Eleven Fingers

Logic Level 3

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 = 11 \large 1 \, \square \, 2 \, \square \, 3 \, \square \, 4 \, \square \, 5 \, \square \, 6 \, \square \, 7 \, \square \, 8 \, \square \, 9 \, \square \, 10 = 11

There are 2 9 = 512 2^9 = 512 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.

Inspiration .


The answer is 18.

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4 solutions

Chew-Seong Cheong
Jul 15, 2015

Let the sum of the LHS be N N . Consider the operator ' ± \pm ' be switches. So the number of switches is 9 9 , and let the switch before 2 2 be s 2 s_2 ; 3 3 , s 3 s_3 ; 4 4 , s 4 s_4 ; ... and 10 10 , s 10 s_{10} . Therefore, the largest N N is when all the switches are on ' + + ', N M a x = 1 + 2 + 3 N_{Max} = 1+2+3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 + 10 = 55 +4+5+6+7+8+9+10 = 55 . We note that when we switch s n s_n from on to off or ' + + ' to ' - ', we minus 2 n 2n from N M a x N_{Max} . For us to get N = 11 = 55 44 N=11 = 55 - 44 = 55 2 ( 22 ) = 55 - 2(22) , we have to switch off n = 22 \sum n = 22 . The acceptable ways are as follows and there are 18 \boxed{18} ways.

Moderator note:

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 n>1 such that the equation below have at least 1 solution?

1 2 3 n = n + 1 1 \, \square \, 2 \, \square \, 3 \, \square \, \ldots \, \square \, n = n + 1

2 5 5 10?? How's that possible??

Aditya R Mohan - 5 years, 11 months ago

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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.

Chew-Seong Cheong - 5 years, 11 months ago

To Challenge Master: Are there finite solutions to the bonus question?

Piyush Ravi - 5 years, 10 months ago
Daniel Liu
Jul 14, 2015

Let the sum of the numbers that are added on the RHS be S a S_a and the sum of the numbers that are subtracted on the RHS be S s S_s .

Note that S a = S s + 11 S_a=S_s+11 . Since S a + S s + 11 = 66 S_a+S_s+11=66 , then it follows that S a = 33 S_a=33 and S s + 1 = 33 S s = 22 S_s+1=33\implies S_s=22 .

It's easier to count S s S_s , so we do so with a lot of listing and get 18 \boxed{18} .

Moderator note:

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.

Brock Brown
Jul 14, 2015

Python 3.3:

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from itertools import product
operators = ('+', '-')
equation = '1{0}2{1}3{2}4{3}5{4}6{5}7{6}8{7}9{8}10 == 11'
count = 0
for combo in product(operators, repeat = 9):
    a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i = combo
    if eval(equation.format(a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i)):
        count += 1
print("Answer:", count)

Moderator note:

Based on the other existing solutions, can you work out another programming code such that the we can reduce the number of possible cases?

HEYYYYYYYYYY no computer assisted solutions!!!!

SadFace.gif

Pi Han Goh - 5 years, 11 months ago

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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.

Pi Han Goh - 5 years, 11 months ago

Brock Brown - 5 years, 11 months ago

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Pi Han Goh - 5 years, 11 months ago
Piyush Ravi
Aug 9, 2015

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