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2004 AMC 10B Problem 23

Problem 23 of 25HarderGeometryCounting & Probability

Each face of a cube is painted either red or blue, each with probability 12.\tfrac12. The color of each face is determined independently. What is the probability that the painted cube can be placed on a horizontal surface so that the four vertical faces are all the same color?

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Solution

Fixing the orientation, there are 26=642^6 = 64 colorings. A coloring works if all six faces match (22 ways), exactly five match ((65)2=12\binom{6}{5} \cdot 2 = 12 ways), or four faces share a color with the remaining pair being opposite faces of the other color (33 opposite pairs, 22 colors, giving 66 ways). The total is 2+12+6=20,2 + 12 + 6 = 20, so the probability is 2064=516.\dfrac{20}{64} = \dfrac{5}{16}. Thus, the correct answer is B.

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Concepts: basic probability · casework · cube geometry

Problem text and solution from the LIVE past-contest archive. See also the AoPS wiki page for community solutions.