Question

Call a $7$ -digit telephone number $d_1d_2d_3$ - $d_4d_5d_6d_7$ memorable if the prefix sequence $d_1d_2d_3$ is exactly the same as either of the sequences $d_4d_5d_6$ or $d_5d_6d_7$ (possibly both). Assuming that each $d_i$ can be any of the ten decimal digits $0,$ $1,$ $2,$ $\ldots,$ $9,$ the number of different memorable telephone numbers is

$19{,}810$

$19{,}910$

$19{,}990$

$20{,}000$

$20{,}100$

Answer: C

Concepts:inclusion-exclusion digit strings

Difficulty rating: 1800

Small Hint:

Count numbers satisfying each of the two matching conditions separately

Big Hint:

If both matches hold, all seven digits are forced by one repeated digit

Solution:

Each matching condition gives $10^4=10,000$ numbers: choose the three prefix digits and the one unconstrained remaining digit. If both hold, then $d_1d_2d_3=d_4d_5d_6=d_5d_6d_7,$ forcing all digits equal, so there are $10$ overlaps. Inclusion-exclusion gives $10,000+10,000-10=19,990,$ so C is correct.

1998 AMC 12 Problem 24

Answer: C

Difficulty rating: 1800

Small Hint:

Big Hint:

Solution:

Problem 24 in Other Years