2005 MATHCOUNTS

STATE SPRINT ROUND

1. Every side of octagon ABCDEFGH
is perpendicular to each of its
adjacent sides. To find the
perimeter, we must determine the
length of each line segment.
We are given that BC = 10.
Therefore, AH + GF + ED must also
be 10. HG = 8, EF = 4 and DC = 6.
So, how to figure out AB. Since DC
= 6 and EF = 4, the distance
between F and line BC must be
6 4 = 2
So AB = HG + 2 = 10.
AB + BC + CD + ED + EF + GF +
HG + AH =
(AH + GF + ED) + AB + BC + CD +
EF + HG =
(10) + 10 + 10 + 6 + 4 + 8 = 48 Ans.
2. The difference between two prime
numbers is 17. Thats an odd
number. Consider:
- an even number minus an even
number is an even number
- an odd number minus an even
number is an odd number
- an even number minus an odd
number is an odd number
How interesting that one of the
numbers must be even! How many
even prime numbers are there?
Only one which is the number 2. If
the difference is 17, 2 + 17 = 19.
So, 2 and 19 are the primes.
19 + 2 = 21 Ans.
3. What is the sum of the two perfect
square integers that are closest to
2005? Well, 40 = 1600 and 50 =
2500 so, its between 40 and 50.
45 = 2025 and 44 = 1936.
2025 + 1936 = 3961 Ans.
4. The Smiths watched TV for three
hours every Monday, Wednesday
and Friday during February. On
Tuesday and Thursday, they
watched for four hours and never
watched TV on weekends. (Did
their kids ever do their homework?
Tsk, tsk!) February, 2005 is a nice
month. It has 28 days so we have 4
of each type of day during the
month.
3 days/week 3 hours/day 4
weeks = 36 hours
2 days/week 4 hours/day 4
weeks = 32 hours
36 + 32 = 68 Ans.
5. Heres the same chart from the Chapter
Exam.
Bangkok Cape Town Honolulu London
Bangkok 6300 6609 5944
Cape Town 6300 11,535 5989
Honolulu 6609 11,535 7240
London 5944 5989 7240
If two different cities from the chart are
chosen at random, what is the
probability that the distance between
them is less than 7000 miles? Note
that the numbers all appear twice
e.g., Bangkok to CapeTown and Cape
Town to Bangkok are the same. The
grey lines can be perceived as a
diagonal so only look at the numbers
above or below. There are 6 numbers
either above or below, of which 4 are
below 7000.
3
2
6
4
= Ans.
6. When a water tank is 30% full, it contains
27 gallons less than when it is 20% empty.
20% empty means 80% full. Therefore,
27 gallons represent 50% of the tank.
27 2 = 54 Ans.
7. A, B, C, and D represent a different odd
integers between two and ten. We are
asked to find the least possible value of
D
C B A
. The odd integers between
two and ten are 3, 5, 7 and 9. Try 9 for D
to make the largest denominator. Now we
have to minimize A B C. This should
be the smallest possible. Use the two
smallest odd numbers 3 and 5 for A and
B. This leaves C as 7.
9
8
9
7 15
9
7 5 3
=

