Question

On the trip home from the meeting where this AMC 10 was constructed, the Contest Chair noted that his airport parking receipt had digits of the form $bbcac,$ where $0\le a\lt b\lt c\le 9,$ and $b$ was the average of $a$ and $c.$ How many different five-digit numbers satisfy all these properties?

$12$

$16$

$18$

$20$

$24$

Solution:

Once $a$ and $c$ are chosen, $b=\dfrac{a+c}{2}$ is determined, and $a\lt b\lt c$ holds automatically. For $b$ to be an integer, $a$ and $c$ must share parity.

Choosing two even digits from $\{0,2,4,6,8\}$ gives $\binom{5}{2}=10$ pairs, and choosing two odd digits from $\{1,3,5,7,9\}$ gives another $10.$

This yields $20$ valid numbers.

Thus, the correct answer is D.

2007 AMC 10B Problem 8

Solution:

Problem 8 in Other Years