2017 AMC 12B Problem 11

Problem 11 of 25IntermediateCounting & Probability

Call a positive integer monotonous if it is a one-digit number or its digits, when read from left to right, form either a strictly increasing or a strictly decreasing sequence. For example,

3,

23578,

and

987620

are monotonous, but

88,

7434,

and

23557

are not. How many monotonous positive integers are there?

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Solution

Strictly increasing monotonous numbers correspond to nonempty subsets of

\{1, \ldots, 9\},

giving

2^9 - 1 = 511.

Strictly decreasing ones correspond to subsets of

\{0, 1, \ldots, 9\}

other than

\varnothing

and

\{0\}

(a leading

0

is not allowed), giving

2^{10} - 2 = 1022.

The nine single-digit numbers are counted in both, so the total is

511 + 1022 - 9 = 1524.

Thus, the correct answer is B.

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