=

But is this
sufficient? What happens if we switch 7
and 9?
7
6
7
9 15
7
9 5 3
=

=

Thats better.
Using 5 or 3 as the denominator will create
larger numbers.
7
6
Ans.
8. Crystal has $7.50 to buy a meal which is
composed of one entre, one drink and
one dessert. All prices include sales tax.
Entrees:
Pizza $3.50
Corn Dog $2.50
Fish & Chips $3.50
Fried Rice $4.75
Drinks:
Lemonade $1.50
Soda $1.25
Desserts:
Frozen Yogurt $3.00
Cookies: $2.00
Lets start with pizza at $3.50. This would
give Crystal $4.00 for drink and dessert.
She could do lemonade and cookies for
$3.50, or soda and cookies for $3.25.
Thats 2 choices so far. Now try the Corn
Dog. This would give Crystal $5.00 for
dessert and drink. All combinations of
drinks and desserts are less than $5 which
gives Crystal 4 more choices. Now try the
Fish & Chips. But thats the same price as
the pizza so thats 2 more choices. This
leaves the Fried Rice which gives her
$2.75 for dessert and drink. Cant be
done.
2 + 4 + 2 = 8 Ans.
9. The points (x,y) represented in the table lie
on a straight line.
x y
2 7
t 2 v
t v + 6
The first step is to use some of these
points to find the equation of the line.
y = mx + b
7 = 2m + b (Eq. 1)
v = (t 2)m + b (Eq. 2)
v + 6 = tm + b (Eq. 3)
6 = (t t + 2)m (Eq. 3 Eq. 2)
6 = 2m
m = 3
7 = 2 3 + b (Eq. 1)
7 = 6 + b
b = 1
y = 3x + 1
Ok, now Ill switch to
y = Ax + B (Im just used to m and b)
A = 3 and B = 1
A + B = 3 + 1 = 4 Ans.
10. Roslyn writes her name repeatedly in a
5x5 table as shown.
R O S L Y
N R O S L
Y N R O S
L Y N R O
S L Y N R
Ina 20 by 20 grid, there would be 20
20 = 400 squares to fill with letters.
There are 6 letters in ROSLYN, so the
entire name would be written 400 6
= 66.6666 times. Our grid would
need 6 67 = 402 squares in order to
hold the entire name 67 times. We
can see that we are 2 squares short,
so the letters YN will not fit and the
last letter in the 20 by 20 grid will be L.
L Ans.
11. The number 210 is the product of two
consecutive positive integers. It is also the
product of three consecutive integers. Its
time to factor 210 to see what we have.
210 = 2 105 = 2 5 21 =
2 3 5 7
Can we make 2 consecutive integers from
the factors? Sure, 14 (2 7) and 15 (3
5). How about three consecutive factors?
5, 6 (2 3) and 7.
5 + 6 + 7 + 14 + 15 = 18 + 29 = 47 Ans.
12. We have a 12 and 16 pizza each cut into
8 congruent slices. Jane ate 3 slices of
the 12. Mark ate 3 slices of the 16. The
12 pizza has a radius of 6 and, therefore,
an area of 36. Since there are 8 slices,
each slice of the 12 pizza has an area of
4. The 16 pizza has a radius of 8 and,
therefore, an area of 64. Since there are
also 8 slices here, each has an area of 8.
In terms of area, Jane ate
4 3 = 13. Mark ate
8 3 = 24.
24 - 13 = 10 =
2
21
Ans.
13. In how many patterns can a 2-by-5
rectangle be tiled with five white
rectangular 2-by-1 tiles? First we have the
2 examples:
Note that in each case we have two sets
of horizontal bars with one vertical bar, first
on the left, then on the right. So, to those,
lets add the one in the middle.
That finishes all the ones with two sets of
horizontal bars. How about with only one
set of horizontal bars?
That exhausts the single set of horizontal
bars so now were left with only vertical
bars.
Looks like there are 8 patterns.
8 Ans.
14. Mr. Wrench charges N dollars for making
a house call plus x dollars per hour that he
works at the house. He charged $97 for a
one-hour repair job and $265 for a five-
hour repair job. The differences between
these two jobs were 4 hours and 265 97
= $168. This tells us each of the four
hours was charged at a rate of 168 4 =
$42. If we add this additional hour charge
onto the one-hour repair job of $97 that we
were given, we see that a two-hour job is
97 + 42 = $139. Ans.
15. Regions I, II and II are bounded by
squares.
The perimeter of region I is 12 so each
side is 3. The perimeter of region II is 24
so each side is 6. The side of region III is
just 6 + 3 = 9.
The area of region I is 3 3 = 9. The area
of region III is 9 9 = 81.
9
1
81
9
= Ans.
16. What is the positive difference between
