2006 AIME I Problem 11
Attempt Problem 11 of the 2006 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 2006 AIME I solutions, or check the answer key.
All problems are used with official legal permission of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA).
11.
A collection of cubes consists of one cube with edge-length for each integer A tower is to be built using all cubes according to the rules:
• Any cube may be the bottom cube in the tower.
• The cube immediately on top of a cube with edge-length must have edge-length at most
Let be the number of different towers that can be constructed. What is the remainder when is divided by
Answer: 458
Solution:
Let be the number of legal towers using the cubes of edge-lengths Given a legal tower of cubes, cube can be inserted in exactly three places: at the bottom, immediately on top of cube or immediately on top of cube (anywhere else it would rest on a cube of edge-length at most violating the rule). Each insertion stays legal, because the cube that ends up on top of cube has edge-length at most Conversely, deleting cube from a legal tower of cubes leaves a legal tower: the cube that was above it, of edge-length at most lands on a cube of edge-length at least
Hence for Since (either of the two cubes may be on top), we get and the remainder is
Problem 11 in Other Years
1997 AIME · 1998 AIME · 1999 AIME · 2000 AIME I · 2000 AIME II · 2001 AIME I · 2001 AIME II · 2002 AIME I · 2002 AIME II · 2003 AIME I · 2003 AIME II · 2004 AIME I · 2004 AIME II · 2005 AIME I · 2005 AIME II · 2006 AIME II · 2007 AIME I · 2007 AIME II · 2008 AIME I · 2008 AIME II · 2009 AIME I · 2009 AIME II · 2010 AIME I · 2010 AIME II · 2011 AIME I · 2011 AIME II · 2012 AIME I · 2012 AIME II · 2013 AIME I · 2013 AIME II · 2014 AIME I · 2014 AIME II · 2015 AIME I · 2015 AIME II · 2016 AIME I · 2016 AIME II · 2017 AIME I · 2017 AIME II · 2018 AIME I · 2018 AIME II · 2019 AIME I · 2019 AIME II · 2020 AIME I · 2020 AIME II · 2021 AIME I · 2021 AIME II · 2022 AIME I · 2022 AIME II · 2023 AIME I · 2023 AIME II · 2024 AIME I · 2024 AIME II · 2025 AIME I · 2025 AIME II · 2026 AIME I · 2026 AIME II