Australian Mathematics

Competition
2023 Senior Questions and Solutions

A KEPERT & M CLAPPER

 Published by

AM T PU BLISHIN G

Australian Maths Trust

170 Haydon Drive, Bruce ACT 2617
AUSTRALIA
Telephone: +61 2 6201 5136
www.amt.edu.au

Copyright © 2023 Australian Mathematics Trust

AMTT Limited ACN 083 950 341

Australian Mathematics Competition Solutions ISSN 2652-7235

2023 AMC Senior Questions1

Senior Questions
Senior Questions
1. What is the value of 2023 − 3202?
(A) −1221 (B) −1179 (C) 1179 (D) 1221 (E) 5225

2. A parallelogram P QRS has an area of 60 cm2 Q

P
and side P Q of length 10 cm.
Which length is 6 cm?
(A) RQ (B) RS (C) QT
(D) P T (E) QS

S T R

3. Which one of these is equal to 57 × 953?

(A) 321 (B) 4321 (C) 54 321 (D) 654 321 (E) 7 654 321

4. What is the difference between 25 and 52 ?

(A) 0 (B) 1 (C) 3 (D) 5 (E) 7

5. What is the value of the angle θ◦ in the

diagram?
110◦
(A) 100◦ (B) 110◦ (C) 120◦
θ◦
(D) 130◦ (E) 140◦
150◦

www.amt.edu.au
2 2023 AMC Senior Questions

6. The shaded square is inscribed in the larger square 4 3

as shown.
What is the ratio of shaded to unshaded area in the 3 4
diagram?
(A) 5 : 4 (B) 25 : 24 (C) 3 : 2 4 3
(D) 7 : 4 (E) 12 : 7
3 4

7. Jemmy multiplies together all the integers from 1 to 18. What are the last three
digits of the result?
(A) 000 (B) 020 (C) 200 (D) 080 (E) 800

8. A fuel tank is 40% empty. Then 40 litres of fuel is removed. The tank is now
40% full. How many litres are in a full tank?
(A) 40 (B) 100 (C) 160 (D) 200 (E) 400

4
9. The volume V of a sphere of radius r is given by V = πr3 .
3
For a sphere of volume V = 100 cm3 , which of the following is closest to the
radius?
(A) 2.9 cm (B) 3.5 cm (C) 5 cm (D) 5.8 cm (E) 10 cm

10. If I add 3 consecutive odd integers, I get a total of 9m + 3. The largest of these
3 integers is
(A) 3m − 3 (B) 3m − 1 (C) 3m (D) 3m + 1 (E) 3m + 3

www.amt.edu.au
2023 AMC Senior Questions3

√ √
11. The value of ( 24 + 54)2 is
(A) 140 (B) 150 (C) 160 (D) 170 (E) 180

12. In a group of 6 people there are 3 pairs of twins. How many 3-member committees
can be chosen that do not contain any pair of twins?
(A) 0 (B) 8 (C) 12 (D) 24 (E) 48

a−1 − b−1
13. Assuming a > b > 0, the expression can be written as
a−2 − b−2
b−a b+a ab a 2 − b2
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E) a − b
ab ab b+a a−b

14. A bag contains red and yellow balls such that the ratio red : yellow is 5 : 7.
Then 10 balls of each colour are removed and the ratio changes to 5 : 8.
How many balls were originally in the bag?
(A) 48 (B) 60 (C) 72 (D) 84 (E) 96

15. In the solution to this number puzzle, whenever there are

three numbers in a straight line, the middle number is the
sum of the other two.
What is the value of x? a b
1 1 1
(A) (a + b + c) (B) (b − a − c) (C) (a + b − c)
2 2 2 x c
1 1
(D) (a − b + c) (E) (b + c − a)
2 2

www.amt.edu.au
4 2023 AMC Senior Questions

16. If f (x) = 5 + x and g(x) = 7 − x, then f (g(x)) − g(f (x)) equals

(A) 10 − x (B) 7 (C) x + 2 (D) 10 (E) 2x − 2

17. The hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle has length 6 cm. The perimeter of the
triangle is 14 cm.
What is the area of the triangle in square centimetres?
(A) 7 (B) 12 (C) 14 (D) 21 (E) 24