the 2000
th
term and the 2005
th
term of the
arithmetic sequence -8, -2, 4, 10
Each term differs by 6. To see this simply,
look at the second term.
-2 = -8 + (6 1)
4 = - 8 + (6 2)
So we can express this as the nth term is
equal to -8 + 6 times the n-1th term.
-8 + (6 1999) = -8 + 11994 = 11986
This is the 2000
th
term.
-8 + (6 2004) = -8 + 12024 = 12016
This is the 2005
th
term.
12016 11986 = 30
However, if you did it this way, while it is
right, its really the long way. This is an
arithmetic sequence. Each two
successive terms differ by 6. Two terms
that are 5 terms away from each other
differ by 6 5 = 30 and thats a shorter
way to do this. 30 Ans.
17. The ratio of teachers to students in a
school is 1 to 11. The ratio of female
students to the total number of students is
4 to 9. There are 396 female students.
4x = 396
x = 99
4x + 5x = 9x = the total student body.
9 99 = 891 students
Since the ratio of teachers to students is 1
to 11,
11
891
= 81 Ans.
18. A juice company sells its product in either
48 oz or 32 oz sizes. The 48 oz. size is
$3.90 or
8
1
8 cents per ounce. The price
per ounce for the smaller size should be
25% more.
32
325
4
5
8
65
4
1
1
8
1
8 = = cents per
ounce. But there are 32 ounces in the
smaller size so the cost is $3.25. Ans.
19. A stack of 45 dimes is divided into three
piles in the ratio
4
1
:
3
1
:
6
1
As long as we multiply each part of the
ratio by the same number, we get an
equivalent ratio. (For example, 1:2 is the
same as 4:8.) Lets multiply all three parts
by 12 to get the equivalent ratio of 2:4:3.
(Notice 4 is twice 2 and 1/3 was twice 1/6.
The relationships are maintained.) Now
we know:
2x + 4x + 3x = 45
9x = 45 and x = 5. So the amounts of
dimes were 10, 20 and 15, with 10 dimes
being the least amount in a pile. 10 Ans.
20. Rectangle ABCD is folded in half to form
rectangle AEFD, which is then folded in
half to form rectangle AGHD. The
perimeter of AGHD is 23 and the
perimeter of ABCD is 47.
Each time were folding in half on the
vertical so AB = 4 AG
Let x = AG and y = AD.
Then 2x + 2y = 23.
8x + 2y = 47
6x = 47 23 = 24
x = 4
8 + 2y = 23
2y = 15
y = 7
2
1
The dimensions of ABCD are 16 and 7
2
1
.
16 7
2
1
= 16
2
15
= 120 Ans.
21. How many positive three-digit integers with
each digit greater than 4 are divisible by
6? This means that we start at 555 and
work up. The first integer larger than 555
that is divisible by 6 is 558. Starting from
there we have 558, 576, 588. The first
integer larger than 655 that is divisible by 6
is 660. Starting from there we have 666,
678, 696. The first integer larger than 755
that is divisible by 6 is 756. Starting from
there we have 756, 768, 786, 798. The
first integer larger than 855 that is divisible
by 6 is 858. Starting from there we have
858, 876, 888. Finally, the first integer
larger than 955 that is divisible by 6 is 960.
Starting from there we have 966, 978, 996.
(4 3) + (1 4) = 12 + 4 = 16 Ans.
22. The sum of four positive integers that form
an arithmetic sequence is 46. An
arithmetic sequence means that two
consecutive terms differ by the same
amount.
x + x + y + x + 2y + x + 3y = 46
4x + 6y = 46
2x + 3y = 23
What combinations of x and y fulfill this
equation?
If x = 1, 3y = 21 and y = 7.
1 + 8 + 15 + 22 = 46
Thats one.
If x = 2, 3y = 19. y wont be an integer so
the terms wont be integers either.
Scratch that.
If x = 3, 3y = 17. Scratch that.
If x = 4, 3y = 15 and y = 5
4 + 9 + 14 + 19 = 46
Thats two.
If x = 5, 3y = 13. Scratch that.
If x = 6, 3y = 11. Scratch that.
If x = 7, 3y = 9 and y = 3.
7 + 10 + 13 + 16 = 46
Thats three.
If x = 8, 3y = 7. Scratch that.
If x = 9, 3y = 5. Scratch that.
If x = 10, 3y = 3 and y = 1.
10 + 11 + 12 + 13 = 46
Thats four.
If x = 11, 3y = 1 and we cant go any
further.
So whats the greatest possible third term?
1 + 8 + 15 + 22 = 46
4 + 9 + 14 + 19 = 46
7 + 10 + 13 + 16 = 46
10 + 11 + 12+ 13 = 46
Looks like its 15. Ans.
23. The number of school days missed by Mr.
Clarks students is shown in the histogram.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
0 1 2 3 4 5
# of Days of School Missed
#

