2009 - Appalachian State University

Comprehensive High School Math Contest

Exam with Solutions
Part 1: 25 multiple-choice questions - 1 hour and 10 minutes Each question
is:
4 points for a correct answer,
1 point for a blank answer, and
0 points for an incorrect answer.
Color in your answers on the scantron sheet.
Part 2: 3 short-answer questions - 15 minutes. Each question is worth a
possible 8 points. Write your answers on the answer sheet.
PART 1 - MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
1. If V and A are the volume and surface area of a cube with side length s, then which of
the following relationships hold between V and A?
(A) A = (6V )
2
3
(B) A =
1
6
V
2
3
(C) A = 6V
2
3
(D) A = 6V
3
2
(E) none of these
Solution: Since A = 6s
2
and V = s
3
, you can solve one equation for s, plug into the
other and see the correct solution.
2. If M = (3, 2) is the midpoint of the line segment that connects points A and B, and
A =
_
1
2
,
3
7
_
, then what are the coordinates of B?
(A)
_
13
2
,
31
7
_
(B)
_
11
2
,
31
7
_
(C)
_
13
2
,
25
7
_
(D)
_
11
2
,
25
7
_
(E) none of these
Solution: If B = (x, y), then
1
2
(1/2 + x) = 3 and
1
2
(3/7 + y) = 2. Solving these
equations gives x = 11/2 and y = 25/7.
3. If a > 0, then
_
a
3 4

a
3
_
a

a
can be reduced to which of the following?
(A) a (B)
8

a
9
(C) a
3
(D)
1
8

a
(E) none of these
Solution:
_
a
3 4

a
3
_
a

a
=
_
a
3
a
1
4
_1
2
_
a a
1
2
_1
3
=
_
a
13
4
_1
2
_
a
3
2
_1
3
=
a
13
8
a
1
2
= a
9
8
4. What is the smallest solution of the equation (x 7)(x + 1) + (x 7)(x 3) = 0?
(A) 7 (B) 3 (C) 1 (D) 1 (E) none of these
Solution: By factoring, we see (x7)(x+1) +(x7)(x3) = (x7)(x+1+x3) =
(x 7)(2x 2) = 0 So the solutions are 7 and 1.
5. Bob and Alice are making their own thermometers. Bob calls the freezing point of
water on his thermometer 40 degrees and his boiling point of water 300 degrees. Alice
calls the freezing point of water on her thermometer -10 degrees and the boiling point
120 degrees. What temperature on Alices thermometer is closest to a temperature of
140 on Bobs thermometer?
(A) 40 (B) 50 (C) 60 (D) 70 (E) none of these
Solution: The range between freezing and boiling for Bob is 260 degrees and for Al-
ice is 130. So for every increase of 2 degrees on Bobs thermometer, Alice increases 1
degree. A temperature of 140 is 100 above freezing for Bob so is 50 above freezing for
Alice. This means Alices thermometer reads 10 + 50 = 40 degrees.
6. How many factors of the number 7200 = 2
5
3
2
5
2
are perfect squares?
(A) 5 (B) 6 (C) 7 (D) 11 (E) none of these
Solution: A number is a perfect square if it has only even powers in its prime factor
decomposition. Therefore, 2
2
, 3
2
, 5
2
, 3
2
5
2
= 15
2
, 2
2
3
2
= 6
2
, 2
2
5
2
= 10
2
, 2
2
3
2
5
2
= 30
2
,
2
4
= 4
2
, 2
4
3
2
= 12
2
, 2
4
5
2
= 20
2
, 2
4
3
2
5
2
= 60
2
are the factors that are perfect squares so
there are 11.
7. How many subsets S of a set A = {4, 6, 8, 11, 16, 21} satisfy {4, 11} S A?
(A) 8 (B) 12 (C) 14 (D) 15 (E) none of these
Solution: Since each subset must contain 4 and 11, the number of subsets is the
number of subsets of the other 4 elements which is 2
4
= 16 (add the fourth row of
Pascals triangle 1 + 4 + 6 + 4 + 1 or there is 1 subset of 4 elements with no elements,
4 subsets with 1 element, 6 with 2 elements, 4 with 3 elements, and 1 with 4 elements
- add them up). We could also use the fact that the number of subsets of a set of size
n is 2
n
which would equal 2
4
= 16 in this case.
8. How many solutions to the equation sin(3x) =

