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Problem 1
Let ,, and all exceed 1, and let be a positive number such that log = 24,
log = 40, and log = 12. Find log
Solutions 1
The logarithmic notation doesn't tell us much, so we'll first convert everything to the
equivalent exponential expressions.
Solution 2
Therefore, .
Hence, .
Problem 2
Adding these together, we find that the sum is equal to , of which the minimum value
is attained when .
Problem 3
Solution
A machine shop cutting tool is in the shape of a notched circle, as shown. The radius of the
circle is cm, the length of is 6 cm, and that of is 2 cm. The angle is a
right angle. Find the square of the distance (in centimeters) from to the center of the circle.
Solution 1
Because we are given a right angle, we look for ways to apply the Pythagorean Theorem. Let
the foot of the perpendicular from to be and let the foot of the perpendicular
from to the line be . Let and . We're trying to find .
Problem 5
Suppose that the sum of the squares of two complex numbers and is and the sum of
the cubes is . What is the largest real value that can have?
Solution
Solution 1
Because we are only left with and , substitution won't be too bad. Let
and .
We get and
Because we want the largest possible , let's find an expression for in terms of .
Solution 2
Because we are looking for a value of that is real, we know that , and thus
.
Expanding will give two equations, since the real and imaginary parts
must match up.
Now, evaluating the real part of , which equals (ignoring the odd
powers of , since they would not result in something in the form of ):
Solution 3
Start by assuming x and y were roots of some polynomial of the form So then
2 7
and Substituting = 2 we arrive at the polynomial
From rational root theorem we find the roots to be Since
is the sum of the roots and is maximized when b is -4, the answer is
Problem 6
Solution
Solution 1
First, we try to find a relationship between the numbers we're provided with and . We
realize that and both and are greater or less than by .
Applying the Binomial Theorem, half of our terms cancel out and we are left with
. We realize that all of these terms are divisible by
except the final term.
Problem 7
Twenty five of King Arthur's knights are seated at their customary round table. Three of them
are chosen - all choices being equally likely - and are sent of to slay a troublesome dragon.
Let be the probability that at least two of the three had been sitting next to each other. If
is written as a fraction in lowest terms, what is the sum of the numerator and the
denominator?
Solution
Solution 1
We can use Complementary counting by finding the probability that none are sitting next to
each other and subtracting it from .
Imagine the other (indistinguishable) people are already seated, and fixed into place.
There are places to place , followed by places to place , and places to place
after and . Hence, there are ways to place in between these people
with restrictions.
Without restrictions, there are places to place , followed by places to place , and
places to place after and . Hence, there are ways to place in
between these people without restrictions.
Solution 2
However, this overcounts the instances in which the trio sits together; when all three knights
sit together, then two of the pairs from the previous case are counted. However, we only want
to count this as one case, so we need to subtract the number of instances in which the trio sits
together (as a single entity). There are ways to determine their order, and there are
configurations.
Solution 3
Number the knights around the table 1-25. There are two possibilities: All three sit next to
each other, or two sit next to each other and one is not sitting next to the other two.
Case 1: All three sit next to each other. In this case, you are picking , ,
... . This makes combinations.
Case 2: Like above, there are ways to pick the pair of knights sitting next to each other.
Once a pair is picked, you cannot pick either of the two adjacent knights. (i.e. if you pick
, you may not pick 4 or 7). Thus, there are ways to pick the third knight,
for a total of combinations.
Thus, you have a total of allowable ways to pick the knights. The
Solution 4
Pick an arbitrary spot for the first knight. Then pick spots for the next two knights in order.
Case 1: The second knight sits next to the first knight. There are 2 possible places for this out
of 24, so the probability of this is . We do not need to consider the third knight.
Case 2: The second knight sits two spaces from the first knight. There are 2 possible places
for this out of 24, so the probability is . Then there are 3 places out of a remaining 23 for
the third knight to sit, so the total probability for this case is
Case 3: The second knight sits 3 or more spaces from the first knight. There are 20 possible
places for this out of 24, so the probability is . Then there are four places to put the last
Problem 8
Solution
Problem 9
Solution
Solution 1
Solution 2
This results in .
Solution 3
answer is .
Problem 10
Solution
Suppose the two identical digits are both one. Since the thousands digits must be one, the
other one can be in only one of three digits,
Because the number must have exactly two identical digits, , , and .
Hence, there are numbers of this form.
Suppose the two identical digits are not one. Therefore, consider the following possibilities,
Problem 11
The solid shown has a square base of side length . The upper edge is parallel to the base and
has length . All other edges have length . Given that , what is the volume of the
solid?
Solution
Solution 1
First, we find the height of the figure by drawing a perpendicular from the midpoint of
to . The hypotenuse of the triangle is the median of equilateral triangle , and one of
the legs is . We apply the Pythagorean Theorem to find that the height is equal to .
Next, we complete the figure into a triangular prism, and find the volume, which is
Now, we subtract off the two extra pyramids that we included, whose combined volume is
Solution 2
Extend and to meet at , and and to meet at . Now, we have a regular
tetrahedron , which has twice the volume of our original solid. This tetrahedron has
side length . Using the formula for the volume of a regular tetrahedron, which is
, where S is the side length of the tetrahedron, the volume of our original solid
is:
Problem 12
The length of diameter is a two digit integer. Reversing the digits gives the length of a
perpendicular chord . The distance from their intersection point to the center is a
positive rational number. Determine the length of .
Solution
Solution 1
Then the alternating sum of plus the alternating sum of with 7 included is 7. In
mathematical terms, . This is true because when we take an alternating sum,
each term of has the opposite sign of each corresponding term of .
Because there are of these pairs, the sum of all possible subsets of our given set is .
However, we forgot to include the subset that only contains , so our answer is
.
Solution 2
Consider a given subset of that contains 7; then there is a subset which contains all
the elements of except for 7, and only those. Since each element of has one element
fewer preceding it than it does in , their signs are opposite; so the sum of the alternating
sums of and is equal to 7. There are subsets containing 7, so our answer is
.
Problem 14
In the adjoining figure, two circles with radii and are drawn with their centers units
apart. A to , one of the points of intersection, a line is drawn in such a way that the chords
and have equal length. ( is the midpoint of ) Find the area of the square with
a side length of .
Solution
Solution 1
First, notice that if we reflect over we get . Since we know that is on circle and
is on circle , we can reflect circle over to get another circle (centered at a new
point with radius ) that intersects circle at . The rest is just finding lengths:
Solution 2
Draw additional lines as indicated. Note that since triangles and are isosceles,
the altitudes are also bisectors, so let .
Subtracting, .
Solution 3
Let . Angles , , and must add up to . By the Law of
Cosines, . Also, angles and equal and
. So we have
Taking the of both sides and simplifying using the cosine addition identity gives .
Solution 4
Observe that the length of the area where the two circles intersect can be found explicitly as
. Let , then the power of point with regards to the larger circle gives
Problem 15
The adjoining figure shows two intersecting chords in a circle, with on minor arc .
Suppose that the radius of the circle is , that , and that is bisected by .
Suppose further that is the only chord starting at which is bisected by . It follows
that the sine of the minor arc is a rational number. If this fraction is expressed as a
Solution
Let be any fixed point on circle and let be a chord of circle . The locus of
midpoints of the chord is a circle , with diameter . Generally, the circle can
intersect the chord at two points, one point, or they may not have a point of intersection.
By the problem condition, however, the circle is tangent to BC at point N.
. Thus, .
Notice that the distance equals (Where
is the radius of circle P). Evaluating this,
. It follows that
, resulting in an answer of .