2020 AMC 12B Problem 20
Problem 20 of 25HarderCounting & Probability
Two different cubes of the same size are to be painted, with the color of each face being chosen independently and at random to be either black or white. What is the probability that after they are painted, the cubes can be rotated to be identical in appearance?
Answer choices
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Solution
For a fixed first cube, the number of second cubes matching it (up to rotation) equals the size of its rotation orbit. So the desired probability is
Grouping by black-face count, the orbit sizes are: or black or black or black (opposite) and (adjacent); black (corner) and (band). Then
The probability is
Thus, the correct answer is D.