2
2
lie in the interval [0, 2]?
(A) 0 (B) 1 (C) 2 (D) 4 (E) 6
Solution: If = 3x, then we are looking for solutions to sin =

2
2
in the interval
[0, 6]. There are 2 solutions on every interval of length 2, so there are 6 on the interval
of length 6.
9. A rational function R(x) is dened by R(x) =
Ax
2
Bx
2
C
where A, B, and C are not
zero. What is the product of all of the horizontal and vertical asymptotes of f(x)?
(A) 0 (B)
AB
C
(C)
AB
C
(D)
AC
B
2
(E) none of these
Solution: The horizontal asymptote is the ratio of the leading coecients
A
B
and the
vertical asymptotes are the zeros of the denominator or
_
C
B
. Therefore, the product
is
A
B

_
C
B

_
C
B
=
AC
B
2
.
10. The expression
x(x 5) + (x + 3)
(x 5)(x 1)
can be simplied to which of the following?
(A)
x 3
x 5
(B)
2x + 3
x 1
(C)
(x + 1)(x + 3)
(x 1)(x 5)
(D)
x + 3
x 5
(E)
2x 3
x 1
Solution:
x(x 5) + (x + 3)
(x 5)(x 1)
=
x
2
4x + 3
(x 5)(x 1)
=
(x 1)(x 3)
(x 5)(x 1)
=
x 3
x 5
.
11. What is the value of
_
10
2 log
10
6
log
10
(0.001 10
5
)
_
/
_
ln
4

e
3
_
(A) 6 (B) 32 (C) 54 (D) 96 (E) none of these
Solution: 10
2 log
10
6
= 10
log
10
36
= 36 and log
10
(0.001 10
5
) = log
10
100 = 2 and
ln
4

e
3
= ln e
3/4
= 3/4. The answer is (36 2)/(3/4) = 96.
12. Which of the following points is not on the rectangle which has the corner points
(0, 2), (8, 6), (6, 10) and(2, 6)?
(A)
_
3
4
,
19
8
_
(B)
_
7,
11
2
_
(C) (7, 8) (D) (6, 5) (E)
_
1,
9
2
_
Solution: The equations of the sides of the rectangle are y = 2x + 2, y =
1
2
x + 2,
y = 2x + 22, and y =
1
2
x + 7. Points A, B, and D satisfy the second equation and
point C satises the third equation. Point E would satisfy the rst equation if the
y-coordinate would be 4. You wouldnt have to compute the equation of each segment
with a good sketch and some reasoning about slope.
13. If cos =
3
7
, then tan could be
(I)
2

10
3
(II)
2

10
3
(III)
4
7
(IV)
4
7
(A) Only I (B) Only II (C) Only III and IV
(D) Only I and II (E) none of these
Solution: Since sin =

1 cos
2
, we have sin =
_
1
9
49
=
_
40
49
=

10
7
. Therefore, tan =
sin
cos
=
2

10/7
3/7
=
2

10
3
.
14. What is the area of the shaded region lies shown below if it lies inside a square of side
length 6?
(A) 36 5

3 (B) 36 3

13 (C) 33

3 (D) 27 (E) none of these

Solution: The entire square has area 36. If you connect the middle point on the bot-
tom edge with the point on the right edge, you get a two right triangles: one with sides
2, 3, and

13 by Pythagorean Theorem which has area 3 and the other with sides 1,

13, and

12 (also by Pythagorean Theorem) which has area

12
2
=

3. Thus, the
shaded area is 36 3

3.
15. If 1 and 4 are roots of the polynomial p(x) = x
3
Ax
2
+Bx+1, then what is the value
of A +B?
(A) 15/2 (B) 1/2 (C) 16 (D) 10 (E) none of these
Solution: First, note (x 1)(x 4) = x
2
5x + 4 and this polynomial divides p(x).
So if you divide p(x) = x
3
Ax
2
+Bx+1 by x
2
5x+4, you get a quotient of x+1/4
and to make the remainder 0, you nd (5 A) 1/4 = 0 and B 4 + 5/4 = 0. This
means A = 19/4 and B = 11/4 so A +B = 15/2.
16. Which two numbers between 70 and 90 are factors of 3
16
256?
(A) 71 and 73 (B) 77 and 85 (C) 75 and 87 (D) 74 and 88 (E) 83 and 87
Solution: By factoring a dierence of squares, you get 3
16
256 = (3
8
16)(3
8
+16) =
(3
4
4)(3
4
+ 4)(3
8
+ 16). Notice that 3
4
4 = 81 4 = 77 and 3
4
+ 4 = 81 + 4 = 85.
17. Find the fourth power of
_
4 +
_
4 +

