Skip to main content

2017 AMC 10B Problem 20

Problem 20 of 25HarderNumber TheoryCounting & Probability

The number 21!21! =51,090,942,171,709,440,000=51{,}090{,}942{,}171{,}709{,}440{,}000 has over 60,00060{,}000 positive integer divisors. One of them is chosen at random. What is the probability that it is odd?

Answer choices

Show solution

Solution

The exponent of 22 in 21!21! is 212+214+218+2116=10+5+2+1=18.\begin{aligned} &\left\lfloor\dfrac{21}{2}\right\rfloor+ \left\lfloor\dfrac{21}{4}\right\rfloor\\ &\quad{}+\left\lfloor\dfrac{21}{8}\right\rfloor+ \left\lfloor\dfrac{21}{16}\right\rfloor\\ &=10+5+2+1=18. \end{aligned} Thus 21!=218d21!=2^{18}d for some odd integer d.d. For every divisor xx of d,d, the divisors of 21!21! with odd part xx are x,2x,,218x.x,2x,\ldots,2^{18}x. Exactly one of these 1919 divisors is odd, so the probability is 119.\dfrac1{19}. Thus, the correct answer is B .

More practice

Concepts: factor counting · prime factorization · basic probability

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