o
f

S
t
u
d
e
n
t
s
(Its fun to play with Excel Charts!)
The total number of days missed by the
students is:
(3 0) + ( 1 1) + ( 4 2) + (1 3) + (1
4) + (5 5) =
0 + 1 + 8 + 3 + 4 + 25 = 41
There are 15 students so the mean is:
15
41
The median is the middle value which
would be the 8
th
value. That is 2.
15
11
15
30
15
41
2
15
41
= = Ans.
24. A bag has red and green marbles. The
ratio of red marbles to green marbles in
the bag is 4:7. Julia adds 90 red marbles
and 36 green marbles which makes the
probability of selecting a red marble from
the bag on a random draw equal to
2
1
.
4x + 90 = 7x + 36
3x = 54
x = 18
4x + 7x + 126 = 11x + 126 =
(11 18) + 126 = 198 + 126 =
324. Ans.
25. What is the area of the region bounded by
the three lines with equations 2x + y = 8,
2x 5y = 20 and x + y = 10? First, lets
determine where they intersect.
2x + y = 8
2x 5y = 20
6y = -12
y = -2
2x 2 = 8
2x = 10
x = 5
Therefore 2x + y = 8 and 2x 5y = 20
intersect at the point (5, -2).
2x + y = 8
x + y = 10
x = -2
-2 + y = 10
y = 12
Therefore, 2x + y = 8 and x + y = 10
intersect at the point (-2, 12).
2x 5y = 20
x + y = 10
5x + 5y = 50
7x = 70
x = 10
10 + y = 10
y = 0
Therefore, 2x 5y = 20 and x + y = 10
intersect at the point (10, 0). Now lets
draw the area bounded by those points.
The line shown in blue is x + y = 10. The
line shown in red is 2x 5y = 20. The line
shown in green is 2x + y = 8. To
determine the area, break up the region
into the triangle below the x-axis and the
triangle above. For the triangle below the
x-axis we know that the height is 2 (since
the y-coordinate is -2). We know one of
the points on the x-axis is (10, 0). Whats
the other one? Thats where 2x + y = 8
crosses the x axis, i.e., where y = 0.
When y = 0, 2x = 8 and x = 4 so the
coordinate is (4, 0). This makes the base
of that triangle below the x-axis of size 6.
Therefore, the area of the triangle is
2
1

6 2 = 6. To determine the area of the
larger triangle draw a perpendicular from
(-2, 12) in grey down to the x-axis at
the point (-2, 0). Now we can find the area
of the triangle whose vertices are (-2, 12),
(-2, 0) and (10, 0). That area is
2
1
12 12 = 72. We must subtract from
that the area of the triangle whose vertices
are (-2, 12), (-2, 0) and (4, 0). That area
is:
2
1
12 6 = 36. Thus, the area of the
triangle whose vertices are (4, 0), (10, 0)
and (-2, 12) is 72 36 = 36.
36 + 6 = 42 Ans.
26. 28 students took a test. The mean of
those tests was 72. Two other students
then took the test changing the mean of all
the tests to 73 points. The difference of
the two scores of these two other students
is 22.
We have 28 students and a mean of 72.
28 72 = 2016. With the addition of the
other two tests we now have 30 tests with
a mean of 73.
30 73 = 2190. The difference between
these two products is:
2190 2016 = 174
Thus, the two students who took the tests
after the other 28 got a total of 174 points
between the two of them. Let x be the
lower test score of those 2. Then:
x + x + 22 = 174
2x + 22 = 174
2x = 152
x = 76 Ans.
27. The shaded region consists of 16
congruent squares. Given that PQ = 6
cm, we must find the area of the entire
shaded region.
Let x be the size of one of the congruent
squares. Then,
(3x) + (3x) = 6
9x + 9x = 36
18x = 36
x = 2
Notice x is the area of one of the
congruent squares. There are 16 of them
so 16 2 = 32 Ans.
28. The Fibonacci sequence is the sequence
1, 1, 2, 3, 5 where each term is the sum
of the previous two terms. To find the
remainder when the 100
th
term is divided
by 4, lets look at a few more numbers:
1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144
Now lets see if there is a pattern for the
remainder when the number is divided by
4.
1, 1, 2, 3, 1, 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 1, 0
Uh-oh Im really glad theres a pattern
here because Im not allowed to use a
calculator!!!!
The pattern repeats every 6 terms.
100 6 = 16 with a remainder of 4. This
means the 4
th
entry of the 6 terms is our
answer. 3 Ans.
29. Square BCFE is inscribed in right triangle
AGD, as shown below.
AB = 28 units and CD = 58 units.
Let x be the length of a side of square
BCFE. Let a be the measure of <GEF and
b the measure of <EFG.
a + b = 90
<AEB must be 180 90 a = b
<EAB must be a so we have similar
triangles in triangle EFG and AEB.
Similarly, <CFD must be a and <CDF must
be b making triangle EGF and triangle
FCD similar. Therefore, all three triangles
are similar. Using triangles ABE and FCD
x
x 28
58
=
x = 58 28 = 1624, and we are finished
since we are trying to find the area of the
square, which is also x. 1624 Ans.
30. Segment AB has midpoint C, and segment
BC has midpoint D. Semi-circles are
constructed with diameters
AB
and
BC
to form the entire region
shown.
Segment CP splits the region into two
sections of equal area. Let AC be 2x and
CD be x. The area of the semicircle with
diameter AB is 2x. The area of the
semicircle with diameter CB is
2
2
x
. The
total area is
2
5
x. Half the area (i.e., the
two areas separated by segment CP) is
2
4
5
x
Half of the area of the semicircle with
diameter AB is x. Thus, half the area of
the entire region is just 25% more than
half of the area of the larger semicircle.
An angle of 90 gives us an area of x.
So we need 25% of 90 or an additional
22.5.
90 + 22.5 = 112.5 Ans.
TARGET ROUND
1. In the Reflecting Ball Game a ball can be
launched from points 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6.
When the ball hits a side of the rectangle it
bounces at a 90 angle back into the
playing field. The path of the ball ends
when it hits a corner point of the rectangle.
So where does it end?
The path starting at point 5 (shown in red)
goes through 5 squares. The path starting
at point 6 (shown in green) goes through
10 squares. The path starting at point 1 is
actually part of the path starting at point 6
so it doesnt need to be considered. The
path starting at point 2 (shown in blue and
then hitting the path starting at 5, changes
to red) goes through 12 squares. The path
going through point 3 (shown in orange)
goes through 3 squares.
The path going through point 4 (shown in
blue) goes through 9 squares. Looks like
12 squares is the max. Since each
diagonal is 2
2
, 12 2
2
= 24
2

