2005 AIME II Problem 1

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Concepts:combinationsfactorial

Difficulty rating: 1890

1.

A game uses a deck of nn different cards, where nn is an integer and n6.n \ge 6. The number of possible sets of 66 cards that can be drawn from the deck is 66 times the number of possible sets of 33 cards that can be drawn. Find n.n.

Solution:

The condition says (n6)=6(n3).\binom{n}{6} = 6\binom{n}{3}. Dividing the binomial coefficients, (n6)(n3)=(n3)(n4)(n5)654=6,\frac{\binom{n}{6}}{\binom{n}{3}} = \frac{(n-3)(n-4)(n-5)}{6 \cdot 5 \cdot 4} = 6, so (n3)(n4)(n5)=720=1098.(n-3)(n-4)(n-5) = 720 = 10 \cdot 9 \cdot 8.

Since the product (n3)(n4)(n5)(n-3)(n-4)(n-5) is increasing in n,n, the only solution is n3=10,n - 3 = 10, that is, n=13.n = 13.

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