𝑥 4 − 84𝑥 2 + 1768 𝑥 2 − 41

=
𝑥 4 − 84𝑥 2 + 1760 𝑥 2 − 43
Solutions to the above equation are in the form 𝑥 = ±𝑎√𝑏 and 𝑥 = ±𝑐√𝑑, where 𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐, and 𝑑 are
positive integers, 𝑏 ≠ 𝑑, and 𝑏 and 𝑑 are contain no factors which are perfect squares (except for 1). Find
𝑎 + 𝑏 + 𝑐 + 𝑑.
Solution 1 (Bashy):
(𝑥 2 − 42)2 + 4 𝑥 2 − 41
=
(𝑥 2 − 42)2 − 4 𝑥 2 − 43
8 2
1+ =1+ 2
(𝑥 2 2
− 42) − 4 𝑥 − 43
8 2 8
= =
(𝑥 2 − 42)2 − 4 𝑥 2 − 43 4(𝑥 2 − 43)

(𝑥 2 − 42)2 − 4 = 4(𝑥 2 − 43)

𝑥 4 − 88𝑥 2 + 1932 = 0
By making the substitution 𝑥 2 = 𝑦 we obtain the following:

𝑦 2 − 88𝑦 + 1932 = 0
By using the quadratic formula, we get

88 ± √(−88)2 − 4(1)(1932) 88 ± 4
𝑦= = = 42, 46
2 2
𝑦 = 𝑥 2 = 42, 46, therefore 𝑥 = ±√42, ±√46. 𝑎 = 1, 𝑏 = 42, 𝑐 = 1, 𝑑 = 46. 𝑎 + 𝑏 + 𝑐 + 𝑑 = 𝟗𝟎
Solution 2 (Non-bashy):

(𝑥 2 − 42)2 + 4 𝑥 2 − 41
=
(𝑥 2 − 42)2 − 4 𝑥 2 − 43
By the Rule of Componendo et Dividendo,
𝑎 𝑐 𝑎+𝑏 𝑐+𝑑
Given that = , then = .
𝑏 𝑑 𝑎−𝑏 𝑐−𝑑
Applying this to the factored equation, we get:

((𝑥 2 − 42)2 + 4) + ((𝑥 2 − 42)2 − 4) ((𝑥 2 − 41) + (𝑥 2 − 43))

=
((𝑥 2 − 42)2 + 4) − ((𝑥 2 − 42)2 − 4)) ((𝑥 2 − 41) − (𝑥 2 − 43))

2(𝑥 2 − 42)2 2𝑥 2 − 84
=
8 2
(𝑥 2 − 42)2
= 𝑥 2 − 42
4
(𝑥 2 − 42)2 − 4(𝑥 2 − 42) = 0
 (𝑥 2 − 42)(𝑥 2 − 42 − 4) = (𝑥 2 − 42)(𝑥 2 − 46) = 0

Therefore, 𝑥 2 = 42 or 𝑥 2 = 46. 𝑥 = ±√42, ±√46. 𝑎 = 1, 𝑏 = 42, 𝑐 = 1, 𝑑 = 46. 𝑎 + 𝑏 + 𝑐 + 𝑑 = 𝟗𝟎

Find the area of the convex quadrilateral determined by the points (0,12), (0,16), (16,0), and (4,16).

A. 12 B. 16 C. 24 D. 32 E. 64
Solution:
Circumscribe a square about the figure with vertices (0,0), (0,16), (16,16), and (16,0). The area of the
given quadrilateral can be found by subtracting the area of the triangles with vertices (0,0), (0,12), (16,0)
and (4,16), (16, 16), (16,0) from the area of the circumscribed square. This area is:
1
162 − 2 ( ∗ 12 ∗ 16) = 256 − 12 ∗ 16 = 𝟔𝟒
2
Triangle 𝐴𝐵𝐶 has side lengths 𝐴𝐵 = 13, 𝐵𝐶 = 14, and 𝐴𝐶 = 15. Point 𝑃 is on 𝐵𝐶 such that ∠𝐴𝑃𝐵 =
∠𝐴𝑃𝐶. Find 𝐴𝑃.
Solution:
Since ∠𝐴𝑃𝐵 and ∠𝐴𝑃𝐶 are supplementary and equal, it is obvious that ∠𝐴𝑃𝐵 = ∠𝐴𝑃𝐶 = 90°. Let 𝑥 =
𝐵𝑃 and 𝑦 = 𝐴𝑃 . Therefore, we have 14 − 𝑥 = 𝑃𝐶. Since 𝐴𝑃𝐵 and 𝐴𝑃𝐶 are right triangles with a
common side of 𝑦, we apply the Pythagorean Theorem on both triangles.
2 2 2
(𝐴𝑃) + (𝐵𝑃) = (𝐴𝐵)