33.941125.. 33.9 Ans.
2. The MATHCOUNTS International Airport
had 738,114 departures in 2001. These
were distributed uniformly throughout each
24-hour period. The mean number of
seconds between each departure is:
43 725 . 42
738114
60 60 24 365
~ ~

Ans.
3. Each soldier gets five ounces of protein
each day. An army of 600 soldiers has
enough provisions for five weeks. This is:
600 soldiers 35 days 5 ounces/day =
105,000 ounces of protein. If a soldier is
given 3 ounces of protein a day for 10
weeks or 70 days, thats a total of:
3 70 = 210 ounces of protein.
210
000 , 105
= 500 Ans.
4. In 1960, there were 450,000 cases of
measles reported in the U.S. In 1996,
there were 500 cases reported. The
numbers decrease linearly and we are
asked to find the number of cases of
measles in 1987. In 36 years (1996
1960), the number of cases of measles
was reduced by 449,500 (450,000 500).
36
500 , 449
27 = 337,125 is the number of
cases less in 1987.
450,000 337,125 = 112,875 Ans.
5. A rectangular 3 by 4 grid has horizontally
and vertically adjacent dots that are one
unit apart. We are asked to draw all the
different line segments.
The lengths of the red lines are 1, 2, and
3, respectively. The two blue lines go
through the unit square diagonals so their
lengths are
2
and 2
2
, respectively.
The three green lines are the hypotenuses
of triangles whose other sides are 1, 2,
and 2, 3 and 1, 3 giving us lengths of
5
,
13
, and
10
, respectively. There are
8 values. The median is the average of
the fourth and fifth value.
2
1.4. 2
2
2.8.
5
2.2.
13
3.6.
10
3.1
Putting these in order we have:
1,
2
, 2,
5
, 2
2
, 3,
10
,
13
Thus the median is:
~
+
2
2 2 5
2.53224 2.53 Ans.
6. A monument is made of rows of cube-
shaped bricks. The bottom row has 34
bricks, the next has 31 bricks, the next
above that has 28 bricks and so on such
that each row has three fewer bricks than
the row below it. The total number of
bricks used in the monument can make a
rectangular brick patio whose length is
seven times its width. If w = the width,
then the length is 7w. Thus, we are
looking for the sum of the bricks in the
monument to be equivalent to 7w.
Therefore, the sum of the bricks must
have 7 and a square as factors.
34 + 31 = 65
65 + 28 = 93
93 + 25 = 118
118 + 22 = 140 = 20 7
140 + 19 = 159
159 + 16 = 175 = 25 7
Thus, we have rows on the monument of
sizes, 34, 31, 28, 25, 22, 19 and 16 for a
total of 7 rows. 7 Ans.
7. Polya enters an elevator on the 6
th
floor.
She flips a fair coin five times to determine
her next five stops. If she flips heads
she goes up one floor and if she flips
tails she goes down one floor. We are
asked to determine the probability that
each of her next five stops is on the 7
th
floor or higher.
She will flip 5 times for a total of
5
2
= 32
different outcomes. Lets just see which
ones will work.
She must always start with heads so that
she can get onto the 7
th
floor so the first
flip must be H. The second flip cannot be
T because that would take her down to the
6
th
floor violating the game. So we have
HH. From there:
HHHHH (7,8,9,10,11)
HHHHT (7,8,9,10,9)
HHHTT (7,8,9,8,7)
HHHTH (7,8,9,8,9)
HHTHH (7,8,7,8,8)
HHTHT (7,8,7,8,9)
There are 6 possibilities.
16
3
32
6
= Ans.
8. There are two circles, one with a radius of
5 inches and the other with a radius of 2
inches. The two circles are tangent at
point P. Two bugs start crawling at the
same time from point P, one crawling
along the larger circle at 3 inches per
minute and the other crawling along the
smaller circle at
2.5 inches per minute. When do they
meet up again at point P?
The circumference of the larger circle is
10. The circumference of the smaller
circle is 4. The first bug crawling at 3
inches per minute takes
3
10
3
10
=
t
t
minutes to make a full revolution. The
second bug crawling at 2.5 inches per
minute takes
5
8
5
2
4
2
5
4
5 . 2
4
= = =
t
t
minutes to make a full revolution of the
smaller circle.
15
50
3
10
=
15
24
5
8
=
We need to find the LCM of 24 and 50.
2 | 24 50
2 | 12 25
2 | 6 25
3 | 3 25
5 | 1 25
5 | 1 5
| 1 1
2 2 2 3 5 5 =