18. I have two identical dice, each with faces

√ 1
1 √ 1 1 3
1, , 3, √ , √ and .
2 3 2 2

√3

3
2
2
1

√
√
I roll both dice and multiply the two numbers
rolled, then simplify my answer. What is the √ 3 1
probability that this product is rational? 1 2
1 1 1 5 7
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)
9 6 2 18 18

19. How many distinct pairs (x, y) satisfy x2 + y 2 < 50 if x and y are both positive
integers with x > y?
(A) 15 (B) 13 (C) 11 (D) 9 (E) 8

20. A 15 cm × 20 cm rectangle is cut into two triangles. One

triangle is rotated and placed on top of the other triangle
as shown to form a concave pentagon.
What is the perimeter of the pentagon?
(A) 80 cm (B) 84 cm (C) 93 cm
(D) 96 cm (E) 105 cm

www.amt.edu.au
2023 AMC Senior Questions5

21. I have four numbers. When I add 3 to the first number, subtract 3 from the second
number, multiply the third number by 3 and divide the fourth number by 3, my
four answers are all equal.
My original 4 numbers added to 32. What is the sum of the largest two of these?
(A) 24 (B) 25 (C) 26 (D) 27 (E) 28

22. Antonio walked 11.5 km to his cousin Maria’s house.

At first he walked uphill, then along a flat part of the road and the final part was
downhill. The trip took 2 hours 54 minutes. The next day his walk back home
took 3 hours 6 minutes. Antonio walks uphill at a constant speed of 3 km/h, on the
flat at 4 km/h and downhill at 5 km/h.
What is the length, in kilometres, of the flat part of the road?
(A) 4 (B) 4.5 (C) 5 (D) 5.5 (E) 6

23. I think of two positive integers and call their sum S and their product P . Which
one of the following could not be the value of S + P ?
(A) 84 (B) 86 (C) 88 (D) 90 (E) 92

24. A solid regular tetrahedron has 4 faces, each

an equilateral triangle. It is suspended in the V
entomology laboratory. There are two food
sources on the tetrahedron, one at a vertex V and
the other at X, the centre of the opposite face.
When a geodesic grub is placed anywhere upon
the tetrahedron, it instinctively crawls along the
shortest possible path over the surface to the X
closest food source.
What fraction of the surface area is closer to V
than to X, in terms of paths along the surface?
1 1 1 2 3
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)
4 3 2 3 4

www.amt.edu.au
6 2023 AMC Senior Questions

25. Three spheres of radius 2 sit on a flat surface touching one another. A smaller
sphere sits on the same surface, in the middle and touching all three of the bigger
spheres. What is its radius?
√ √ √ √ √ 3 2
(A) 2 3 − 2 2 (B) 2 3− 2 (C) 3 (D) (E)
2 3

26. How many ways can you select four distinct equally spaced numbers from the set
{1, ..., 40}?

27. Digits a, b and c are chosen and then two six-digit numbers are formed, M with
digits abcabc and N with digits ababab. The ratio M : N is 55 : 54. What is the
3-digit number abc?

28. Two wheels are fixed to an axle as shown.

120 cm
Due to their different sizes, the two wheels
105 cm

trace two concentric circles when rolled on

level ground.
70 cm

In centimetres, what is the radius of the

circle traced on the ground by the larger
wheel?

www.amt.edu.au
2023 AMC Senior Questions7

29. Martin the gardener has 3 new vegetable beds, near the kitchen, laundry and shed.
Each year he will plant one bed with tomatoes, one with beans, and one with
carrots. He needs a schedule for planting that goes for 8 summers.
To balance the disease risk and soil nutrients, his schedule must follow these rules:

• A bed that has tomatoes one summer can’t have tomatoes next summer or the
one after.
• Carrots can’t be in a bed that had beans last summer.

