1 □ 2 □ 3 □ 4 □ 5 □ 6 □ 7 □ 8 □ 9 □ 1 0 = 1 1
There are 2 9 = 5 1 2 ways in which we can fill the squares with + , − .
How many ways would make the equation true?
Note : You are not allowed to use parenthesis.
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Yes, this should be the intended solution the author is looking for.
It would be better for the reader to know how you came up with these 18 ways. Is there a systematic way to list out the numbers?
Bonus question : What are all the possible positive integer values of n > 1 such that the equation below have at least 1 solution?
1 □ 2 □ 3 □ … □ n = n + 1
2 5 5 10?? How's that possible??
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Thanks. Yes, I have made a mistake. I have changed the table. I actually used Python to list the 18 solutions. Then I used a spreadsheet and made a mistake.
To Challenge Master: Are there finite solutions to the bonus question?
Let the sum of the numbers that are added on the RHS be S a and the sum of the numbers that are subtracted on the RHS be S s .
Note that S a = S s + 1 1 . Since S a + S s + 1 1 = 6 6 , then it follows that S a = 3 3 and S s + 1 = 3 3 ⟹ S s = 2 2 .
It's easier to count S s , so we do so with a lot of listing and get 1 8 .
Yes, this should be the intended solution the author is looking for.
It isn't that hard to list out all 18 solutions.
Bonus question : Construct a a certain monic 54th degree polynomial such that we can find the number of ways to write 22 as the sum of distinct positive integers greater than 1 but less than 11.
Python 3.3:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 |
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Based on the other existing solutions, can you work out another programming code such that the we can reduce the number of possible cases?
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Okay, for anyone looking for a non-computer assisted problem.... Here's the synopsis:
1 + 2 + 3 + ... + 10 = 55
If we change any of the signs from + to -, we need to subtract an even number
So, 55 - 2( number) = 11 ==> number = 22
This means that we want to find the number of ways for which the sum of distinct positive integers greater than 1 but less than 11 such that their sum is 22.
This gives the answer of 18.
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Let the sum of the LHS be N . Consider the operator ' ± ' be switches. So the number of switches is 9 , and let the switch before 2 be s 2 ; 3 , s 3 ; 4 , s 4 ; ... and 1 0 , s 1 0 . Therefore, the largest N is when all the switches are on ' + ', N M a x = 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 + 1 0 = 5 5 . We note that when we switch s n from on to off or ' + ' to ' − ', we minus 2 n from N M a x . For us to get N = 1 1 = 5 5 − 4 4 = 5 5 − 2 ( 2 2 ) , we have to switch off ∑ n = 2 2 . The acceptable ways are as follows and there are 1 8 ways.