8 3 25 = 600
Every
15
600
minutes they will meet up.
15
600
= 40 Ans.
TEAM ROUND
1. The perimeter of a rectangle is 56. The
ratio of its length to width is 4:3. Thus,
the length = 4x and the width = 3x.
4x + 3x + 4x + 3x = 56
14x = 56
x = 4
The length is 16 and the width is 12.
The diagonal seems to be part of a 12, 16,
20 right triangle. 20 Ans.
2. Five states are listed below but only 3
have their populations filled in.
State 1998 Population
Alabama 4,351,999
Delaware 743,603
Illinois ?
Nebraska ?
Texas 19,759,614
The population of Nebraska is less than
the population of Alabama and the
population of Alabama is less than the
population of Illinois. Using the first letter
of the state as a symbol for that states
population we can say:
N < A; N < T
A < I; A < T
D < A
D < T
What does all this tell us?
N and D are both less than A which is less
than I and T. That means A, or Alabama
is the median.
We are told that the median is
3,360,853.2 less than the mean, so
the mean is 4,351,999 + 3,360,853.2 =
7,712,852.2. If this is the mean of the
five populations, then the total of the
five populations is 5(7,712,852.2) =
38,564,261. If we now subtract out
the populations of Alabama, Delaware
and Texas, we will have the sum of
the populations of Illinois and
Nebraska. 38,564,261 (4,351,999 +
743,603 + 19,759,614) =
13,709,045 Ans.
3. The sum of the last four digits of Marians
phone number is 30. We are asked to find
how many such four-digit sequences there
are. First, lets just list the sets of 4 digits.
Then well worry about how many different
versions there are of each set.
9993; 9984; 9975; 9966 (18 +)
9885; 9876 (17 +)
9777 (16 +)
I think that does it using a 9.
8886; 8877
I think that does it using an 8.
And I think thats it.
To figure out the combinations:
If the sequence has 3 of the same digit
and only one different then there are 4
versions.
If there are two digits the same and the
other two are different then there are 12
versions.
If there are two sets of two digits then
there are 6 versions.
If there are 4 different digits there are 4! =
24 versions.
9993, 9777, 8886: 4
9984, 9975, 9885: 12
9966, 8877: 6
9876: 24
(4 3) + (12 3) + (6 2) + 24 =
12 + 36 + 12 + 24 = 48 + 36 = 84 Ans.
4. Let A = Angies age
Let J = Johns age
Let M = Michaels age
A + J = M
A is a prime number.
J and M are not prime.
J + M is a prime number.
A J is a prime number.
2
1
J + 1 is a prime number.
Angie is the only teenager and A > J.
Oh goody! This is so much fun. But lets
see what we can do here.
A is a teenager and her age is a prime
number. This helps. That means her age
could only be one of 13, 17, and 19. (After
all 11 is pre-teen isnt it?)
Lets set up a chart with the headings
A, J, M, J+M, A-J and J+1, in this
order. Above these lets write P, NP,
NP, P, P, P to remind us which have
to be prime and not prime. Lets start
with A = 13. Now we need to find
values for J that are not prime and that
will add to 13 to get M, which is also
not prime. Notice, J cant be 1, 4 or 6,
because they each create a prime
number when added to 13. But if J =
8, then M = 13 + 8 = 21 (not prime). J
+ M = 8 + 21 = 29 (prime), A J = 13
8 = 5 (prime) and J + 1 = 4 + 1 = 5
(prime). We just found our answer! J
= 8.
To be sure, you can exhaust all of the
possibilities for A = 13, 17 and 19. But
remember that J must be even (so
that J + 1 can be an integer) and J
must be a non-prime less than 13, so
your options are very limited.
8 Ans
5. Connie can wash 9 windows in one hour.
Rick can wash 7 windows in one hour.
Connie washes for one hour and then Rick
joins her. There are 57 windows. Since
Connie was doing it by herself for the first
hour she finished 9 windows.
57 9 = 48
Together Rick and Connie can wash 9 + 7
= 16 window per hour so it takes them 3
more hours to finish. So Rick has worked
3 hours. 3 Ans.
6. Coplanar points A, B, C, D and E are
arranged so that A, B and C are collinear
with B between A and C. Triangle ABD is
equilateral. Triangle BEC is isosceles with
congruent legs
BE
and
EC
. Points D
and E are on the same side of line AC.
