PURPLE COMET!

MATH MEET April 2024

HIGH SCHOOL - PROBLEMS

Copyright ©Titu Andreescu and Jonathan Kane

Problem 1
Joe ate one half of a fifth of a pizza. Gale ate one third of a quarter of that pizza. The difference in the
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amounts that the two ate was n of the pizza, where n is a positive integer. Find n.

Problem 2
Consider triangles whose three angles have three different positive integers for their degree measures. Find
the greatest possible difference between the degree measures of two of the angles in such a triangle.

Problem 3
Five years ago Xing was twice as old as Ying, and six years from now, the sum of their ages will be 100.
Find the difference in their ages.

Problem 4
Find the number of digits you would write if you wrote down all of the integers from 1 through 2024:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, . . . , 2022, 2023, 2024.

Problem 5
Rectangle ABCD has sides AB = 24 and BC = 16. Side AB is the diameter of a circle with center E. The
line through points D and E intersects the circle at point F outside of the rectangle, as shown. Find the
length DF .

B A
E
16

C 24 D

Problem 6
Children numbered 1, 2, 3, . . . , 400 sit around a circle in that order. Starting with child numbered 148, you
tap the heads of children 148, 139, 130, . . . , tapping the heads of every ninth child as you walk around the
circle. Find the number of the 100th child whose head you will tap.

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Problem 7
Find the base-eight representation of the base-four number 3214 plus the base-six number 3216 .

Problem 8
Let a and b be nonzero real numbers such that

(a − b)3 + (12a − b)3 = (9a − b)3 + (10a − b)3 .

a m
The fraction b reduces to n, where m and n are relatively prime positive integers. Find m + 10n.

Problem 9
Find the number of rectangles pictured in the rectangular grid below that contain one but not both of the
shaded squares.

Problem 10
The convex quadrilateral ABCD has area 441. Let E be the intersection of the diagonals AC and BD, and
√
suppose that AE = 12, BE = 16, CE = 30, and DE = 5. Then the perimeter of ABCD is m + n p,
where m and n are positive integers and p is prime. Find m + n + p.

Problem 11
Find n such that
1 1 1 1 n5
+ + + ··· + = .
1! · 31! 3! · 29! 5! · 27! 15! · 17! 32!

Problem 12
Find the number of triples (a, b, c) of decimal digits a, b, and c with a ̸= 0 where the three-digit integer
a b c divided by the three-digit integer c b a equals 2 − ac .

Problem
√
13 √
1+ 5 r+s 5
Let a = 2 . There are relatively prime positive integers r, s, and t such that t is the reciprocal of
   
1 1 1
a8 − a + a2 + 2 a4 + 4 .
a a a

Find r + s + t.

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Problem 14
Find the number of complex numbers z such that |z − 6| = 3 and z 60 is a real number.

Problem 15
The product
100  
Y 4(2k − 1)
1− 2
2k + 2k + 1
k=1
m
can be written as n, where m and n are relatively prime positive integers. Find m + n.

Problem 16
Find the number of 7-letter sequences made up of the letters A, B, and C where each letter appears an odd
number of times in the sequence.

Problem 17
Find the least possible value of a + b + c, where a, b, and c are positive integers, a, b − 8, c is an arithmetic
progression and a2 , b2 , c2 is also an arithmetic progression.

Problem 18
The sum of the two solutions to the equation
√
log2 x−logx 2
x = 16

m
is equal to n, where m and n are relatively prime positive integers. Find 10m + n.

Problem 19
A box contains eight balls, two of each color red, blue, green, and purple. Doug randomly selects two of the
balls without replacement, records the colors of the two balls, and then returns the balls to the box. Then
Becky also randomly selects two of the balls, records the colors, and returns the balls to the box. Finally,
Travis repeats what Doug and Becky have done. The probability that the six colors recorded by Doug,
m
Becky, and Travis include at least one of each of the colors red, blue, green, and purple is n, where m and
n are relatively prime positive integers. Find m + n.

Problem 20
√ √
Let a, b, and c be real numbers such that a + b + c = 3 3 and a3 + b3 + c3 = 11 3. Evaluate
√
9(ab + bc + ca) − abc 3.

Problem 21
The real part of
    7
2π 2π
2 1 + cos + i sin
5 5
√
is equal to m + n 5 for some integers m and n. Find m2 + n2 .

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Problem 22
Find the remainder when 2888 + 5888 is divided by 2024.

Problem 23
Let u and v be real numbers such that the point u + vi in the complex plane is the circumcenter of the
triangle with vertices at 2 + 9i, 7 + 8i, and 11 + 6i. Find 10u − v.

Problem 24
One hundred people will visit a monument. Each will arrive at the monument at a time chosen randomly
and independently during a five-hour period, and each will remain at the monument for 20 minutes. If two
people are at the monument at the same time, those two people will shake hands once. Find the expected
number of handshakes.

Problem 25
Points A, B, and C lie on a line in that order such that AB = 7 and BC = 4. Points D and E lie on the
same side of line AC such that △ABD and △BCE are both equilateral. The line passing through the
centroids of △ABD and △BCE also intersects sides BE and CE at points F and G, respectively. The
m
ratio of the area of △EF G to the area of △BCE is n, where m and n are relatively prime positive
integers. Find m + n.

F
G
A B C

Problem 26
Let S be the set of integers greater than 1 that are not divisible by any prime numbers greater than 5.
That is, S = {2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15, 16, 18, 20, . . . }. There are relatively prime positive integers m and n
such that
m X 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
= 2
= 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + ··· .
n k 2 3 4 5 6 8
k∈S

Find m + n.

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Problem 27
Circle ω with diameter 4 is internally tangent to circle γ with diameter 7. Five circles λ1 , λ2 , λ3 , λ4 , and
λ5 are each internally tangent to γ and externally tangent to ω, and λi is externally tangent to λi+1 , for
m
i = 1, 2, 3, 4, as shown. Assuming that λ1 has diameter 3, λ5 has radius n, where m and n are relatively
prime positive integers. Find m + n.

Problem 28
The complex number z has real part equal to 15 and positive imaginary part. The complex number w
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equals 5 · z. The complex numbers z, w, and w are three of the vertices of a right triangle in the complex
plane. Find the length of the hypotenuse of this triangle. Here w refers to the complex conjugate of w.

Problem 29
Erica and Alan each flip a fair coin 5 times. Suppose that Erica has flipped more heads than Alan after
each has flipped the coin 2 times. The probability that Erica has flipped more heads than Alan after each
m
has flipped the coin 5 times is n, where m and n are relatively prime positive integers. Find m + n.

Problem 30
Sphere S has radius 5, center C, and diameter AB. Let N be the spherical disk consisting of the points in
S a distance less than or equal to 6 from A. Let P be the cone-like solid consisting of all the points on line
segments with one endpoint in N and the other endpoint at C. Let Q be the cone-like solid consisting of
all the points on line segments with one endpoint in N and the other endpoint at B. Then the ratio of the
m
volume of Q to the volume of P can be written as n, where m and n are relatively prime positive integers.
Find m + n.