Problem

Source: Dutch IMO TST 2016 day 3 p3

Tags: number theory, sum of digits, Digits



Let $k$ be a positive integer, and let $s(n)$ denote the sum of the digits of $n$. Show that among the positive integers with $k$ digits, there are as many numbers $n$ satisfying $s(n) < s(2n)$ as there are numbers $n$ satisfying $s(n) > s(2n)$.