2008 AMC 10A Problems/Problem 22

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Problem

Jacob uses the following procedure to write down a sequence of numbers. First he chooses the first term to be 6. To generate each succeeding term, he flips a fair coin. If it comes up heads, he doubles the previous term and subtracts 1. If it comes up tails, he takes half of the previous term and subtracts 1. What is the probability that the fourth term in Jacob's sequence is an integer?

$\mathrm{(A)}\ \frac{1}{6}\qquad\mathrm{(B)}\ \frac{1}{3}\qquad\mathrm{(C)}\ \frac{1}{2}\qquad\mathrm{(D)}\ \frac{5}{8}\qquad\...$

Solution

We construct a tree showing all possible outcomes that Jacob may get after $3$ flips: $6\quad\begin{cases}\ \text{H}: 11 &\quad\begin{cases}\ \text{H}: 21 &\quad\begin{cases}\ \text{H}: \boxed{41}\\\ \tex...$ There is a $\frac{5}{8}$ chance that Jacob ends with an integer, so the answer is $\mathrm{(D)}$ .

2008 AMC 10A (Problems • Resources)
Preceded by Problem 21	Followed by Problem 23
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2008 AMC 10A Problems/Problem 22

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