In how many ways can he schedule his vegetable planting for these 8 summers?

30. A percussionist is practising patterns within an 11-beat bar of music. To visualise

this, she arranges 11 dots around a circle, with black dots representing a drum hit.
She reads this pattern of dots clockwise, starting at the top.
Her patterns have at least one black dot, no two adjacent black dots and two
patterns only count as the same if they are the same in every detail, including
where the pattern starts in the circle and the direction it is read.
For instance, patterns A and B below are two of her patterns, and they count
as different, even though B can be thought of as A starting on a different beat.
Pattern C is not one of her patterns, since it has two adjacent black dots.
How many drumming patterns like this are possible?

A B C

www.amt.edu.au
8 2023 AMC Senior Solutions

Senior Solutions
Senior solutions
1. 2023 − 3202 = −1179,

hence (B).

2. The parallelogram’s area is A = bh where b is the base and h is the height

perpendicular to that base. With base b = P Q = 10 cm and area A = 60 cm2
we must have h = 6. Of the given segments, P T is perpendicular to P Q so that
P T = 6 cm. All other given segments are longer,

hence (D).

3. Rounding up, 57 × 953 < 60 × 1000 = 60 000, which suggests (C). Rounding down,
57 × 953 > 50 × 900 = 45 000, so that only (C) is possible. Evaluating precisely
confirms that 57 × 953 = 54 321,

hence (C).

4. The difference between 25 = 32 and 52 = 25 is 32 − 25 = 7,

hence (E).

5. Alternative 1
The three exterior angles will add to 360◦ so θ = 360 − (110 + 150) = 100,

hence (A).
Alternative 2
Using supplementary angles, two interior angles can be found:

110◦
◦
70

θ◦ 30◦
150◦

Then θ = 70 + 30 = 100,

hence (A).
√
6. The side of the shaded square is 32 + 42 = 5 so its area is 52 = 25.
There are 4 unshaded triangles, with total area 4 × 12 × 3 × 4 = 24.
So the ratio of shaded to unshaded is 25 : 24,

hence (B).

www.amt.edu.au
2023 AMC Senior Solutions9

7. The numbers being multiplied include 4, 5, 10 and 15. Multiplying these gives
3000. Multiplying this by the remaining numbers in the list will always leave three
zeros at the end,

hence (A).

8. The tank is initially 40% empty, which is 60% full, and then it becomes 40% full.
So the 40 L removed is 20% of the tank. Then 5 × 40 = 200 L is 100% of the tank,

hence (D).

9. Solving for r,
4
100 = πr3
3
75
= r3
π
 
3 75 3 75 √
3
√
3
r= ≈ = 25 ≈ 27 = 3
π 3

This suggests that the closest answer is (A).

75 81
More precisely, r3 = < = 27 = 33 , which confirms that r < 3. Thus r is
π 3
closer to 2.9 cm than to any of the other four values,

hence (A).

10. Alternative 1
The average of the three numbers is (9m + 3) ÷ 3 = 3m + 1. The three numbers are
evenly spaced 2 apart, so the middle one is the average of all three. Then they are
3m − 1, 3m + 1 and 3m + 3,

hence (E).
Alternative 2
Let the largest of the three numbers be x, so that the other two are x − 4 and x − 2.
Then

(x − 4) + (x − 2) + x = 9m + 3
3x − 6 = 9m + 3
3x = 9m + 9 = 9(m + 1)
x = 3(m + 1) = 3m + 3

hence (E).

www.amt.edu.au
10 2023 AMC Senior Solutions

11. Alternative 1
Noticing that 24 = 23 × 3 and 54 = 2 × 33 , we see that
√ √ √
24 × 54 = 24 × 34 = 22 × 32 = 36
Therefore √ √
( 24 + 54)2 = 24 + (2 × 36) + 54 = 150
hence (B).
Alternative 2
√ √ √ √ √
Simplifying each radical, ( 24 + 54)2 = (2 6 + 3 6)2 = (5 6)2 = 25 × 6 = 150,

hence (B).

