2003 AMC 10A Problem 21

Below is the professionally curated solution for Problem 21 of the 2003 AMC 10A, from LIVE by Po-Shen Loh. You can also try the full timed exam, view all 2003 AMC 10A solutions, or check the answer key.

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Concepts:stars and bars

Difficulty rating: 1600

21.

Pat is to select six cookies from a tray containing only chocolate chip, oatmeal, and peanut butter cookies. There are at least six of each of these three kinds of cookies on the tray. How many different assortments of six cookies can be selected?

2222

2525

2727

2828

729729

Solution:

An assortment is determined by how many of each type are chosen, so we count nonnegative integer solutions to a+b+c=6.a + b + c = 6.

By stars and bars, placing 22 dividers among 88 slots gives (82)=28\dbinom{8}{2} = 28 assortments.

Thus, the correct answer is D.

Problem 21 in Other Years