2022 AMC Senior Solutions71

Alternative 2
a+c
If three successive terms are a, b, c then b = − 1 so that c = 2b − a + 2. Using this
2
rule the sequence continues:
2, 6, 12, 20, 30, 42, . . .
From this we claim that the nth term is n(n + 1).
Assuming this claim, we need√ the largest value of n(n + 1) less than 1000. Since n(n + 1) =
2 2
n + n ≈ n , we check n ≈ 1000 ≈ 31.6. Then 31 × 32 = 992 and 32 × 33 = 1056 so that
the largest term less that 1000 is 992.
We address the claim by strong induction on n. The statement to be proven is that for
n  1 the nth term is given by the formula n(n + 1). This is true for n = 1, 2. For
n  3, let terms n − 2, n − 1 and n be a, b, c as above, then by the inductive hypothesis,
a = (n − 2)(n − 1) and b = (n − 1)n. Then
c = 2b − a + 2 = 2n(n − 1) − (n − 2)(n − 1) + 2 = n2 + n = n(n + 1)
so that the nth term is n(n + 1), completing the induction.
By strong induction, the claim is confirmed and 992 is the largest term less than 1000,
hence (992).

29. Alternative 1
At the beginning, stage 0, Wayne has the unstamped original. So there is 1 sheet with 0
occurrences of the ‘COPY’ stamp.
After stage 1, he has the unstamped original plus two stamped copies. So there is 1 sheet
with 0 stamps, and 2 sheets with 1 stamp.
After stage 2, he has the unstamped original, the first two copies, and two stamped copies
of each of these. So there is 1 sheet with 0 stamps, 4 sheets with 1 stamp, and 4 sheets
with 2 stamps.
We set up a table to track the number of sheets with a given number of stamps. At each
stage, the number of sheets with k stamps is equal to the number with k stamps at the
previous stage (those which were fed through the copier and not re-stamped) plus twice
the number with k − 1 stamps at the previous stage (the two new copies of each which
gain one extra stamp). Also, there is only ever one copy with no stamps, being the original
sheet of paper. Since we are interested only in the number of copies with 2 stamps, the
important part of the table is as follows:

Number of stamps
Stage
0 1 2
0 1 0 0
1 1 2 0
2 1 4 4
3 1 6 12
4 1 8 24
5 1 10 40
6 1 12 60
7 1 14 84
8 1 16 112

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