AMC / AIME Formula Sheet Adapted

from NYC Contest Problem Book

( Annotated 9/1/2015 )
Example Question
from NYC Contest
Problem Book:

Important
Ratio
Equivalents

Rarely tested but good to 1

know Pascal's triangle 1 1
picture of coefficients:1 2 1
1 3 3 1
Row sum = power of 2: 1 4 6 4 1
 These Vieta formuli are
are frequently tested,
especially for quadratics

Front-to-Back grouping is often

a good method to sum a series
 For AIME, sum of squares = n(n+1)(2n+1)/6

Skip this section for AMC-10/12. Sometimes useful for AIME

 Skip this section for AMC-10/12

Not seen on AMC in last 10 years

Very Important

Less Important

Should also Include Law of Cosines: c² = a² + b² - 2ab cos(C)

 All four area
formuli come
up in AMC/AIME

Both
Rarely
Tested
"PP" should read "AP" in Last
10 yrs

Skip for AMC

 Skip for AMC

Very Useful

TRIGONOMETRY FORMULI TO REMEMBER

I would remember only the Pythagorean, double angle and sum angle formula,
Derive the half angle and difference angle formula from these as needed.

Don't bother memorizing the (sin(x) + cos(y)) and sin(x)cos(y) type formula.
These last two are very rarely useful. Spend your time elsewhere
Very Useful

Useful

Not
Useful
For
AMC

Very Useful
 Not tested
Don't Bother

Very important for changing

bases in a logarithm problem.

Very Useful

These four inequalities often creep into AMC-12 problems

 Very Useful

- 219 -
 Chords, Secants & Tangents

1 x x
2 3

x/2 x x/2 x
x/2 y/2 y/2

4 x/2
x
5 6 y
x/2
y/2
y

(x−y)/2 (x−y)/2

y y
7 x
(x+y)/2
y
8 x 9 x

(x−y)/2 x+y=180
x
y

10 x
x+y=360
11 y
12

y
13 14 15 x+y=180
x

b b
ab=cd a a

16 c
a d
b
17 ab=cd c 18
d
ab=c2
c
 Discrete Mathematics
Important Formuli for Counting
Combinatorics

Counting principle: If a choice consists of k steps, of which the first can be made in
n1 ways, the second in n2 ways, … , and the kth in nk ways, then the whole choice can
be made in n1 n2… nk ways.

Factorials: n! = 1⋅2 ⋅3L (n − 1) ⋅n

Permutations: A permutation is an arrangement of objects where order matters.

(123 and 213 are considered different permutations of the digits 1, 2, and 3).

nPr is the number of permutations of r objects chosen from n objects.

n!
Pr =
( n − r )!
n

Special cases: there are n! ways of arranging all n objects.

Repeated objects: In an arrangement of n objects, if there are r1 objects of type 1,

r2 objects of type 2, … rk objects of type k, where objects of the same type are
n!
indistinguishable, then there are ways to arrange the n objects.
r1 ! r2 !L rk !

Circular Permutations: If n objects are arranged in a circle, there are (n-1)!

possible arrangements.

“Key-ring” permutations: If n objects are arranged on a key ring, there are

( n − 1)!
possible arrangements.
2

Combinations: In a combination, the order of objects does not matter (123 is the
same as 213).

nCr is the number of combinations of r objects chosen from n objects.

Cr =
FGnIJ= n!
n
Hr K r !(n − r )!
Sets:

For sets A and B,

Union: A U B is the set that contains the elements in either A, B, or both.

Intersection: A I B is the set that contains only elements that are in
both A and B.
Complement: A' is the set of all elements not in A.
Inclusion-Exclusion principle: If n(S) is the number of elements in set S, then
n( A U B) = n( A) + n( B) − n( A I B) .

This can be extended for more than two sets. (ex. For sets A, B, and C,
n( A U B U C ) = n( A) + n( B) + n( C ) − n( A I B) − n( B I C ) − n( A I C ) + n( A I B I C ) .

Probability:
If an experiment can occur in exactly n ways, and if m of these correspond to an event
E, then the probability of E is given by
m
P( E ) =
n
P(A and B) = P ( A ∩ B) = P ( A) P ( B ) if A and B are independent events.
P(A or B) = P ( A ∪ B) = P ( A) + P ( B) − P ( A ∩ B)

Conditional Probability: the conditional probability of an event E, given an event F, is

P( E ∩ F )
denoted by P(E/F) and is defined as P ( E / F ) = .
P( F )

Pigeonhole principle: If there are more than k times as many pigeons as pigeonholes, then
some pigeonhole must contain at least k+1 pigeons. Or, if there are m pigeons and n
m− 1MM PP
+ 1 pigeons.
pigeonholes, then at least one pigeonhole contains at least
n N Q
Ex. Consider any five points P1, P2, P3, P4, and P5 in the interior of a square S
with side length 1. Denote by dij the distance between points PI and Pj. Prove
2
that at least one of the distances between these points is less than .
2

Solution: Divide S into four congruent squares. By the pigeonhole principle, two
points belong to one of these squares (a point on the boundary can be claimed by
2
both squares). The distance between these points is less than . (Problem and
2
solution from Larson, number 2.6.2).
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