1 number equivalent to 0 mod 7, and no more.

To maximize the amount of numbers in S, we will use 1 number equivalent to 0 mod 7, 8 numbers equivalent to 1, and 14 numbers equivalent to 2-5. This is obvious if you think for a moment. Therefore the answer is 1+8+14=23 numbers. $\fbox{E}

See also

1992 AHSME (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 22
Followed by
Problem 24
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 26 27 28 29 30
All AHSME Problems and Solutions

The problems on this page are copyrighted by the Mathematical Association of America's American Mathematics Competitions. AMC logo.png