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2014 AMC 10A Problem 20

Problem 20 of 25HarderNumber TheoryProblem-Solving Techniques

The product (8)(888…8),(8)(888\dots8), where the second factor has kk digits, is an integer whose digits have a sum of 1000.1000. What is k?k?

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Solution

The kk-digit number made entirely of 88s is 810k−198\frac{10^k-1}{9}, so the product is 6410k−19=7⋅10k+10010k−2−19+4. \begin{aligned} 64\frac{10^k-1}{9} &=7\cdot10^k\\ &\quad+100\frac{10^{k-2}-1}{9}\\ &\quad+4. \end{aligned} For k≥2k\ge2, this is the number whose digits are 77, followed by k−2k-2 ones, then 0,40,4. This means that for any k≥3,k \geq 3, the sum of the digits in the product is 7+4+0+k−2=k+9. 7 + 4 + 0 + k - 2 = k + 9. Finally, we get k+9=1000 k + 9 = 1000 k=991. k = 991. Thus, D is the correct answer.
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Tagged: digits · pattern recognition · induction

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