Question

Zara has a collection of $4$ marbles: an Aggie, a Bumblebee, a Steelie, and a Tiger. She wants to display them in a row on a shelf, but does not want to put the Steelie and the Tiger next to one another. In how many ways can she do this?

$6$

$8$

$12$

$18$

$24$

Video solution:

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Written solution:

There are $4!=24$ total arrangements of the marbles.

If the Steelie and Tiger are adjacent, treat them as one block. Then there are $3!$ ways to arrange the block with the other two marbles, and $2$ orders inside the block, for $3!\cdot2=12$ adjacent arrangements.

Therefore, $24-12=12$ arrangements keep the Steelie and Tiger separated.

Thus, the correct answer is C.

2020 AMC 8 Problem 10

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Written solution:

Problem 10 in Other Years