4
(A) 24 + 8

6 (B) 24 + 4

6 (C) 32 (D) 16 + 8

2 (E) none of these

Solution:
_
_
4 +
_
4 +

4
_
4
=
__
4 +

6
_
4
=
_
4 +

6
_
2
= 16 + 8

6 + 6.
18. If x =
1 +

3 i
2
where i =

1, then what is x
2
x?
(A) 1 (B) 1

3 i (C)

3 i (D)

3 i
2
(E) none of these
Solution: x
2
x =
_
1 +

3 i
2
_
2

1 +

3 i
2
=
_
1 + 2

3 i 3
4
_

1
2

3 i
2
=

1
2
+

3 i
2

1
2

3 i
2
= 1.
19. Find the value of x that solves the following matrix equation (all operations are matrix
multiplication):
_
1 -3
2 6
__
4
-2
_
_
-1 2
_
_
1
x
_
=
_
-50
20
_
(A) -4 (B) -2 (C) -1 (D) 1 (E) none of these
Solution:
_
1 -3
2 6
__
4
-2
_
_
-1 2
_
_
1
x
_
=
_
10
-4
_
_
-1 2
_
_
1
x
_
=
=
_
-10 20
4 -8
__
1
x
_
=
_
-10+20x
4-8x
_
So 4 8x = 20 or x = 2.
20. A spherical balloon contains water that is 3 inches deep at the deepest point. If the
diameter of the balloon is 10 inches, what is the area of the top surface of the water?
(A) 3 (B) 19 (C) 21 (D) 23 (E) none of these
Solution:
The above gure shows that by using the Pythagorean Theorem, x
2
= 25 4 so
x =

