Question

Alina writes the numbers $1,2,\cdots,9$ on separate cards, one number per card. She wishes to divide the cards into $3$ groups of $3$ cards so that the sum of the numbers in each group will be the same. In how many ways can this be done?

$0$

$1$

$2$

$3$

$4$

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Written solution:

The sum of all the numbers is $\dfrac{9 \cdot 10}{2} = 45.$ This means that the sum of each group is $45 \div 3 = 15.$

Consider the group with $9$ in it. The other two numbers must add to $6.$ Therefore, the other cards in this group are $1$ and $5$ or $2$ and $4.$

Case $1:$ One group is $1, 5, 9$

Consider the group with $8$ in it. The other numbers must add to $7.$ The only option is $3$ and $4$ with the remaining cards.

The other group is then $2,6,$ and $7.$ This adds to $15,$ so this case contributes one possibility.

Case $2:$ One group is $2, 4, 9$

Consider the group with $8$ in it. As above, the other numbers have to add to $7.$ The only option is $1$ and $6.$

The final group is $3, 5,$ and $7,$ which adds to $15.$ This is another configuration.

We have gone through all the cases, which revealed that there are only $2$ possible groupings.

Thus, C is the correct answer.

2023 AMC 8 Problem 21

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Problem 21 in Other Years