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2004 AMC 12B Problem 20

Problem 20 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

There are 26=642^6 = 64 colorings. A suitable orientation exists when all six faces are one color (22 ways), exactly five faces are one color (26=122 \cdot 6 = 12 ways), or four faces are one color with the other color on a pair of opposite faces (23=62 \cdot 3 = 6 ways). That is 2+12+6=202 + 12 + 6 = 20 favorable colorings, so the probability is 2064=516.\dfrac{20}{64} = \dfrac{5}{16}. Thus, the correct answer is B.

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Concepts: cube geometry · casework · basic probability

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