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2018 Pan African
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2018 Pan African
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PAMO Problem 6: Change all sectors into ones using allowed operation
Source: 2018 Pan-African Mathematics Olympiad
7/3/2018
A circle is divided into
n
n
n
sectors (
n
≥
3
n \geq 3
n
≥
3
). Each sector can be filled in with either
1
1
1
or
0
0
0
. Choose any sector
C
\mathcal{C}
C
occupied by
0
0
0
, change it into a
1
1
1
and simultaneously change the symbols
x
,
y
x, y
x
,
y
in the two sectors adjacent to
C
\mathcal{C}
C
to their complements
1
−
x
1-x
1
−
x
,
1
−
y
1-y
1
−
y
. We repeat this process as long as there exists a zero in some sector. In the initial configuration there is a
0
0
0
in one sector and
1
1
1
s elsewhere. For which values of
n
n
n
can we end this process?
combinatorics