The CENTRE for EDUCATION

in MATHEMATICS and COMPUTING

cemc.uwaterloo.ca

Canadian Intermediate
Mathematics Contest
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
(in North America and South America)
Thursday, November 24, 2016
(outside of North America and South America)

Time: 2 hours 2016

c University of Waterloo
Calculators are allowed, with the following restriction: you may not use a device
that has internet access, that can communicate with other devices, or that contains
previously stored information. For example, you may not use a smartphone or a
tablet.
Do not open this booklet until instructed to do so.
There are two parts to this paper. The questions in each part are arranged roughly in order of
increasing difficulty. The early problems in Part B are likely easier than the later problems in
Part A.
PART A
1. This part consists of six questions, each worth 5 marks.
2. Enter the answer in the appropriate box in the answer booklet.
For these questions, full marks will be given for a correct answer which is placed in the box.
Part marks will be awarded only if relevant work is shown in the space provided in the
answer booklet.
PART B
1. This part consists of three questions, each worth 10 marks.
2. Finished solutions must be written in the appropriate location in the answer
booklet. Rough work should be done separately. If you require extra pages for your
finished solutions, they will be supplied by your supervising teacher. Insert these pages into
your answer booklet. Be sure to write your name, school name and question number on any
inserted pages.
3. Marks are awarded for completeness, clarity, and style of presentation. A correct solution,
poorly presented, will not earn full marks.
At the completion of the contest, insert your student information form inside your
answer booklet.

Do not discuss the problems or solutions from this contest online for the next 48 hours.

The name, grade, school and location, and score range of some top-scoring students will be
published on the Web site, cemc.uwaterloo.ca. In addition, the name, grade, school and location,
and score of some students may be shared with other mathematical organizations for other
recognition opportunities.
 Canadian Intermediate Mathematics Contest
NOTE:
1. Please read the instructions on the front cover of this booklet.
2. Write solutions in the answer booklet provided.
3. Express answers as simplified√exact numbers except where otherwise indicated.
For example, π + 1 and 1 − 2 are simplified exact numbers.
4. While calculators may be used for numerical calculations, other mathematical
steps must be shown and justified in your written solutions and specific marks
may be allocated for these steps. For example, while your calculator might be
able to find the x-intercepts of the graph of an equation like y = x3 − x, you
should show the algebraic steps that you used to find these numbers, rather than
simply writing these numbers down.
5. Diagrams are not drawn to scale. They are intended as aids only.
6. No student may write both the Canadian Senior Mathematics Contest and the
Canadian Intermediate Mathematics Contest in the same year.

PART A
For each question in Part A, full marks will be given for a correct answer which is placed in
the box. Part marks will be awarded only if relevant work is shown in the space provided
in the answer booklet.

1. Which of the fractions 23 , 43 , 56 , 58 , and 11

12 is the smallest?
Birthdays in 2016
2. The graph to the right shows the number of
Number of students

8
students in Ms. Gupta’s class that have their
6
birthday in 2016 on each day of the week. If 25%
of the students in the class have their birthday on 4
a day that begins with the letter “T”, how many 2
of the students in the class have their birthday
0
?
Monday
Tuesday
Sunday

Wednesday

in 2016 on a Tuesday?
Saturday
Thursday
Friday

Day of the week

3. Pete sets up 12 hurdles for a race that is 600 metres long. The distance between the
starting line and the first hurdle is 50 metres. The distance between the last hurdle
and the finishing line is 55 metres. The distance between each pair of consecutive
hurdles is d metres. What is the value of d?

4. Dina has a calculating machine, labelled f , that takes one number as input and
calculates an output. The machine f calculates its output by multiplying its input
by 2 and then subtracting 3. For example, if Dina inputs 2.16 into f , the output is
1.32. If Dina inputs a number x into f , she gets a first output which she then inputs
back into f to obtain a second output, which is −35. What is the value of x?
 5. In the diagram, P and Q start at the positions shown P 8m
and point X is fixed on the circle. Initially, the shortest X
distance along the circumference from P to X is 8 m, 16 m
from Q to X is 16 m, and from P to Q is 16 m, as shown.
P and Q move around the circle in opposite directions
as indicated by the arrows. P moves at 3 m/s. Q moves
Q 16 m
at 3.5 m/s. If P and Q begin moving at the same time,
after how many seconds do P and Q meet at X for the
second time?
6. A line has equation y = kx, where k 6= 0 and k 6= −1. The line is reflected in the line
with equation x + y = 1. Determine the slope and the y-intercept of the resulting
line, in terms of k.

PART B
For each question in Part B, your solution must be well-organized and contain words of
explanation or justification. Marks are awarded for completeness, clarity, and style of
presentation. A correct solution, poorly presented, will not earn full marks.
1. In the grid shown, the distance between adjacent dots in one column and adjacent
dots in one row is 1 unit.
L
D H

A J
E
B C K
F G

(a) Determine the area of 4ABC.

(b) Determine the area of figure DEF GH.
(c) Determine the area of 4JKL.

2. In the list of positive integers 1, 3, 9, 4, 11 the positive differences between each pair
of adjacent integers in the list are 3 − 1 = 2, 9 − 3 = 6, 9 − 4 = 5, and 11 − 4 = 7.
In this example, the smallest positive difference between any two adjacent integers
in the list is 2.
(a) Arrange the integers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 so that the smallest positive difference between
any two adjacent integers is 2.
(b) Suppose that the twenty integers 1, 2, 3, . . . , 18, 19, 20 are arranged so that the
smallest positive difference between any two adjacent integers is N .
(i) Explain why N cannot be 11 or larger.
(ii) Find an arrangement with N = 10. (Parts (i) and (ii) together prove that
the maximum possible value of N is 10.)
(c) Suppose that the twenty-seven integers 1, 2, 3, . . . , 25, 26, 27 are arranged so that
the smallest positive difference between any two adjacent integers is N . What
is the maximum possible value of N ? Prove that your answer is correct.
 Mathematics
Intermediate
Canadian
(English)
Contest

2016
3. For each positive integer n, the Murray number of n is the smallest positive integer
M , with M > n, for which there exist one or more distinct integers greater than n
and less than or equal to M whose product times n is a perfect square.
For example, the Murray number of 3 is 8 since 3 × 6 × 8 = 122 and it can be shown
that it is not possible to multiply 3 by one or more distinct integers that are greater
than 3 and less than 8 to obtain a perfect square.

(a) The Murray number of 6 is 12. Show why this is true.

(b) Determine the Murray number of 8. (No justification is required.)
(c) Prove that there are infinitely many positive integers n for which n is not a
perfect square and the Murray number of n is less than 2n.
(d) Prove that, for all positive integers n, the Murray number of n exists and is
greater than or equal to n + 3.