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jmc

counting and probability senior

Problem

Ten chairs are arranged in a circle. Find the number of subsets of this set of chairs that contain at least three adjacent chairs.
Solution
We know that a subset with less than chairs cannot contain adjacent chairs. There are only sets of chairs so that they are all adjacent. There are subsets of chairs where all are adjacent, and or where there are only If there are chairs, have all adjacent, or have adjacent, and or have adjacent. With chairs in the subset, have all adjacent, or have adjacent, or have adjacent, or have groups of adjacent chairs, and or have group of adjacent chairs. All possible subsets with more than chairs have at least group of adjacent chairs, so we add or , or , or , and or Adding, we get
Final answer
581