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2021 Fall AMC 10A Problem 24

Problem 24 of 25HarderGeometryCounting & Probability

Each of the 1212 edges of a cube is labeled 00 or 1.1. Two labelings are considered different even if one can be obtained from the other by a sequence of one or more rotations and/or reflections. For how many such labelings is the sum of the labels on the edges of each of the 66 faces of the cube equal to 2?2?

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Solution

Label one face ABCD.ABCD. Each face must contain two 00s and two 11s, so first split by the pattern on the four edges of ABCD.ABCD. Case 1:1: opposite edges of ABCDABCD have the same label. There are 22 such patterns on ABCD.ABCD. For either pattern, once the label of one vertical edge, say AE,AE, is chosen, the face-sum conditions force all remaining labels. This gives 22=42\cdot2=4 labelings. Case 2:2: opposite edges of ABCDABCD have different labels. There are 44 such patterns on ABCD.ABCD. For each, the labels of two adjacent vertical edges may be chosen in 44 ways, and then the remaining labels are forced by the face-sum conditions. This gives 44=164\cdot4=16 labelings. The total is 4+16=20.4+16=20. Thus, E is the correct answer.

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Concepts: arrangements with restrictions · cube geometry · casework

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