2016 AMC 10B Problem 24

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24.

How many four-digit positive integers abcd,abcd, with a0,a \neq 0, have the property that the three two-digit integers ab<bc<cdab < bc < cd form an increasing arithmetic sequence?

One such number is 4692,4692, where a=4,a=4, b=6,b=6, c=9,c=9, and d=2.d=2.

 9 \ 9

 15 \ 15

 16 \ 16

 17 \ 17

 20 \ 20

Answer: D
Concepts:arithmetic sequencedigitscasework
Difficulty rating: 2390
Solution:

From ab<bc<cdab<bc<cd, we have abc.a\le b\le c. The arithmetic-sequence condition is 2(10b+c)=(10a+b)+(10c+d), \begin{aligned} 2(10b+c)&=(10a+b) \\ &\quad +(10c+d), \end{aligned} which rearranges to 10(a2b+c)=b+2cd.10(a-2b+c)=-b+2c-d. The right side is a multiple of 10.10. Because bcb\le c and all four symbols are digits with b1,b\ge1, it lies between 9-9 and 1717. Hence it is either 00 or 10.10.

Case 1: b+2cd=10,a=2bc+1. \begin{aligned} -b+2c-d&=10, \\ a&=2b-c+1. \end{aligned}

We can look at the possible values of c.c.

c=6:c=6: b+d=2,2b5=a.b+d=2, 2b-5=a. Thus, b2b\leq 2 from the first equation, but can't work for the second equation.

c=7:c=7: b+d=4,2b6=a.b+d=4, 2b-6=a. Thus, b4b\leq 4 from the first equation, and b>3b > 3 from the second equation. This makes one case for b=4.b=4.

c=8:c=8: b+d=6,2b7=a.b+d=6, 2b-7=a. Thus, b6b\leq 6 from the first equation, and b>3b > 3 from the second equation. This makes three cases for b=4,5,6.b=4,5,6.

c=9:c=9: b+d=8,2b8=a.b+d=8, 2b-8=a. Thus, b8b\leq 8 from the first equation, and b>4b > 4 from the second equation. This makes four cases for b=5,6,7,8.b=5,6,7,8. Altogether this case gives 2470,1482,3581,5680,2593,4692,6791,8890, \begin{gathered} 2470,1482,3581,5680, \\ 2593,4692,6791,8890, \end{gathered} for 88 solutions.

Case 2: b+2cd=0,-b+2c-d=0,2bac=0,2b-a-c=0, which means the digits are an arithmetic sequence.

If the difference is 1,1, then 1a61 \leq a \leq 6 makes 66 solutions.

If the difference is 2,2, then 1a31 \leq a \leq 3 makes 33 solutions. A difference of at least 33 would force d=a+3r>9.d=a+3r>9. This case therefore gives 99 solutions.

In total, the number of solutions is 8+9=17.8+9 = 17.

Thus, the correct answer is D .

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