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Printjmc
counting and probability senior
Problem
Crestwood Elementary School has an active four-square league, consisting of ten players, including Justin and Tim. Each day at recess, the ten players split into two four-square games, each with five players in no relevant order. Over the course of a semester, each possible match-up of five players occurs once. How many times did Justin play in the same game as Tim?
Solution
Each game has 5 players. The games that we are counting include Justin, Tim, and 3 of the 8 other players. There are = 56 such match-ups.
Alternatively, There are = 252 different possible match-ups involving 5 of the 10 players. By symmetry, every player plays in exactly half of them, 126 games. In each of the 126 games that Tim plays, he plays with 4 of the other 9 players. Again by symmetry, he plays with each of those 9 players in 4/9 of his games. So he plays against Justin in 4/9 of 126 games, or games.
Alternatively, There are = 252 different possible match-ups involving 5 of the 10 players. By symmetry, every player plays in exactly half of them, 126 games. In each of the 126 games that Tim plays, he plays with 4 of the other 9 players. Again by symmetry, he plays with each of those 9 players in 4/9 of his games. So he plays against Justin in 4/9 of 126 games, or games.
Final answer
56