Solutions to EF Exam

Texas A&M High School Math Contest

24 October, 2010
1. 24 = 1 3 8 = 1 4 6 = 2 3 4 = 2 2 6. There are six 3-digit numbers that can be
formed with each of the rst three triples and three 3-digit numbers that can be formed with the
last triple, making a total of 21.
2. From the Angle Bisector Theorem,
AB
BC
=
3
8
, so BC must be an integer multiple of 8. If BC = 8,
points A, B, and C are collinear. Therefore, we must have BC = 16, AB = 6, and AC = 11
giving us a perimeter of 33.
3. The polynomial can be factored into (x P)(x Q)(x R), where P, Q, and R are positive
integers. Then P +Q+R = a and PQR = 2010. The prime factorization of 2010 is 23567,
so the smallest possible value of a is 6 + 5 + 67 =78.
4. (a, a) = a
1
a
, so B =
_
a, a
1
a
_
= a
1
a
1
a
=
a
3
2a
a
2
1
. (a, B) is undened when
B = 0, which occurs when a = 0 (not possible) or a =

2.
5. Multiplying Equation 1 by 7 and adding to Equation 2 yields 6x+10y +8z = 0. Multiplying
this equation by
a
6
and adding to Equation 3 yields
_
b +
10
6
a
_
y +
_
c +
8
6
a
_
z = 0. For the
system to have an innite number of solutions, b+
10
6
a = 0 and c+
8
6
a = 0, so b =
10
6
a, c =
8
6
a,
and
b +c
a
=
10
6

8
6
= 3.
6. Draw line segments from P perpendicular to AB and BC (see gure below). Using Pythagoras
Theorem on the appropriate right triangles, we have q
2
+s
2
= 16, r
2
+s
2
= 9, and r
2
+t
2
= 10.
Adding the rst and third equations, then subtracting the second equation yields q
2
+ t
2
= 17,
so PD =

17.
7. For angles N and M between 180

and 180

,cos(N) + sin(M) = 2 if and only if N = 0

and
M = 90

. Therefore, we must have 2AB = 0 and A+B = 90, which occurs when A = 30

and
B = 60

. Therefore, ABC is a 30/60/90 right triangle with hypotenuse AB = 4, so BC = 2.

8.
tan 75

1
tan 75

+ 1
=
tan 75

tan 45

1 + tan75

tan 45

= tan(75

45

) = tan(30

) =

3
3
.
1
9. Let A be the starting position of the frog, and let P, Q, and B be the frogs position after each
respective jump. Create a coordinate system with P at (0, 0), Q at (1, 0), A at (cos , sin ), and
B at (1 + cos , sin ), with 0 and 0 2 (See gure below).
If = 0, the condition (that B is within 1 unit of A) holds for all . If = , the condition
holds only when = . For 0 < < , the distance from A to B is exactly one if and only if
= or = , and the distance is less than one if and only if < < . The probability the
condition holds is the fraction of the rectangle [0, ] [0, 2] in the - plane with < < ,
which is
1
4
.
10. For each element s S, the corresponding values of p(s) and q(p(s)) are shown below:
s 1 2 3 4 5 6
p(s) 4 5 1 2 3 6
q(p(s)) 6 3 1 4 5 2
Therefore, the composite permutation is (1623).
11. p(1) = 4, p(4) = 2, p(2) = 5, p(5) = 3, p(3) = 1, and p(6) = 6. Therefore, p
1
(1) = 3, p
1
(3) =
5, etc, so p
1
= (13524).
12. Let P(x) = (xh
1
)
2
k
2
1
and Q(x) = (xh
2
)
2
k
2
2
. Then P(Q(x)) has zeros when Q(x) = h
1
k
1
.
The solutions to each equation are equidistant from h
2
, so h
2
= 19. Now Q(15) Q(17) =
(16 k
2
2
) (4 k
2
2
) = 12 and Q(15) Q(17) = 2k
1
, so k
1
= 6. Similarly, the solutions
to Q(P(x)) = 0, P(x) = h
2
k
2
are equidistant from h
1
, so h
1
= 54. P(49) P(51) =
(25 k
2
1
) (9 k
2
1
) = 16 and P(49) P(51) = 2k
2
, so k
2
= 8. Therefore, the sum of the
minimum values of P and Q is 6
2
8
2
= 100.
13. First note that if N mod 7 = 1, then 2N mod 7 = 2, 4N mod 7 = 4, and 8N mod 7 = 1, which
means {2
n
mod 7} = {1, 2, 4, 1, 2, 4, }. Similarly, {n
2
mod 7} = {1, 4, 2, 2, 4, 1, 0, }
since (n + 7)
2
mod 7 = n
2
mod 7. It is therefore sucient to check the values 1 through 21 by
subtracting the above sequences. Fifteen values are nonzero (including ten of the rst fteen),
and since 2010 = 21 95 + 15, there are 95 15 + 10 = 1435 required values.
2
14. f(x) =
1 x
50
1 x
+
1
1 x
. The rst fraction (call it f
1
(x)) reduces to a 49th-degree polynomial,
so f
(50)
1
(0) = 0. It can easily be shown that
d
n
dx
n
_
1
1 x
_
=
n!
(1 x)
n+1
, so f
(50)
(0) = 50!
(Alternate solution: the Maclaurin series for f is

n=0
x
n+50
, so
f
(50)
(0)
50!
= 1)
15. The tangent line at (a, b) has slope
4a
9b
, so the line normal to the ellipse at point (a, b) has
slope
9b
4a
and equation y = b +
9b
4a
(x a). This line has y-intercept
5
4
b. Since b is positive, the
intercept lies outside the ellipse when
5
4
b < 2, or b >
8
5
. By the range of the ellipse, b 2,
but the normal line at b = 2 is vertical and has y-intercept (0, 2) on the ellipse. Therefore,
(y
1
, y
2
) =
_
8
5
, 2
_
.
16. The conditions imply that the distance around the ellipse is equal to the length of one period
of the curve. Parametrize the ellipse as x = 3 cos t, y = 4 sin t. Then the distance around =

2
0
_
9 sin
2
t + 16 cos
2
t dt =

6
0
_
1 +
c
2
9
cos
2
_
x
3
_
dx. Let t =
x
3
in the second integral. Then

2
0
_
9 sin
2
t + 16 cos
2
t dt =

2
0
_
9 +c
2
cos
2
t dt =

2
0
_
9 sin
2
t + (9 +c
2
) cos
2
t dt, which is
an increasing function when c > 0. Therefore, to have equality, we must have 9 + c
2
= 16, or
c =

7.
17. Rewrite the sum as

n=1
2
(nn)
+

n=1
2
(n+n)
. Since
_
m +
1
2
_
2
= m
2
+m+
1
4
, n = n+1
if and only if n = m
2
+m. Therefore, if n = m
2
+m, n+1+n+1 = n+n+1 and n+1n+1 =
nn+1. Further, (m
2
+m+1)+m
2
+m+1 = m
2
+2m+2, (m
2
+m)+m
2
+m = m
2
+2m
and (m
2
+ m + 1) m
2
+ m + 1 = (m
2
+ m) m
2
+ m = m
2
. Therefore the sums can be
rewritten as
_

n=0
2
n
+

m=1
2
m
2
_
+
_

n=1
2
n

m=1
2
m
2
_
(this pattern is easy to observe
by listing the values of n and n). The second and fourth series are convergent and therefore
cancel, while the rst and third are geometric series which sum to
1
1
1
2
+
1
2
1
1
2
= 2 + 1 = 3.
3