The Thirty-second Annual

State High School

Mathematics Contest
Thursday, April 15, 2010

Held on the Campus

of the North Carolina School
of Science and Mathematics
Durham, NC

Sponsored by
The North Carolina Council
of Teachers of Mathematics
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NC STATE MATHEMATICS CONTEST

APRIL 2010
PART I: 20 MULTIPLE CHOICE PROBLEMS

(1) The sum of the first five terms of an arithmetic sequence is 40, and the sum of the
first ten terms of the sequence is 155. What is the sum of the first fifteen terms of
the sequence?

a) 195 b) 230 c) 345 d) 390 e) 780

a 4 a 3 d
(2) If = and = , then the value of is
b+c+d 3 b+c 5 a
7 6 12 11 15
a) b) c) − d) − e)
6 7 11 12 11
1 1
(3) If x + = 4, then the value of x3 + 3 is
x x
a) 52 b) 60 c) 64 d) 68 e) 76

(4) If 3 sin θ + 4 cos θ = 5, then tan θ is

3 4
a) 1 b) −1 c) d) e) 0
4 3
p
(5) If x < 0, then |x − (x − 1)2 | equals

a) 1 b) 1 − 2x c) −2x − 1 d) 1 + 2x e) 2x − 1

(6) Which of the following equations have the same graph?

x2 − 4
I. y = x − 2 II. y = III. (x + 2)y = x2 − 4
x+2

a) I and II only b) I and III only c) II and III only d) I and II and III e) None

(7) If a, b, and c are the roots of the equation x3 − 3x + 7 = 0, compute the numerical
value of (a + 1)(b + 1)(c + 1).

a) −9 b) −4 c) 4 d) 5 e) 11
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(8) The quadratic function f (x) = ax2 + bx + c is known to pass through the points
(−1, 6), (7, 6), and (1, −6). Find the smallest value of the function.

a) −36 b) −26 c) −20 d) −10 e) −6

√
(9) If f (x) = x + 2 and g(x) = 3
x, then f −1 ◦ g −1 (2) is

a) 8 b) −6 c) 2 d) 6 e) −2
2 −9x+20
(10) How many integers x satisfy the equation (x2 − 5x + 5)x = 1?

a) 2 b) 3 c) 4 d) 5 e) none of a) through d) is correct

(11) If A = 20◦ and B = 25◦ , then the value of (1 + tan A)(1 + tan B) is
√ √
a) 3 b) 2 c) 1 + 2 d) 4 e) none of a) through d) is correct

(12) The base three representation of x is 12112211122211112222. Find the first digit (on
the left) of the base nine representation of x.

a) 1 b) 2 c) 3 d) 4 e) 5
 n  n
1+i 1−i
(13) Let f (n) = √ + √ , where i2 = −1. Determine the value of f (2006) +
2 2
f (2010).
2i 2 2i
a) 0 b) √ c) i d) √ e) − √
2 2 2
(14) A box contains 2 pennies, 4 nickels, and 6 dimes. Six coins are drawn without re-
placement, with each coin having equal probability of being chosen. What is the
probability that the value of the coins drawn is at least 50 cents?
37 91 127 132
a) b) c) d) e) none of a) through d) is correct
924 924 924 924
(15) The edges of a regular tetrahedron with vertices A, B, C, and D each have length
one. Find the smallest possible distance between a pair of points P and Q, where P
is on the edge AB and Q is on the edge CD.
√ √ √
1 3 2 3 3
a) b) c) d) e)
2 4 2 2 3
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(16) A circle with an area a is contained in the interior of a larger circle with an area a + b.
If the radius of the larger circle is 3, and if a, b, a + b is an arithmetic sequence, then
the radius of the smaller circle is
√
3 2 3 √
a) b) 1 c) √ d) e) 3
2 3 2
(17) Let f : R → R be a function such that f (x + y) = f (xy) for all real numbers x and
y, and f (7) = 7. Find the value of f (49).

a) 1 b) 49 c) 7 d) 14 e) none of a) through d) is correct

(18) Equilateral triangle 4ABC is inscribed in a circle. A second circle is tangent inter-
nally to the circumcircle at T and tangent to sides AB and AC at points P and Q.
Determine the length of the segment P Q if side BC has length 12.
√ √
a) 6 b) 6 3 c) 8 d) 8 3 e) 9

(19) Two points are picked at random on the unit circle x2 + y 2 = 1. What is the proba-
bility that the chord joining the two points has length at least 1?
1 1 3 1 2
a) b) c) d) e)
4 2 4 3 3
(20) Let x, y, and z be positive real numbers such that x + y + z = 1 and xy + yz + xz = 31 .
x y z
The number of possible values of the expression + + is
y z x
a) 1 b) 2 c) 3 d) more than 3 but finitely many e) infinitely many

PART II: 10 INTEGER ANSWER PROBLEMS

(1) How many times does the prime factor 7 appear in the prime factorization of

1001 · 1002 · 1003 · · · 2009 · 2010?

(2) A road construction unit is made up of a certain number of workers and a certain
amount of equipment. Three units have paved 20 mi of a road in 10 days. How many
additional units are needed if the remaining 50 mi of the road must be paved in 15
days?
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(3) Find the positive integer n for which blog2 1c+blog2 2c+blog2 3c+· · ·+blog2 nc = 153
where bxc is the greatest integer less than or equal to x.

(4) Find the smallest positive integer n for which none of the following fractions
7 8 9 31
, , ,...,
n + 9 n + 10 n + 11 n + 33
is reducible.

(5) In trapezoid ABCD, side AB is parallel to side DC, and diagonals AC and BD
intersect at P . If the area of 4AP B is 4 and the area of 4DP C is 9, determine the
area of the trapezoid ABCD.
x
(6) If x is measured in radians, how many roots are there to the equation sin x = ?
100
(7) In what base is 221 a factor of 1215?

(8) Determine the area of the polygon whose vertices are all the points on the circle
x2 + y 2 = 100 where both coordinates are integers.

(9) How many ordered pairs of integer numbers (x, y) satisfy the equation
1 1 1
arctan + arctan = arctan ?
x y 10
−1
Note: arctan z is the same as tan z.

(10) Find the product of all distinct real solutions of the equation
(x2 − 3)3 − (4x + 6)3 + 216 = 18(4x + 6)(3 − x2 ).
If this equation has any repeated solutions, use them only once in the product.

The following problem, will be used only as part of a tie-breaking procedure. Do not work
on it until you have completed the rest of the test.

TIE BREAKER PROBLEM

Find the sum of the real solutions of the equation
√
r  
log2 (−x2 + 7x − 10) + 3 cos π x2 + 7 − 1 = 1.