The measure of <EBC is 30 degrees. The
areas of triangles ABD and BEC are equal.
We are asked to find the number of
degrees in the measure of <BDE.
Since triangle ABD is equilateral, the
measure of all angles within is 60. Thus
<ABD = 60.
<EBC = 30
This says that <DBE = 180 60 30 = 90
Drop a perpendicular from E to
segment BC and have it intersect BC
at F. Notice this cuts triangle BEC in
half and creates two 30-60-90
triangles out of triangle BEC. Rotate
the right half (triangle EFC) around F
until FC is on top of FB. Notice that
with the same pieces, we have
created a new triangle BEC that has
the same area as the old one, but is
also an equilateral triangle. If the new
triangle BEC and triangle ADB are
both equilateral and both have the
same area, then the sides of both
triangles are the same, so BD = BE
and triangle DBE is an isosceles, right
triangle. This means the measure of
angle BDE is 45 degrees. Ans.
7. When the digits in the number 2005 are
reversed we get the number 5002.
5002 = a b c where a, b, and c are
primes. Lets see what those primes are.
5002 = 2 2501 = 2 41 61
(This is when a calculator is very handy!)
The sum of the primes is:
2 + 41 + 61 = 104
We are now asked to find how many
other positive integers are the products of
exactly three distinct primes such that the
sum of the three distinct primes is 104.
Oh goody!
Theres one thing ya gotta do on these
exams. Know your primes!!!!
Lets list them up to 104.
2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37,
41, 43, 47, 53, 59, 61, 67, 71, 73, 79, 83,
89, 97, 101, 103
Thats a lot of combinations to go through
so lets see what we can do to lessen the
work. The sum of three primes must
equal 104 which is even. How do we get
even numbers when we are adding three
numbers together?
e + e + e
e + o + o
No other combination will do. The first is
obviously wrong since there is only one
even prime, 2. So, guess what? 2 must
be the first of the three primes.
104 2 = 102
So we are looking for two primes that add
up to 102. With the list above, that makes
this just a little bit easier!
3 + 99 No
5 + 97 Thats good
7 + 95 No
11 + 91 No
13 + 89 Thats good
17 + 85 No
19 + 83 Thats good
23 + 79 Thats good
29 + 73 Thats good
31 + 71 Thats good
37 + 65 No
41 + 61 Thats good but we already
knew that one.
43 + 59 Thats good
47 + 55 No
53 + 49 No. Weve reached the apex.
By this I mean that wed only find the ones
we listed before, just switched around,
e.g., 59 + 43 etc.
Now they didnt ask us for the integers
themselves, just how many so lets count
them up!
There are 7 not counting 2, 41, 61 again.
7 Ans.
8. Each of eight houses on a street is painted
brown, yellow or white. Each house is
painted only one color and each color is
used on at least one house. No two colors
are used to paint the same number of
houses. In how many ways could the
eight houses on the street be painted?
Heres an example (and at least I can
have fun using the fill property in Paint!)
What this boils down to, after all that, is
coming up with the different combinations
that sum up to 8 and then figuring out how
many versions of each there are. Since
each of the three numbers is distinct, there
will be 6 versions for each combination.
So lets list them and dont repeat the
numbers order wise (i.e., 1,2,5 and 2,5,1,
etc.):
1 + 2 + 5
1 + 3 + 4
2 + 3 cant work wed get 2, 3, 3
2 + 4 cant work wed get 2, 4, 2
I think were done with the combinations.
So there are 2 different combinations that
will each have 6 variations.
Y W B Y W B
1 2 5 1 3 4
1 5 2 1 4 3
2 1 5 3 1 4
2 5 1 3 4 1
5 2 1 4 1 3
5 1 2 4 3 1
But heres the tough part (you didnt
think you were done yet did you?)
Lets say we decided to paint one
house brown, two white and 5 yellow
like in the example. Well, how many
combinations of the 8 houses can we
do that to?
That would be 5,2,1 in our list above.
There are 8 ways to pick the house
that is the single color. i.e.,
! 1 ! 7
! 8
= 8
Now there are 7 houses left and we
have to pick 2 of the 7 for the second
color.
21
2
6 7
! 5 ! 2
! 7
=

