2013 AMC 12A Problem 22

Attempt Problem 22 of the 2013 AMC 12A 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 2013 AMC 12A solutions, or check the answer key.

All problems are used with official legal permission of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA).

22.

A palindrome is a nonnegative integer number that reads the same forwards and backwards when written in base 1010 with no leading zeros. A 66-digit palindrome nn is chosen uniformly at random. What is the probability that n11\dfrac{n}{11} is also a palindrome?
825\dfrac{8}{25}
33100\dfrac{33}{100}
720\dfrac{7}{20}
925\dfrac{9}{25}
1130\dfrac{11}{30}
Answer: E
Concepts:palindromebasic probabilitydigits
Small hint:
Show m=n11m = \dfrac{n}{11} must be a 55-digit palindrome abcba‾\overline{abcba}
Big hint:
The product 11m11m is a palindrome exactly when a+b≤9a + b \le 9 and b+c≤9;b + c \le 9; count those
Solution:
Let m=n11.m= \frac{n}{11}. If mm had four digits, then n<110000,n<110000, so the first and last digits of the six-digit palindrome nn would both be 1.1. This forces the first and last digits of the palindromic mm to be 1,1, hence m<2000m<2000 and n<22000,n<22000, a contradiction. Therefore mm is a five-digit palindrome abcba‾.\overline{abcba}.
Writing n=11m=abcba0‾+abcba‾,n=11m=\overline{abcba0}+\overline{abcba}, no carries occur exactly when a+b≤9a+b\le9 and b+c≤9;b+c\le9; the resulting digits are a,a+b,b+c,b+c,a+b,a.a,a+b,b+c,b+c,a+b,a. If a+b≥10,a+b\ge10, the leading and trailing digits differ; if only b+c≥10,b+c\ge10, the next pair differs. Thus the conditions are also necessary. The number of valid mm is ∑b=09(10−b)(9−b)=330. \sum_{b=0}^{9}(10 - b)(9 - b) = 330.
There are 9⋅102=9009\cdot 10^2 = 900 six-digit palindromes, so the probability is 330900=1130.\dfrac{330}{900} = \dfrac{11}{30}.
Thus, the correct answer is E.
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