21. The top surface is a circle with radius x, and thus, has area 21.
21. A fathers age equals the sum of the ages of his two sons, which are all two-digit num-
bers. One sons age has digits which are the reverse of those in the fathers age. Thirty-
nine years from now, the fathers age will have digits which are the reverse of those of
the second sons present age. What is the sum of the fathers and his sons current ages?
(A) 76 (B) 78 (C) 80 (D) 82 (E) none of these
Solution: Since the reverse of the fathers current age is a two-digit number, the sec-
ond digit cannot be 0. Let the digits of the fathers age be x and y. Then the fathers
age is 10x+y and the rst sons age is 10y +x and the second sons age is (fathers age
- rst sons age) = 10x+y(10y+x) = 10(xy)+(yx) = 10(xy1)+(10+yx)
(since the father is older than either son, we have y < x, y x < 0 so add 10
to make it between 0 and 9). Thirty-nine years from now, the fathers age will be
10x +y +(40 1) = 10(x +4) +y 1. Since this is the reverse of the second sons age,
we have (x + 4) = 10 +y x and y 1 = x y 1. Solving these two equations gives
x = 4 and y = 2 so currently the father is 42 and his two sons are 24 and 18. They
ages sum to 84.
22. If the vertical and horizontal distance between adjacent point is one unit, how many
square units is the area of the gure below?
(A) 19 (B) 39/2 (C) 20 (D) 41/2 (E) none of these
Solution: The area inside the entire 7x6 square is 42. The region outside the gure
consists of 5 triangles. The triangle in the upper left corner has area 1/2(5)(1) = 5/2.
The triangle in the upper right corner has the same area. The large triangle on the right
has area 1/2(5)(5). The triangles in the lower right and left corners have area 1/2(2)(1)
and 1/2(4)(2). Thus, the total area of the region is 42 2 5/2 25/2 1 4 =
42 45/2 = 39/2.
23. A briefcase has a combination lock consisting of 3 independent wheels and each wheel
has the integers 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 on it. You can form a 3-digit number by reading
the digits of the wheels from left to right, for example, if the rst wheel reads 3, the
second wheel reads 0 and the third wheel reads 5, the corresponding number is 305.
If the wheels are randomly set, what is the probability the 3-digit number is strictly
greater than 324?
(A) 47/216 (B) 59/216 (C) 77/216 (D) 91/216 (E) none of these
Solution: If the rst wheel reads 4 or 5, the number is larger than 324 and that
has probability 1/3. Assume the rst number is 3 (which has probability 1/6). Then
if the second number is 3, 4, or 5, the number is greater and that has probability
(1/6) (3/6) = 1/12. If the rst number is 3 and the second number is 2, then the third
number must be 5 and this has probability (1/6) (1/6) (1/6) = 1/216. Therefore,
the overall probability is 1/3 + 1/12 + 1/216 = 72/216 + 18/216 + 1/216 = 91/216.
24. Gus is stranded in the desert and must get to an oasis as fast as possible. There are 4
oases, labeled Oasis 1, Oasis 2, Oasis 3, Oasis 4 as shown in the gure below (not to
scale).
Gus has no water, but he has this amazing GPS device that can show him angles be-
tween any two points and he can measure all of the angles in the gure above. Based
on this information, which oasis is closest to Gus current position?
(A) Oasis 1 (B) Oasis 2 (C) Oasis 3 (D) Oasis 4 (E) cant be determined
Solution: In a triangle, the side opposite the longest angle is the longest side. Looking
at the triangle on the furthest right, this implies that Oasis 3 is closer than Oasis 4.
Moving to the middle triangle, we see that Oasis 2 is closer than Oasis 3, and nally,
the triangle on the left says Oasis 1 is closer than Oasis 2. Therefore, Oasis 1 is closest.
25. Find the constant b so that
2x + 4
x
3
8
=
a
x 2
+
bx +c
x
2
+ 2x + 4
(A) 1/12 (B) 7/12 (C) 2/3 (D) 2/3 (E) 1/12
Solution: Finding a common denominator of x
3
8, we get
2x + 4
x
3
8
=
a(x
2
+ 2x + 4)
x
3
8
+
(bx +c)(x 2)
x
3
8
and equating the x
2
, x and constant terms, gives the equations a+b = 0, 2a2b+c = 2,
and 4a 2c = 4. The rst equation gives a = b and plugging into the second gives
4a +c = 2. Subtracting this equation from the last one gives c = 2/3 so a = 2/3 and
b = 2/3.
Part 2
1. What are the exact x-values of the solutions to the equations
8
2y
2
8x+
49
3
= 2
2xy+2
y = x 3
Show your steps.
Solution: The rst equation becomes 2
3(2y
2
8x+
49
3
)
= 2
6y
2
24x+49
. Substituting x3
for y in the rst equation gives
2
6(x3)
2
24x+49
= 2
2x(x3)+2
so
2
6(x
2
6x+9)24x+49
= 2
2x
2
6x+2
.
If we equate exponents, we get
6x
2
+ 36x 54 24x + 49 = 2x
2
6x + 2
Multiplying out
6x
2
+ 12x 5 = 2x
2
6x + 2
Gathering like terms, we get the equation
8x
2
18x + 7 = 0
This can be factored as (4x 7)(2x 1) = 0 which has solutions x =
7
4
and x =
1
2
.
2. You are throwing darts at a square dartboard. The board has 4 identical circles whose
radii are one fourth of the length of one side of the square and that touch each other
tangentially as shown in the picture below. The bullseye is the region in the middle
marked with the 50. If you throw a dart that randomly lands inside the square board,
what is the probability it hits the bullseye?
Solution: If the square has side length of s, then the area of the square is s
2
. By
symmetry, the area of the bullseye is the same as one-fourth of the area outside all
circles and inside the entire square. The area of all 4 circles is 4(s/4)
2
= (s
2
)/4. So
the area of the bull is
1
4
_
s
2

s
2

4
_
so the probability of hitting the bull is the area of
the bullseye divided by the entire area of the square or
1
4
_
1

4
_
.
3. Determine all positive integer pairs of values of x and y such that x
2
+84 = y
2
. Justify
your answer.
Solution: First, note 84 = 2
2
3 7 = y
2
x
2
= (y + x)(y x). This means both
y x and y + x divide 84. Note that if y + x is even, then x and y are both even or
both odd. In any event, this means y x must also be even. Similarly, that if y + x
is odd, then one of x and y are odd and one is even. This means yx must also be odd.
So split the factors of 84 between y x and y + x. Since both are even or odd, they
both cant be odd since one of them must have a factor of 2. Therefore, both y x and
y +x must have a factor of 2. Since y +x is larger than y x, the only possibilities for
y +x are 2 7 and 2 3 7.
If y + x = 2 7 = 14, then y x = 2 3 = 6. Solving this system of equations give
x = 4 and y = 10.
If y + x = 2 3 7 = 42, then y x = 2. Solving this system of equations give x = 20
and y = 22.