Browse · MATH
Printjmc
counting and probability senior
Problem
Human beings have discovered a habitable planet and soon after, they find 10 more habitable planets. Of these 11, only 5 are deemed ``Earth-like'' in their resources and the rest are deemed ``Mars-like'' since they lack many important resources. Assume that planets like Earth take up 2 units of colonization, while those like Mars take up only 1. If humanity mobilizes 12 total units of colonies, how many different combinations of planets can be occupied if the planets are all different from each other?
Solution
Let be the number of colonies on Earth-like planets and be the number on Mars-like planets. We therefore seek nonnegative integers and such that . From this equation, we see that can be at most 6 while can at most be 5. In addition, must be even, so the only possibilities are . Thus, there are 3 possible colonization options: .
In the first option, we take all 6 Mars-like planets, and can choose the Earth-like planets in ways. This gives us 10 possibilities. In the second option, we can choose any 4 of the 5 like Earth and any 4 of the 6 like Mars. This is possibilities. In the third option, all Earth-like planets must be occupied while only 2 of those like Mars must be occupied. This is possibilities. In all, there are planets.
In the first option, we take all 6 Mars-like planets, and can choose the Earth-like planets in ways. This gives us 10 possibilities. In the second option, we can choose any 4 of the 5 like Earth and any 4 of the 6 like Mars. This is possibilities. In the third option, all Earth-like planets must be occupied while only 2 of those like Mars must be occupied. This is possibilities. In all, there are planets.
Final answer
100