Let S be a function such that S(N) is the sum of digits of N. N belongs to natural numbers, and N < 10²³. N does not contain a zero digit in it. The numbers are in base 10.
Find the number of N that satisfies the equation: S(N) = S(S(N))
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$\begingroup$ Discussion of this question on meta $\endgroup$– bobbleMay 24, 2022 at 14:25
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1 Answer
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S(N) ≤ N with equality iff N ≤ 9, so the solutions are {N : S(N) ≤ 9 ∧ 0 ∉ digits(N)}. This set is {1, 2, …, 8, 9, 11, 12, …, 17, 18, 21, …}.
Denote the concatenation operator by ∥. S(N) = k iff N can be uniquely expressed as 1 ∥ 1 + 1 + 1 ∥ 1 + … + 1 for some combination of operators with k 1s. There are 2k − 1 ways to do this. So the cardinality of the set is 20 + … + 28 = 29 − 1 = 511.
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$\begingroup$ But how many numbers satisfy the solution? $\endgroup$ May 23, 2022 at 10:35
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$\begingroup$ @I'mNobody I didn't realise that was the question. (The last sentence in the problem statement is not very clear.) I've counted them now in an edit. $\endgroup$ May 23, 2022 at 11:14
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$\begingroup$ @JaapScherphuis Yes. Thank you. I've edited it. $\endgroup$ May 23, 2022 at 12:07
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