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2010 AIME I Problems/Problem 10

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Problem

Let $N$ be the number of ways to write $2010$ in the form $2010 = a_3 \cdot 10^3 + a_2 \cdot 10^2 + a_1 \cdot 10 + a_0$, where the $a_i$'s are integers, and $0 \le a_i \le 99$. An example of such a representation is $1\cdot 10^3 + 3\cdot 10^2 + 67\cdot 10^1 + 40\cdot 10^0$. Find $N$.

Solution

Solution 1

If we choose $a_3$ and $a_1$ such that $(10^3)(a_3) + (10)(a_1) \leq 2010$ there is a unique choice of $a_2$ and $a_0$ that makes the equality hold. So $N$ is just the number of combinations of $a_3$ and $a_1$ we can pick. If $a_3 = 0$ or $a_3 = 1$ we can let $a_1$ be anything from $0$ to $99$. If $a_3 = 2$ then $a_1 = 0$ or $a_1 = 1$. Thus $N = 100 + 100 + 2 = \fbox{202}$.

Solution 2

Note that $a_0 \equiv 2010\ (\textrm{mod}\ 10)$ and $a_1 \equiv 2010 - a_0\ (\textrm{mod}\ 100)$. It's easy to see that exactly 10 values in $0 \leq a_0 \leq 99$ that satisfy our first congruence. Similarly, there are 10 possible values of $a_1$ for each choice of $a_0$. Thus, there are $10 \times 10 = 100$ possible choices for $a_0$ and $a_1$. We next note that if $a_0$ and $a_1$ are chosen, then a valid value of $a_3$ determines $a_2$, so we dive into some simple casework:

  • If $2010 - 10a_1 - a_0 \geq 2000$, there are 3 valid choices for $a_3$. There are only 2 possible cases where $2010 - 10a_1 - a_0 \geq 2000$, namely $(a_1, a_0) = (1,0), (10,0)$. Thus, there are $3 \times 2 = 6$ possible representations in this case.
  • If $2010 - 10a_1 - a_0 < 1000$, $a_3$ can only equal 0. However, this case cannot occur, as $10a_1+a_0\leq 990+99 = 1089$. Thus, $2010-10a_1-a_0 \geq 921$. However, $2010-10a_1-a_0 = 1000a_3 + 100a_2 \equiv 0\ (\textrm{mod}\ 100)$. Thus, we have $2010-10a_1-a_0 \geq 1000$ always.
  • If $1000 \leq 2010 - 10a_1 - a_0 < 2000$, then there are 2 valid choices for $a_3$. Since there are 100 possible choices for $a_0$ and $a_1$, and we have already checked the other cases, it follows that $100 - 2 - 0 = 98$ choices of $a_0$ and $a_1$ fall under this case. Thus, there are $2 \times 98 = 196$ possible representations in this case.

Our answer is thus $6 + 0 + 196 = \boxed{202}$.

See Also

2010 AIME I (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by
Problem 9 		Followed by
Problem 11
1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15
All AIME Problems and Solutions

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