𝑦 2 + 𝑥 2 = (13)2 = 169

𝑦 2 = 169 − 𝑥 2
Similarly,
2 2 2
(𝐴𝑃) + (𝑃𝐶) = (𝐴𝐶)

𝑦 2 + (14 − 𝑥)2 = (15)2 = 225

𝑦 2 = 225 − (14 − 𝑥)2

169 − 𝑥 2 = 225 − (14 − 𝑥)2

169 − 𝑥 2 = 225 − 196 + 28𝑥 − 𝑥 2

28𝑥 = 140
𝑥=5

𝑦 2 = 169 − 52 = 144

𝑦 = 𝐴𝑃 = 𝟏𝟐
Squares 𝐴𝐵𝐶𝐷 and 𝐵𝐸𝐹𝐺 share a common side 𝐵𝐶. Points 𝐴, 𝐵, and 𝐺 are collinear. 𝐴𝐷= 5 and 𝐹𝐺= 3.
Line segment 𝐷𝐺 is drawn and intersects 𝐵𝐶 at a point 𝐾. The area of quadrilateral 𝐾𝐸𝐹𝐺 can be
𝑎
expressed in the form 𝑏 , where 𝑎 and 𝑏 are positive coprime integers. Find 𝑎 + 𝑏.

Solution:
𝐴𝐷 𝐵𝐾 5 𝐵𝐾
Triangles 𝐴𝐷𝐺 and 𝐾𝐺𝐵 are similar, so we can use a ratio of sides to find 𝐵𝐾. 𝐴𝐺 = 𝐵𝐺 , so 8 = 3
. 𝐵𝐾 =
ℎ∗(𝑏1+𝑏2)
15/8, so EK = 9/8. KEFG is a quadrilateral, so its area can be found by using the formula .
2
9
3∗( +3) 99
8
Area = 2
= 16, 𝑎 = 99, 𝑏 = 16, 𝑎 + 𝑏 = 𝟏𝟏𝟓 .
Square ABCD has a side length of 10, with center O. Circle O is inscribed in ABCD, and four smaller,
congruent circles are on the interior of the circle. Each smaller circle is tangent to O at one point and to
ABCD at two points. Diagonal D intersects two of the smaller circles at points N and M. not equal to the
points of tangency to the larger circle. Find the length of NM.
25
A) 40√2 – 20 B) 2
C) 35 – 20√2 D) 70 – 40√2 E) 10√2

Solution:
Call the radius of each of the small circles 𝑟. We wish to find 10 + 4𝑟. Let the center of the smaller circle
tangent to 𝑂 and sides 𝐴𝐵 and 𝐴𝐷 be 𝐾.

𝑂𝐴 = 5√2, or half the diagonal of the square. Construct square 𝐴𝐸𝐾𝐹 with side length 𝑟. The diagonal of
this square is 𝑟√2, and the length of 𝑂𝐴 can be expressed as 𝑂𝐴 = 𝑂𝐾 + 𝐾𝐴 = (5 + 𝑟) + 𝑟√2 = 5√2.

Solving for 𝑟 gives 𝑟 = 15 − 10√2. 10 + 4𝑟 = 10 + 4(15 − 10√2) = 𝟕𝟎 − 𝟒𝟎√𝟐 .

Let the total length of the interval for which |𝑥 2 − 3|𝑥| − 4| < 4 equal 𝐾. If 𝐾 can be written in the form
𝑏
𝑎 + √ , where 𝑏 and 𝑐 are coprime and neither 𝑏 nor 𝑐 are divisible by the square of any integer, find 𝑎 +
𝑐
𝑏 − 𝑐.

Solution:
We note that for if the absolute value of a number 𝑥 is less than 𝑦, then −𝑦 < 𝑥 < 𝑦. Using this, we can
transform the given inequality to:

−4 < 𝑥 2 − 3|𝑥| − 4 < 4

Adding 4 to all parts of the inequality:

0 < 𝑥 2 − 3|𝑥| < 8

Now, we must tackle the absolute value on the 𝑥 term. Consider two cases, 𝑥 > 0 and 𝑥 < 0. In the first
case, the |𝑥| will become 𝑥, and in the second case, the |𝑥| will become – 𝑥.