12. Let the twins be {A, B}, {C, D}, {E, F }. Every choice of committee must choose 1
from each pair of twins, so there are 2 × 2 × 2 = 8 possible committees. These can
be listed: {ACE, ACF, ADE, ADF, BCE, BCF, BDE, BDF },

hence (B).

13. Alternative 1
1
a
− 1b b − a b2 − a2
1 = ÷ 2 2
a2
− b12 ab ab
(b − a) a2 b2
= ×
ab (b − a)(b + a)
ab
=
b+a
hence (C).
Alternative 2
The denominator is a difference of squares: a−2 − b−2 = (a−1 − b−1 )(a−1 + b−1 ). So
1 1 1 b+a
the expression cancels to X = −1 −1
. Then a−1 + b−1 = + = and so
a +b a b ab
ab
X= ,
b+a

hence (C).

14. Alternative 1
Suppose there were x red balls and y yellow balls at the start, then x : y = 5 : 7
and so 7x = 5y.
After 10 balls of each colour are removed, (x − 10) : (y − 10) = 5 : 8.
Hence 8(x − 10) = 5(y − 10) and so 8x − 80 = 5y − 50.
But 5y = 7x, so 8x − 80 = 7x − 50.
Thus x = 30 and y = 42. Checking, 30 : 42 = 5 : 7 and 20 : 32 = 5 : 8. So there
were 30 + 42 = 72 balls originally,

hence (C).

www.amt.edu.au
2023 AMC Senior Solutions11

Alternative 2
At first there were 5a red balls and 7a yellow balls. Then there were 5a − 10 red
and 7a − 10 yellow, in the ratio 5 : 8. Solving,

(5a − 10) : (7a − 10) = 5 : 8

8(5a − 10) = 5(7a − 10)
40a − 35a = 80 − 50
a=6

Initially there were 5a + 7a = 12a = 72 balls,

hence (C).
Alternative 3
The balls from the bag can be arranged in 12 equal columns as shown on the left:

5 parts red 7 parts yellow 5 parts red 8 parts yellow

.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

After the 20 balls are removed , 4 yellow balls remain in the bottom two rows. The
new ratio of 5 : 8 needs an extra yellow column, equal to all the other columns. So
the 4 extra balls must match this last column, and all final columns have 4 balls.
Then the initial columns had 6 balls each with a total of 12 × 6 = 72 balls,

hence (C).

15. Alternative 1
Let the other two end numbers be y and z.
Then

x+y =a (1)
y+z =b (2)
x+z =c (3)
(3) − (2): x−y =c−b (4)
(1) + (4): 2x = a − b + c
1
x = (a − b + c)
2
hence (D).

www.amt.edu.au
12 2023 AMC Senior Solutions

Alternative 2
The three edge numbers a + b + c add to twice the sum of the corner numbers.
Also, the sum of the 3 corner numbers is x + b. So we solve
1
a + b + c = 2(x + b) =⇒ 2x = a − b + c =⇒ x = (a − b + c)
2

hence (D).

16. Evaluating,

f (g(x)) − g(f (x)) = f (7 − x) − g(5 + x) = 5 + (7 − x) − (7 − (5 + x))

= 12 − x − 2 + x
= 10

hence (D).

