Question

In the figure below, $3$ of the $6$ disks are to be painted blue, $2$ are to be painted red, and $1$ is to be painted green. Two paintings that can be obtained from one another by a rotation or a reflection of the entire figure are considered the same. How many different paintings are possible?

$6$

$8$

$9$

$12$

$15$

Answer: D

Concepts:combinations symmetry casework

Difficulty rating: 2010

Solution:

By symmetry, the green disk has two possible types of position: a corner or a side midpoint. Fix one representative of either type. There are $\binom52=10$ ways to choose the two red disks.

The reflection that fixes the green position fixes one of the other disks and exchanges the other four disks in two pairs. Exactly $2$ red-disk choices are unchanged by this reflection: choosing either exchanged pair. The other $8$ choices form $4$ mirror-image pairs. Hence there are $2+4=6$ paintings for each type of green position.

The two types therefore give $6+6=12$ paintings.

Thus, the correct answer is D .

2017 AMC 10B Problem 18

Answer: D

Difficulty rating: 2010

Solution:

Problem 18 in Other Years