Browse · harp
Printsmc
number theory senior
Problem
For each positive integer , let be the number of sequences of length consisting solely of the letters and , with no more than three s in a row and no more than three s in a row. What is the remainder when is divided by ?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
Solution
We can start off by finding patterns in . When we calculate a few values we realize either from performing the calculation or because the calculation was performed in the exact same way that . Rearranging the expression we realize that the terms aside from are congruent to mod (Just put the equation in terms of and the four combinations excluded and calculate the combinations mod ). Using patterns we can see that is congruent to mod . Therefore is our answer.
Final answer
D