17. Alternative 1
Suppose the sides are a, b, 6. By Pythagoras’ theorem, a2 + b2 = 62 = 36. From the
perimeter, a+b+6 = 14 so that a+b = 8. Then 64 = (a+b)2 = a2 +2ab+b2 = 36+2ab
so that ab = 12 (64 − 36) = 14. Then the area of the triangle is 12 ab = 7 cm2 ,

hence (A).
Alternative 2
Let the sides of the triangle be x, y and 6 so that y = 14 − 6 − x = 8 − x. By
Pythagoras’ theorem,

x2 + (8 − x)2 = 36
2x2 − 16x + 64 − 36 = 0
x2 − 8x + 14 = 0
√ √
8± 64 − 56
x= = 4 ± 2 (quadratic formula)
2
√
y =8−x=4∓ 2
xy 1 √ √ 16 − 2
= (4 + 2)(4 − 2) = =7
2 2 2

hence (A).

www.amt.edu.au
2023 AMC Senior Solutions13

18. The sample space has 36 equally likely rolls, as shown in this table. The cases
where the product is rational are ticked.
√
√
1
1
3 √1 √1 3
2 3 2 2
1 ✓ ✓
1
✓ ✓
2
√
3 ✓ ✓ ✓

√1 ✓ ✓ ✓
3
√1 ✓
2
√
3
✓ ✓ ✓
2

14 7
Then 14 out of 36 are ticked, so the probability is = ,
36 18

hence (E).

19. We have 1 ⩽ y 2 ⩽ x2 < 50 where x2 and y 2 are chosen from {1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49}.
Possibilities are

1 + 4, 1 + 9, 1 + 16, 1 + 25, 1 + 36,

4 + 9, 4 + 16, 4 + 25, 4 + 36,
9 + 16, 9 + 25, 9 + 36,
16 + 25.

So there are 13 solutions,

hence (B).

20. By Pythagoras’ theorem, the hypotenuse of each right-angled triangle is 25, and so
each is a right-angled triangle with sides in the ratio 3 : 4 : 5.

5 15

a b
15
20
d
c

The smaller triangle formed by the overlap of the two pieces (darker shading) has
two angles from the paper pieces, so is similar to these. In particular it has sides in

www.amt.edu.au
14 2023 AMC Senior Solutions

the ratio 3 : 4 : 5 where the hypotenuse is 15. So its other two sides are a = 9 and
b = 12 and then c = 25 − 9 = 16 and d = 25 − 12 = 13. The pentagon has perimeter
15 + 20 + 20 + 16 + 13 = 84,

hence (B).

21. Let the four numbers be a, b, c and d. Then a + 3 = b − 3 = 3c = d ÷ 3. Writing

each in terms of c, the four numbers are a = 3c − 3, b = 3c + 3, c and d = 9c. These
add to 16c, so 16c = 32 and c = 2. Thus a = 3, b = 9, c = 2 and d = 18. The
largest two add to 9 + 18 = 27,

hence (D).

22. Alternative 1
Let the uphill part of the road be x km, the flat part through the valley y km and
the downhill part z km. Then we get the following system of 3 equations:

x y z
+ + = 2.9 (1)
3 4 5
x y z
+ + = 3.1 (2)
5 4 3
x + y + z = 11.5 (3)

Add equations (1) and (2):

8 y
(x + z) + = 6 (4)
15 2
Rearrange equation (3) and substitute into equation (4):
23
x + z = 11.5 − y = −y
2
  y
8 23
−y + =6
15 2 2
8(23 − 2y) + 15y = 180
184 − y = 180
y=4

So there are 4 km of flat road,

hence (A).

www.amt.edu.au
2023 AMC Senior Solutions15

Alternative 2
The three speeds are 12, 15 and 20 minutes per kilometre. Consider the round trip
of 6 hours = 360 minutes.
Each 1 km of hilly road takes 12 + 20 = 32 minutes to walk both ways. Each 1 km
of flat road takes 15 + 15 = 30 minutes to walk both ways. So relative to a flat
road, each 1 km of hill adds 2 minutes to the round trip.
If the 11.5 km was all flat, the round trip would take 11.5 × 30 = 345 minutes. It
took 15 minutes longer, so there must be 7.5 km of hills. Therefore there is 4 km of
flat road,

hence (A).

