2001 AIME I Problem 14

Attempt Problem 14 of the 2001 AIME I below, then check your answer against the professionally curated solution from LIVE by Po-Shen Loh. You can also try the full timed exam, view all 2001 AIME I solutions, or check the answer key.

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14.

A mail carrier delivers mail to the nineteen houses on the east side of Elm Street. The carrier notices that no two adjacent houses ever get mail on the same day, but that there are never more than two houses in a row that get no mail on the same day. How many different patterns of mail delivery are possible?

Answer: 351
Concepts:recursive countingarrangements with restrictions
Difficulty rating: 2760
Solution:

Write 11 for a house that gets mail and 00 for one that does not. Valid patterns are binary strings of length 1919 with no two consecutive 11s and no three consecutive 00s. Let An,A_n, Bn,B_n, CnC_n count valid length-nn strings ending in 1,1, in exactly one 0,0, and in exactly two 00s. A 11 may follow either kind of 00-ending, a single 00 may follow a 1,1, and a second 00 may follow a single 0:0: An=Bn1+Cn1,Bn=An1,Cn=Bn1. \begin{aligned} A_n &= B_{n-1} + C_{n-1}, \\ B_n &= A_{n-1}, \\ C_n &= B_{n-1}. \end{aligned}

Starting from A1=B1=1,A_1 = B_1 = 1, C1=0C_1 = 0 and iterating, the totals An+Bn+CnA_n + B_n + C_n run 2,2, 3,3, 4,4, 5,5, 7,7, 9,9, 12,12, 16,16, 21,21, 28,28, 37,37, 49,49, 65,65, 86,86, 114,114, 151,151, 200,200, 265,265, 351.351.

For n=19n = 19 the count is 351.351.

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