Question

A Pascal-like triangle has $10$ as the top row and $10$ followed by $1$ as the second row. In each subsequent row the first number is $10,$ the last number is $1,$ and, as in the standard Pascal triangle, each other number in the row is the sum of the two numbers directly above it. The first four rows are shown below.

What is the sum of the digits of the sum of the numbers in the $11$ th row?

$11$

$13$

$14$

$16$

$17$

Solution:

Let $S_n$ be the sum of row $n.$ Each entry in row $n-1$ feeds the two entries just below it, and the fixed border numbers $10$ and $1$ exactly make up for the terms lost at the edges. So $S_n = 2 S_{n-1}$ for $n \ge 3.$ With $S_2 = 11,$ this gives $S_n = 11 \cdot 2^{n-2},$ so $S_{11} = 11 \cdot 2^9 = 5632.$ Its digits sum to $5 + 6 + 3 + 2 = 16.$ Thus, D is the correct answer.

2025 AMC 10B Problem 3

Solution:

Problem 3 in Other Years