23. Let the two numbers be A and B. Then

S + P = A + B + AB = (A + 1)(B + 1) − 1
Since A and B are positive integers, S + P is one less than a composite number.
Conversely suppose N is one less than a composite number, say N = xy − 1 where
x ⩾ 2 and y ⩾ 2. Then A = x − 1 and B = y − 1 have sum S = x + y − 2 and
product P = xy − x − y + 1. Then S + P = x + y − 2 + xy − x − y + 1 = xy − 1 = N .
Consequently a number N could be the value of S + P if, and only if, it is one less
than a composite number. Using the numbers in the question, 85, 87, 91 and 93
are composite whereas 89 is prime. So 88 is the only number that cannot be S + P ,

hence (C).

24. Open the tetrahedron up to the net shown, where there are 3 copies of food source
V . This doesn’t change the lengths of paths the grub could take: whenever a path
to V or X crosses one of the cut edges, there is an equivalent path that doesn’t
cross the cut edge.
Since X is at the centre of its face, it makes sense to place the diagram on a grid of
equilateral triangles, where the side of the tetrahedron has length 3.

V V

Then as shown, the perpendicular bisectors of each XV (dashed) also lie on this
grid. The unshaded area is closer to X than V and the shaded area closer to V
12 1
than X. The shaded area is = of the total surface area,
36 3

hence (B).

www.amt.edu.au
16 2023 AMC Senior Solutions

25. A top view is shown on the left, with points A, B, C and X being the points
where the spheres touch the flat surface. By symmetry, X is at the centre of the
equilateral triangle △ABC. This√ creates six triangles with angles 30◦ , 60◦ and
90◦ and sides in proportions 1, 2, 3. Using these ratios in the shaded triangle,
4
AX = √ .
3

A′
X 2−x
B C X′ Z
x
X √4 A
3

The diagram on the right shows the vertical section through A and X, including
the centres A′ and X ′ of the two spheres. In this cross-section, x is the radius of
the smaller sphere and the shaded right-angled triangle has sides A′ Z = 2 − x,
4
X ′ Z = √ and A′ X ′ = 2 + x. By Pythagoras’ theorem
3
 4 2
(2 − x)2 + √ = (2 + x)2
3
16
= (2 + x)2 − (2 − x)2 = 8x
3
2
x=
3

hence (E).

40 − 1
26. The largest possible difference of a suitable arithmetic progression is = 13.
3
There are 40 − 1 · 3 = 37 arithmetic progressions with difference 1, 40 − 2 · 3 = 34
arithmetic progressions with difference 2, 40 − 3 · 3 = 31 arithmetic progressions
with difference 3 and so on up to 40 − 13 · 3 = 1 arithmetic progression with
difference 13.
1
The total number of arithmetic progressions is 1 + 4 + . . . + 37 = × 38 × 13 = 247,
2

hence (247).

www.amt.edu.au
2023 AMC Senior Solutions17

27. Alternative 1
We use notation like xyz to mean the number with digits x, y and z. Then

54 × abcabc = 55 × ababab
54 × abc(1000 + 1) = 55 × ab(10000 + 100 + 1)
54 × 1001(10 × ab + c) = 55 × 10101 × ab
54(10010 × ab + 1001c) = 55 × 10101 × ab
54054c + 540540 × ab = 555555 × ab
54054c = 15015 × ab
18c = 5 × ab (÷ 3003 both sides)

Then, c = 5 and ab = 18, which yields abc = 185,

hence (185).
Alternative 2
M 55
We have = , where
N 54

111M = 111 × 1001(100a + 10b + c) = 111111(100a + 10b + c)

11N = 11 × 10101(10a + b) = 111111(10a + b)
100a + 10b + c 111M 111 × 55
= =
10a + b 11N 11 × 54
c 3 × 37 × 5 × 11 37 × 5 185 5
10 + = 3
= 2 = = 10 +
10a + b 11 × 2 × 3 3 ×2 18 18
c 5
=
10a + b 18
Since this is in simplest terms, c is a multiple of 5. However c is a digit, so c = 5
and 10a + b = 18. Then 100a + 10b + c = 185,

hence (185).

