AMC 10 Step by Step

2016 AMC 10A Problem 14

P11-15~3 minPrint

How many ways are there to write 20162016 as the sum of twos and threes, ignoring order? (For example, 1008⋅2+0⋅31008\cdot 2 + 0\cdot 3 and 402⋅2+404⋅3402\cdot 2 + 404\cdot 3 are two such ways.)

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Key insight

The number of threes must be even, so it can be 0, 2, 4, up to 672. That is 337 choices.

Solution

A way to make 20162016 is fixed once you know how many threes are used; the twos then fill the rest. So count the possible numbers of threes.

  1. Let bb be the number of threes. The threes add up to 3b3b, and the twos must make up the rest, 2016−3b2016 - 3b.
  2. The twos always add up to an even number, so 2016−3b2016 - 3b must be even. Since 20162016 is even, 3b3b must be even, and that happens exactly when bb is even.
  3. Look at the first few cases:
threes bbtotal from threestwos needed
000010081008
226610051005
44121210021002

Each even bb works, as long as the threes do not go past 20162016.
4. The largest bb is when threes make the whole 20162016: b=2016÷3=672b = 2016 \div 3 = 672, which is even, with 00 twos.
5. So bb can be 0,2,4,…,6720, 2, 4, \ldots, 672. Dividing each by 22 gives 0,1,2,…,3360, 1, 2, \ldots, 336, which is 337337 numbers (remember to count the 00).

The answer is (C) 337\boxed{\textbf{(C)}\ 337}.

Why this works

When one amount decides everything else, count the choices for that amount. An even/odd check told us which values of bb are allowed, and the allowed values go up in steps of 22. The example in the problem, with 404404 threes, hints that bb is even. When counting a list like 0,2,…,6720, 2, \ldots, 672, watch for the off-by-one: include both ends.

Concise solution

A shorter write-up, the way contest solutions are usually written. It may take a different route from the solution above.

A way to write 20162016 is a pair of nonnegative integers (a,b)(a, b) with
2a+3b=2016,2a + 3b = 2016,
where aa is the number of twos and bb the number of threes.

Since 2a2a and 20162016 are even, 3b3b must be even, so bb is even. Write b=2kb = 2k. Then 2a+6k=20162a + 6k = 2016, i.e. a=1008−3ka = 1008 - 3k. This is a nonnegative integer exactly when 0≤k≤3360 \le k \le 336.

Each kk in that range gives one valid pair, so the number of ways is 336−0+1=337336 - 0 + 1 = 337.

The answer is (C) 337\boxed{\textbf{(C)}\ 337}.

Review in the AoPS books

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Problem © Mathematical Association of America (MAA), American Mathematics Competitions. Reproduced for non-commercial educational use. Solution and commentary are original to this site.