Question

In the expansion of $\begin{aligned} &\left(1 + x + x^2 + \cdots + x^{27}\right) \\ &\quad {}\cdot \left(1 + x + x^2 + \cdots + x^{14}\right)^2, \end{aligned}$ what is the coefficient of $x^{28}?$

$195$

$196$

$224$

$378$

$405$

Answer: C

Concepts:generating functions partitions and compositions

Difficulty rating: 1930

Solution:

Each term is $x^{a + b + c}$ with $0 \le a \le 27$ and $0 \le b, c \le 14.$ To get $x^{28}$ we need $a = 28 - b - c.$

There are $(14 + 1)^2 = 225$ choices for $(b, c).$ For every choice except $(b, c) = (0, 0),$ the required $a = 28 - b - c$ lies in $[0, 27],$ giving a valid term.

The coefficient of $x^{28}$ is therefore $225 - 1 = 224.$

Thus, C is the correct answer.

2008 AMC 12A Problem 19

Answer: C

Difficulty rating: 1930

Solution:

Problem 19 in Other Years