AoPSWiki
Do you have what it takes to be the next brilliant trader, researcher, or developer at Jane Street Capital? Find out in the Careers in Mathematics Forum.
Personal tools

2006 AMC 10A Problems/Problem 20

From AoPSWiki

Problem

Six distinct positive integers are randomly chosen between 1 and 2006, inclusive. What is the probability that some pair of these integers has a difference that is a multiple of 5?

\mathrm{(A) \ } \frac{1}{2}\qquad\mathrm{(B) \ } \frac{3}{5}\qquad\mathrm{(C) \ } \frac{2}{3}\qquad\mathrm{(D) \ } \frac{4}{5...

Solution

For two numbers to have a difference that is a multiple of 5, the numbers must be congruent \bmod{5} (their remainders after division by 5 must be the same).

0, 1, 2, 3, 4 are the possible values of numbers in \bmod{5}. Since there are only 5 possible values in \bmod{5} and we are picking 6 numbers, by the Pigeonhole Principle, two of the numbers must be congruent \bmod{5}.

Therefore the probability that some pair of the 6 integers has a difference that is a multiple of 5 is 1 \Longrightarrow \mathrm{E}.

See also

2006 AMC 10A (ProblemsResources)
Preceded by
Problem 19
Followed by
Problem 21
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Want to learn how to tackle those tough MATHCOUNTS and AMC counting and probability problems? Check out Art of Problem Solving's Introduction to Counting & Probability by David Patrick.
© Copyright 2008 AoPS Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. • FoundationPrivacyContact Us