28. Alternative 1
105 3
For any distance rolled, the larger wheel travels = as far as the smaller
70 2
3
wheel. So the circumference of the larger traced circle is that of the smaller
2
traced circle, which means the radii are also in the same ratio. Consequently the
distance between the two traced circles is half the radius of the smaller circle, and
also one-third the radius of the larger circle.
The difference
 between these two√radii is the distance
√ between the √ two wheel rims,
which is (105 − 70)2 + 1202 = 352 + 1202 = 5 72 + 242 = 5 × 625 = 5 × 25 =
125 cm. Consequently the larger traced circle has radius 375 cm,

hence (375).

www.amt.edu.au
18 2023 AMC Senior Solutions

Alternative 2
The pair of wheels can be imagined as part of a cone, and we consider a points
A, B, C, D, E in a vertical plane as shown below. The rolling of the wheels is
equivalent to rolling the cone with its apex C fixed. Then the radii of the two
circles traced by the wheels are r1 = AC and r2 = CD.

B
120
E
105
70
D
A r2 C
r1
2 2
Then △ABC and △DEC are similar with DE = AB so that EC = BC. Then
3 3
1
BE = 120 = BC so that BC = 360 and EC = 240.
3
Rather than using Pythagoras’ theorem directly to work out AC, observe the ratio
EC : DE = 24 : 7 in △DEC. Then 242 + 72 = 576 + 49 = 625 = 252 so it follows
that both triangles are in the proportions of the Pythagorean triple (7, 24, 25).
With these proportions, △ABC has sides AB = 15 × 7 = 105, BC = 15 × 24 = 360
and AC = r1 = 15 × 25 = 375,

hence (375).

29. In any three-year period, tomatoes must have one planting in each bed. So they
must cycle through the three beds in a three-year cycle, such as shed, laundry,
kitchen, shed, laundry, kitchen, and so on. There are six ways to have such a cycle,
corresponding to the six permutations of {shed, laundry, kitchen}.
Suppose we have such a cycle, and we number the beds 1, 2, 3 depending which
year the tomatoes are first planted there. So the plan looks like this:
Year: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Bed 1 T T T
Bed 2 T T T
Bed 3 T T
We now need to place symbols B and C in each column so that we never see B C
horizontally. Let An be the number of ways to place symbols B and C in columns 1
up to n. Clearly A1 = 2 and A2 = 3.
Consider a year n, as shown below. Either (i) B or (ii) C will follow T in the
previous year, so we can consider two cases. Once year n is specified, there may be
restrictions on year n − 1 to avoid B C .

www.amt.edu.au
2023 AMC Senior Solutions19

(i) n−2 n−1 n (ii) n−2 n−1 n

T C C T any B
any T B T C
any B T any T

As indicated, case (i) can only arise from specific planting schedules up to year
n − 1. However, there is no restriction on year n − 2, so any plan up to year n − 2
can be extended to a unique planting in this category. That is, the number of
possible schedules in case (i) is An−2 .
For case (ii) there is no restriction on which way round the B and C appear in year
n − 1. So the number of ways of scheduling the plantings and ending as in (ii) is
the same as the number of ways of scheduling up to year n − 1, which is An−1 .
Consequently An = An−1 + An−2 , which is the famous Fibonacci recurrence relation.
Since we start A1 = 2, the 3rd Fibonacci number, and then A3 = 3, the 4th
Fibonacci number, we can deduce that A8 is the 10th Fibonacci number, which
is 55.
So for each of the 6 ways of scheduling the tomatoes, there are 55 ways of schedul-
ing the beans and carrots, making a total of 6 × 55 = 330 possible ways to schedule
the planting,

hence (330).

