Question

What is the number of ways the numbers from $1$ to $14$ can be split into $7$ pairs such that for each pair, the greater number is at least $2$ times the smaller number?

$108$

$120$

$126$

$132$

$144$

Solution:

Any number $8$ or larger cannot be a smaller element (its double exceeds $14$ ), so $8$ – $14$ are all larger elements and $1$ – $7$ are all smaller elements.

Match each smaller $s$ to a larger $g\ge2s.$ Processing from the most restrictive: $s=7$ forces $g=14$ ( $1$ way); then $s=6$ has $\{12,13\}$ left ( $2$ ); $s=5$ has $3;$ $s=4$ has $4;$ $s=3$ has $3;$ $s=2$ has $2;$ $s=1$ has $1.$

The number of matchings is $1\cdot2\cdot3\cdot4\cdot3\cdot2\cdot1=144.$

Thus, the correct answer is E.

2022 AMC 12A Problem 10

Solution:

Problem 10 in Other Years