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1993 AIME Problems/Problem 12

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Problem

The vertices of \triangle ABC are A = (0,0)\,, B = (0,420)\,, and C = (560,0)\,. The six faces of a die are labeled with two A\,'s, two B\,'s, and two C\,'s. Point P_1 = (k,m)\, is chosen in the interior of \triangle ABC, and points P_2\,, P_3\,, P_4, \dots are generated by rolling the die repeatedly and applying the rule: If the die shows label L\,, where L \in \{A, B, C\}, and P_n\, is the most recently obtained point, then P_{n + 1}^{} is the midpoint of \overline{P_n L}. Given that P_7 = (14,92)\,, what is k + m\,?

Solution

Solution 1

If we have points (p,q) and (r,s) and we want to find (u,v) so (r,s) is the midpoint of (u,v) and (p,q), then u=2r-p and v=2s-q. So we start with the point they gave us and work backwards. We make sure all the coordinates stay within the triangle. We have: P_7=(14,92)P_6=(2\cdot14-0, 2\cdot92-0)=(28,184) P_5=(2\cdot28-0, 2\cdot 184-0)=(56,368)P_4=(2\cdot56-0, 2\codt368-420)=(112,... So the answer is 344.

Solution 2

Let L_1 be the n^{th} roll that directly influences P_{n + 1}. Note that P_7 = \cfrac{\cfrac{\cfrac{P_1 + L_1}2 + L_2}2 + \cdots}{2\ldots} = \frac {(k,m)}{64} + \frac {L_1}{64} + \frac {L_2}{32} + \.... Then quickly checking each addend from the right to the left, we have the following information (remembering that if a point must be (0,0), we can just ignore it!): for \frac {L_6}2,\frac {L_5}4, since all addends are nonnegative, a non-(0,0) value will result in a x or y value greater than 14 or 92, respectively, and we can ignore them, for \frac {L_4}8,\frac {L_3}{16},\frac {L_2}{32} in a similar way, (0,0) and (0,420) are the only possibilities, and for \frac {L_1}{64}, all three work. Also, to be in the triangle, 0\le k\le560 and 0\le m\le420. Since L_1 is the only point that can possibly influence the x coordinate other than P_1, we look at that first. If L_2 = (0,0), then k = 2^6\cdot14 = 64\cdot14 > 40\cdot14 = 560, so it can only be that L_2 = (560,0), and k + 560 = 2^6\cdot14\implies k = 64\cdot14 - 40\cdot14 = 24\cdot14 = 6\cdot56 = 336. Now, considering the y coordinate, note that if any of L_3,L_4,L_5 are (0,0) (L_3 would influence the least, so we test that), then \frac {L_3}{32} + \frac {L_4}{16} + \frac {L_5}8 < \frac {420}{16} + \frac {420}8 = 79\pm\epsilon < 80, which would mean that P_1 > 2^6\cdot(92 - 80) = 64\cdot12 > 42\cdot10 = 420\ge m, so L_3,L_4,L_5 = (0,420), and now \frac {P_1}{64} + \frac {420}{2^5} + \frac {420}{2^4} + \frac {420}{2^3} = 92\implies P_1 = 64\cdot92 - 420(2 + 4 + 8) = 64\c... = 64(100 - 8) - 14^2\cdot30 = 6400 - 512 - (200 - 4)\cdot30 = 6400 - 512 - 6000 + 120 = - 112 + 120 = 8, and finally, k + m = 336 + 8 = \boxed{344}.

See also

1993 AIME (ProblemsResources)
Preceded by
Problem 11
Followed by
Problem 13
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
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