=
That leaves the 5 houses left over, so
there are no choices to make. That is
8 21 = 168 combinations for 5,2,1.
There will be 168 combinations for
each of the options in the first list, so
this is 6 168 = 1008 combinations.
Now lets look at an option from the
second list such as 1,3,4. Again there
are 8 ways to choose the first house
leaving 7 to go. To choose the next 3
houses we get
=

=
2 3
5 6 7
! 4 ! 3
! 7
35
And there are 4 houses left over so
there are no choices.
8 35 = 280 combinations for the
1,3,4 option and for each of the
options in the right column. This is a
total of 280 6 = 1680 combinations.
1680 + 1008 = 2688 Ans.
9. Let line t by the line represented by
3x + 4y = 5
and let line p be the line perpendicular to
line t and containing the point (5, 5).
First place the equation into the standard y
= mx + b format.
3x + 4y = 5
4y = -3x + 5
y =
4
5
4
3
+ x
The slope, m, is
4
3

The slope of a line perpendicular to

another line is
m
1
.
3
4
4
3
1
4
3
1
= =
|
|
|
|
.
|

\
|

The equation for the perpendicular line will

be:
y =
3
4
x + b
The point (5,5) is on this line so we can
use that to figure out what b is.
5 =
3
4
5 + b
5 =
3
20
+ b
15 = 20 + 3b
3b = -5
b =
3
5

So the actual equation is

y =
3
4
x
3
5
Now we have to find the x-coordinate of
the point common to line t and line p.
y =
4
5
4
3
+ x
4
5
4
3
+ x =
3
4
x
3
5
3
5
4
5
4
3
3
4
+ = + x x
12
20
12
15
12
9
12
16
+ = + x x
12
35
12
25
= x
25x = 35
x =
5
7
25
35
= Ans.
10. In how many different ways can
15
2
be
represented as
b a
1 1
+ , if a and b are
positive integers with a b?
Clearly a = b = 15 works fine. Thats the
first way.
ab
b a
ab
a
ab
b
b a
+
= + = +
1 1
ab
b a +
=
15
2
2ab = 15(a + b) = 15a + 15b
2ab 15a = 15b
a(2b 15) = 15b
a =
15 2
15
b
b
and similarly
b =
15 2
15
a
a
What does this tell us?
We know that a and b are both positive
and the result must be positive.
Therefore, 2a-15 must be greater than 0.
So lets start with a = 8. Then
b =
( ) 15 8 2
8 15


= 120
a = 8 and b = 120 is certainly a good fit.
Try a = 9.
b =
( ) 3
135
15 9 2
9 15
=


= 45
a = 9 and b = 45 is the second solution.
Now try a = 10.
b =
( ) 5
150
15 10 2
10 15
=


= 30
a = 10 and b = 30 is the third solution.
Now try a = 11.
b =
( ) 7
165
15 11 2
11 15
=


No.
Try a = 12.
b =
( ) 9
180
15 12 2
12 15
=


= 20
a = 12 and b = 20 is the fourth solution.
Try a = 13.
b =
( ) 11
195
15 13 2
13 15
=


No.
Try a = 14.
b =
( ) 13
210
15 14 2
14 15
=


No.
But we do have:
a = 15 and b = 15 for the fifth solution.
There are no more because the equations
for a and b are similar, i.e., if a = 20, then
b = 12, etc.
5 Ans.