Case 1 Case 2
0 < 𝑥 2 − 3𝑥 < 8 0 < 𝑥 2 + 3𝑥 < 8
3 2 9 3 2 9
0 < (𝑥 − 2) − 4 < 8 0 < (𝑥 + 2) − 4 < 8
9 3 2 41 9 3 2 41
4
< (𝑥 − 2) < 4 4
< (𝑥 + 2) < 4
3 3 √41 3 3 √41
2
<𝑥−2< 2 2
< − (𝑥 + 2) < 2
√𝟒𝟏+𝟑 41 3 3
𝟑<𝒙< 𝟐 −√2 < 𝑥 + 2 < −2
(√𝟒𝟏+𝟑)
− 𝟐
< 𝒙 < −𝟑

2
Note that we take the negative square root of the (𝑥 + 32) term because 𝑥 < 0, and taking the positive
square root would lead to an interval that contains 𝑥 values greater than 0, a contradiction.
The intervals for both cases are equal in length, so to find the length of the interval:
√41+3
2∗( 2
− 3) = √41 − 3

So, 𝑎 = −3, 𝑏 = 41, 𝑐 = 1, and 𝑎 + 𝑏 − 𝑐 = 𝟑𝟕 .

 1 1 1 1
Find the value of √2 + √4 + √16 + √256 +. . .

√3+√5 √10+√2 1 5+√3

A) 4
B) 4
C) 2
D) 1 E) 4

Solution:
Rewrite the expression as

1 √1 1 1
+ 2
+ √ 4 + √ 8 +. . .
2 2 2 2
√

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Allow 𝑥 = √2 + √22 + √24 + √28 +. . . and 𝑦 = √22 + √24 + √28 + √216 . . .

1
Therefore, 𝑥 = √2 + 𝑦. Now, to calculate 𝑦, multiply the entire expression by 2.

1 √1 1 1 4 1 1 1
2𝑦 = 2 ∗ 2
+ 4
+ √ 8 + √ 16 . . . → 2𝑦 = 2
+ 4√ 4 + √ 8 + √ 16 . . .
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
√ √

4 √16 1 1
2𝑦 = 2
+ 4
+ 16√ 8 + √ 16 . . . → 2𝑦 = √1 + √1 + √1 + √1. . .
2 2 2 2
√
2𝑦 = √1 + 2𝑦 → 4𝑦 2 = 1 + 2𝑦 → 4𝑦 2 − 2𝑦 − 1 = 0
1+√5
Using the quadratic formula on the above equation, 𝑦 = 4
. We choose the positive solution since 𝑦
obviously positive.

1 1 + √5 √3 + √5 √3 + √5 √𝟏𝟎 + √𝟐
𝑥=√ + = = =
2 4 4 2 𝟒
𝑃(𝑥) is a third degree monic polynomial which has a remainder of 3 when divided by 𝑥 − 1 and a
remainder of 5 when divided by 𝑥 + 1. The graph of 𝑃(𝑥) intersects the x-axis at 𝑥 = 2. If 𝑎 = 𝑃(4) and
𝑏 is the remainder of 𝑃(𝑥) when divided by 𝑥 − 6, find 𝑎 + 𝑏.
Solution:
The remainder of a polynomial divided by 𝑥 − 𝑎 is 𝑃(𝑎). To see why this is true, write 𝑃(𝑥) as follows:
𝑃(𝑥) = (𝑥 − 𝑎) ∗ 𝑓(𝑥) + 𝑟 where 𝑓(𝑥) is an unknown function and 𝑟 is the remainder. Plugging in 𝑎
into the equation for 𝑥 gives 𝑃(𝑎) = 𝑟. With this fact in mind, we proceed:

𝑃(1) = 3 and 𝑃(−1) = 5

It is given that 𝑃(2) = 0. Since 𝑃(𝑥) is monic, 𝑃(𝑥) = 𝑥 3 + 𝑎𝑥 2 + 𝑏𝑥 + 𝑐 for unknown constants
𝑎, 𝑏, and 𝑐.

𝑃(2) = 0 → 03 + 𝑎 ∗ 02 + 𝑏 ∗ 0 + 𝑐 = 2 → 𝒄 = 𝟐
𝑃(1) = 3 → 1 + 𝑎 + 𝑏 + 𝑐 = 3 → 𝒂 + 𝒃 = 𝟎
𝑃(−1) = 5 → −1 + 𝑎 − 𝑏 + 𝑐 = 5 → 𝒂 − 𝒃 = 𝟒

Solving for 𝑎, 𝑏, and 𝑐 gives 𝑎 = 2, 𝑏 = −2, and 𝑐 = 2, so 𝑷(𝒙) = 𝒙𝟑 + 𝟐𝒙𝟐 − 𝟐𝒙 + 𝟐.

We wish to find 𝑃(4) + 𝑃(6) = (43 + 2 ∗ 42 − 2 ∗ 4 + 2) + (63 + 2 ∗ 62 − 2 ∗ 6 + 2) = 𝟐𝟐𝟒 .