Practice (68)
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How many sequences of zeros and ones of length 20 have all the zeros consecutive, or all the ones consecutive, or both?
Two parabolas have equations $y= x^2 + ax +b$ and $y= x^2 + cx +d$, where $a, b, c,$ and $d$ are integers, each chosen independently by rolling a fair six-sided die. What is the probability that the parabolas will have a least one point in common?
Let $(a_1,a_2, \dots ,a_{10})$ be a list of the first 10 positive integers such that for each $2 \le i \le 10$ either $a_i+1$ or $a_i-1$ or both appear somewhere before $a_i$ in the list. How many such lists are there?
A bug travels from A to B along the segments in the hexagonal lattice pictured below. The segments marked with an arrow can be traveled only in the direction of the arrow, and the bug never travels the same segment more than once. How many different paths are there?
Define the function $f_1$ on the positive integers by setting $f_1(1)=1$ and if $n=p_1^{e_1}p_2^{e_2}\cdots p_k^{e_k}$ is the prime factorization of $n>1$, then \[f_1(n)=(p_1+1)^{e_1-1}(p_2+1)^{e_2-1}\cdots (p_k+1)^{e_k-1}.\] For every $m\ge 2$, let $f_m(n)=f_1(f_{m-1}(n))$. For how many $N$ in the range $1\le N\le 400$ is the sequence $(f_1(N),f_2(N),f_3(N),\dots )$ unbounded?
Note: A sequence of positive numbers is unbounded if for every integer $B$, there is a member of the sequence greater than $B$.
Last summer $30\%$ of the birds living on Town Lake were geese, $25\%$ were swans, $10\%$ were herons, and $35\%$ were ducks. What percent of the birds that were not swans were geese?
At a twins and triplets convention, there were $9$ sets of twins and $6$ sets of triplets, all from different families. Each twin shook hands with all the twins except his/her siblings and with half the triplets. Each triplet shook hands with all the triplets except his/her siblings and with half the twins. How many handshakes took place?
A pair of standard $6$-sided dice is rolled once. The sum of the numbers rolled determines the diameter of a circle. What is the probability that the numerical value of the area of the circle is less than the numerical value of the circle's circumference?
Suppose $a$ and $b$ are single-digit positive integers chosen independently and at random. What is the probability that the point $(a,b)$ lies above the parabola $y=ax^2-bx$?
Two real numbers are selected independently and at random from the interval $[-20,10]$. What is the probability that the product of those numbers is greater than zero?
A dart board is a regular octagon divided into regions as shown below. Suppose that a dart thrown at the board is equally likely to land anywhere on the board. What is the probability that the dart lands within the center square?
A bug travels in the coordinate plane, moving only along the lines that are parallel to the $x$-axis or $y$-axis. Let $A = (-3, 2)$ and $B = (3, -2)$. Consider all possible paths of the bug from $A$ to $B$ of length at most $20$. How many points with integer coordinates lie on at least one of these paths?
A coin is altered so that the probability that it lands on heads is less than $\frac{1}{2}$ and when the coin is flipped four times, the probability of an equal number of heads and tails is $\frac{1}{6}$. What is the probability that the coin lands on heads?
A 16-step path is to go from $(-4,-4)$ to $(4,4)$ with each step increasing either the $x$-coordinate or the $y$-coordinate by 1. How many such paths stay outside or on the boundary of the square $-2 \le x \le 2$, $-2 \le y \le 2$ at each step?
Two quadrilaterals are considered the same if one can be obtained from the other by a rotation and a translation. How many different convex cyclic quadrilaterals are there with integer sides and perimeter equal to 32?
The entries in a $3 \times 3$ array include all the digits from $1$ through $9$, arranged so that the entries in every row and column are in increasing order. How many such arrays are there?
A frog makes $3$ jumps, each exactly $1$ meter long. The directions of the jumps are chosen independently at random. What is the probability that the frog's final position is no more than $1$ meter from its starting position?
How many positive integers less than $1000$ are $6$ times the sum of their digits?
Ten women sit in $10$ seats in a line. All of the $10$ get up and then reseat themselves using all $10$ seats, each sitting in the seat she was in before or a seat next to the one she occupied before. In how many ways can the women be reseated?
A region $S$ in the complex plane is defined by \[S = \{x + iy: - 1\le x\le1, - 1\le y\le1\}.\] A complex number $z = x + iy$ is chosen uniformly at random from $S$. What is the probability that $\left(\frac34 + \frac34i\right)z$ is also in $S$?
The set $G$ is defined by the points $(x,y)$ with integer coordinates, $3\le|x|\le7$, $3\le|y|\le7$. How many squares of side at least $6$ have their four vertices in $G$?
What is the coefficient of $x^{28}$ in the expansion of the following polynomial? \[\left(1 + x + x^2 + \cdots + x^{27}\right)\left(1 + x + x^2 + \cdots + x^{14}\right)^2,\]
A permutation $(a_1,a_2,a_3,a_4,a_5)$ of $(1,2,3,4,5)$ is heavy-tailed if $a_1 + a_2 < a_4 + a_5$. What is the number of heavy-tailed permutations?
A basketball player made $5$ baskets during a game. Each basket was worth either $2$ or $3$ points. How many different numbers could represent the total points scored by the player?
Two circles of radius 1 are to be constructed as follows. The center of circle $A$ is chosen uniformly and at random from the line segment joining $(0,0)$ and $(2,0)$. The center of circle $B$ is chosen uniformly and at random, and independently of the first choice, from the line segment joining $(0,1)$ to $(2,1)$. What is the probability that circles $A$ and $B$ intersect?