Week 283 (3rd February 2023)

Zoe and Megan are making 3-digit codes. 

The digit 0 is not used.  

Zoe only uses odd digits. 

Megan only uses even digits.  

Zoe can make x more codes than Megan.  

Assume that digits cannot be repeated. 

Work out the value of x. 

Answer:  

Zoe: 

Numbers she can use are 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 (ie she has 5 numbers to choose from) 

So the total number of codes she can make = 5 x 4 x 3 = 60 

Megan: 

Numbers she can use are 2, 4, 6, 8 (ie she has 4 numbers to choose from) 

So, the total number of codes she can make = 4 x 3 x 2 = 24 

So Zoe can make 36 (60 –24) more codes than Megan