30. Alternative 1
Any valid pattern of hits can be shifted (delayed) by between 1 and 10 beats and
it will be a different pattern. Consequently the patterns are in clusters of 11, and
we proceed to count how many clusters there are. We do this by considering the
patterns with k hits, for k = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
For 1 hit, there is only one cluster, so 11 patterns.
For 2 hits, there are 4 clusters, corresponding to a distance between the two hits
of 2, 3, 4 or 5 beats. Distances larger than this will be in one of these 4 clusters,
such as a distance of 8 beats being equivalent to a distance of 3 beats. With these
4 clusters, there are 44 patterns.

For 3 hits, choose one of the 3 hits as first, and temporarily label this as beat 0.
The next hit can be on beat 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7, and the third hit will be at least 2
beats later:

www.amt.edu.au
20 2023 AMC Senior Solutions

Hit 1 Hit 2 Hit 3 ? patterns

0 2 4,5,6,7,8,9 6
0 3 5,6,7,8,9 5
0 4 6,7,8,9 4
0 5 7,8,9 3
0 6 8,9 2
0 7 9 1
21

This looks like there are 21 × 11 patterns. However, this over-counts by a factor
of 3. Every cluster of 11 patterns, will be represented 3 times in the above table,
depending on which hit is counted as being the first. Consequently there are
actually 21 ÷ 3 = 7 clusters and 7 × 11 = 77 patterns.
For 4 hits again we enumerate assuming that the first beat is labelled beat 0.

Hit 1 Hit 2 Hit 3 Hit 4 ? patterns

0 2 4 6,7,8,9 4
0 2 5 7,8,9 3
0 2 6 8,9 2
0 2 7 9 1
0 3 5 7,8,9 3
0 3 6 8,9 2
0 3 7 9 1
0 4 6 8,9 2
0 4 7 9 1
0 5 7 9 1
20

Again the 20 apparent clusters is in fact only 20 ÷ 4 = 5 clusters, due to each

cluster appearing 4 times. These 5 clusters have 55 patterns.
For 5 hits there is only 1 cluster.

Hit 1 Hit 2 Hit 3 Hit 4 Hit 5 ? patterns

0 2 4 6 8,9 2
0 2 4 7 9 1
0 2 5 7 9 1
0 3 5 7 9 1
5

The 5 patterns above are all in the 1 cluster of 11 patterns.

More than 5 hits is not possible, so there are 11 + 44 + 77 + 55 + 11 = 198 patterns,

hence (198).

www.amt.edu.au
2023 AMC Senior Solutions21

Alternative 2
In the previous solution, the number of ways of placing k hits in 11 beats without
consecutive hits was enumerated explicitly. These can be counted more efficiently.
Again we assume that beat 0 is one of the hits.

• For 1 hit, there is 1 possibility.

• For 2 hits, place 0 = black and 9 whites. There are 8 spaces between  the
9 whites, each of which is a possibility for the other hit, giving 81 = 8
possibilities. Since either beat could be the first beat, there are 8 ÷ 2 = 4
clusters.
• For 3 hits, place 0 = black and 8 whites. There are 7 spaces between the 8
whites, and72 of these spaces will be selected for a black to be inserted. So
there are 2 = 21 possibilities, and as before there are 21 ÷ 3 = 7 clusters.
• For
6 4 hits, there are 7 whites and 6 spaces for the 3 remaining blacks, so
3
= 20 possibilities, and 20 ÷ 4 = 5 clusters.

• For 5 hits, there are 6 whites, 5 spaces and 4 remaining blacks, so 54 = 5
possibilites and 5 ÷ 5 = 1 cluster.

Then as before there are 1+4+7+5+1 = 18 clusters, and 11+44+77+55+11 = 198

patterns,

hence (198).

www.amt.edu.au
22 2023 AMC Answer Key

Answer Key

Question Senior

1 B
2 D
3 C
4 E
5 A
6 B
7 A
8 D
9 A
10 E
11 B
12 B
13 C
14 C
15 D
16 D
17 A
18 E
19 B
20 B
21 D
22 A
23 C
24 B
25 E
26 247
27 185
28 375
29 330
30 198

www.amt.edu.au