2023 AMC 10B Problem 21

Attempt Problem 21 of the 2023 AMC 10B 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 2023 AMC 10B solutions, or check the answer key.

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21.

Each of 20232023 balls is placed into one of 33 bins. Which of the following is closest to the probability that each of the bins will contain an odd number of balls?

23\dfrac{2}{3}

310\dfrac{3}{10}

12\dfrac{1}{2}

13\dfrac{1}{3}

14\dfrac{1}{4}

Answer: E
Concepts:roots of unityparitybasic probability
Difficulty rating: 2120
Solution:

All 320233^{2023} assignments are equally likely. A sign filter counts the ones with every bin odd: 18s{±1}3(s1s2s3)\frac{1}{8}\sum_{s \in \{\pm 1\}^3}(s_1 s_2 s_3) (s1+s2+s3)2023.\cdot (s_1 + s_2 + s_3)^{2023}. For s=(1,1,1)s = (1,1,1) and s=(1,1,1),s = (-1,-1,-1), both terms equal 32023.3^{2023}. For each other sign choice, the sum in parentheses is 11 or 1,-1, and the full term equals 1,-1, so these six terms total 6.-6. Thus the count is 23202368=3202334.\frac{2 \cdot 3^{2023} - 6}{8} = \frac{3^{2023} - 3}{4}. Dividing, the probability is 320233432023=141432022,\frac{3^{2023} - 3}{4 \cdot 3^{2023}} = \frac{1}{4} - \frac{1}{4 \cdot 3^{2022}}, a hair under 14.\frac{1}{4}. Thus, E is the correct answer.

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