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2013 AMC 10B Problem 22

Problem 22 of 25HarderNumber TheoryCombinatoricsLogicProblem-Solving Techniques

The regular octagon ABCDEFGHABCDEFGH has its center at J.J. Each of the vertices and the center are to be associated with one of the digits 11 through 9,9, with each digit used once, in such a way that the sums of the numbers on the lines AJE,AJE, BJF,BJF, CJG,CJG, and DJHDJH are all equal. In how many ways can this be done?

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Solution

Let SS be defined as: S=A+J+E=B+J+F=C+J+G=D+J+H \begin{aligned} S &= A+J+E \\ &=B+J+F \\ &=C+J+G \\ &=D+J+H \end{aligned} 4S=A+B+C+D+E+F+G+H+4J \begin{aligned} 4S &= A+B+C+D+E \\ &\quad+F+G+H+4J \end{aligned} 4S=45+3J4S = 45+3J 45+3J≡0mod  445+3J \equiv 0 \mod 4 3J≡3mod  43J \equiv 3 \mod 4 J≡1mod  4J \equiv 1 \mod 4 This means that J=1,5,9.J=1,5,9. From here, let’s assume J=1.J=1. We will see that the other cases are similar enough to omit. If J=1,J=1, then we know that the pairs of numbers that satisfy the equality above are: 2+9=3+8=4+7=5+62+9 = 3+8 = 4+7 = 5+6 There are 4!4! ways to distribute the pairs over the four groups, and then 242^4 ways for these groups to swap elements (i.e. 2+9  ⟺  9+22+9\iff 9+2). Now, if we look at the J=5J=5 and J=9J=9 cases, we see a similar pattern in the number of groupings and swaps. As such, we have: 3⋅4!⋅24=11523\cdot 4! \cdot 2^4 = 1152 possibilities. Thus, the correct answer is C .
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Tagged: magic square · modular arithmetic · pairing and grouping · multiplication principle

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