MSP Search for the Math Wizard 2014
ELIMINATION ROUND
Answer each of the following problems. Easy is worth 1 point, Average is worth 2 points, and Difficult
is worth 3 points.
1. How many right triangles with sides having whole number lengths have perimeter less than 100?
Answer: 17
2. A sequence 𝑎1 , 𝑎2 , 𝑎3 , … is the increasing sequence of the numbers that are sums of distinct non-
zero powers of 3:
3, 9, 12, 27, 30, 36, 39, …
What entry is 6561 = 38 i.e., if 𝑎𝑛 = 6561, what is 𝑛?
Answer: 128
3. The time required for each of Willy and Regine to eat a plate of chilies differs by 2 minutes. Together,
they were challenged to eat 32 plates of chilies and it took them an hour to do the challenge. How
long will it take the slower eater to finish a plate of chilies?
Answer: 5
3
4. Which is larger, √2 + √2 or √3 + √3?
3
Answer: √2 + √2
5. A checkerboard has squares which are 2 inches on each side. A coin with diameter 1 inch is tossed
into the air and lands with its center on the board. What is the probability that the coin doesn’t
touch the edge of any square?
1
Answer: 4
6. An airport has a moving sidewalk. Standing on the moving sidewalk, Joe takes 3 minutes to reach
the end. Walking next to the moving sidewalk, Joe takes 4 minutes to reach the end. How long does
it take Joe to reach the end if he walks on the moving sidewalk?
12
Answer: 7 minutes
1 1 1
7. If log 𝑎 + log 𝑏 = 2, log 𝑏 + log 𝑐 = 4, and log 𝑐 + log 𝑎 = 6, find the value of + 𝑏 + 𝑐 . Express your
𝑎
answer in decimal form.
Answer: 1.0101
8. Suppose the polynomial 𝑝(𝑥) satisfy 𝑝(𝑥) − 𝑝′ (𝑥) = 𝑥 2 − 7𝑥 − 15. What are the zeros of 𝑝(𝑥)?
5±√105
Answer: 2
9. This question concerns the representation of numbers in base 7. For example, recall that 4! = 24 is
represented in base 7 as 33. Suppose the number 200! is written in base 7. Starting at the right, how
many zeros are encountered before reaching the first nonzero digit?
Answer: 32
10. Two altitudes of a triangle are of length 1 and 3. What is the largest number 𝑥 so that the length of
the third altitude must be larger than 𝑥?
3
Answer: 4
11. The infinite series
∞
(−1)𝑛 (ln 2)𝑛
∑
𝑛!
𝑛=1
is convergent. What is the sum?
1
Answer: − 2
12. The polar coordinates of points A, B, and C are (2,27°), (2√3, 40°), and (3,10°), respectively.
Compute for the area of ∆𝐴𝐵𝐶.
Answer: √3 square units
13. Three cubes of volume 1, 8, and 27 are glued together at their faces. What is the smallest possible
surface area of the resulting configuration?
Answer: 72
14. A Sultan had many children. His oldest son was a twin. Moreover, all his children, except for 41 of
them, were twins. Also, all his children except 41 of them were triplets. Finally, all his children, except
41 of them were quadruplets. How many children did the Sultan have?
Answer: 53
15. Find the exact value of sin 10° ∙ sin 50° ∙ sin 70°.
1
Answer: 8
16. In an arithmetic progression with a nonzero first term, the ratio of the sum of the first 𝑚 terms to
the sum of the first 𝑛 terms is 𝑚2 : 𝑛2 , where 𝑚 ≠ 𝑛. Compute for the ratio of the 20th term to the
12th term.
39
Answer:
23
17. 𝑃 is a point on the plane of the square 𝐴𝐵𝐶𝐷 such that each of 𝑃𝐴𝐵, 𝑃𝐵𝐶, 𝑃𝐶𝐷, and 𝑃𝐷𝐴 is an
isosceles (nondegenerate) triangle. How many possible positions are there for such a point 𝑃?
Answer: 9
𝑥
18. What is the general solution of cos 𝑥 = cos 4 and how many distinct solutions are there in the interval
[0,8𝜋]?
8𝑛𝜋
Answers: 5 , 20 solutions
19. The cost of producing 𝑥 units of products from factory A and 𝑦 units of products from factory B is
given by 6𝑥 2 + 2𝑦 2 . If you were to produce 90 units from both factories, what values of 𝑥 and 𝑦 will
minimize the cost?
Answer: (22,68) or (23,67)
20. The sum of three real numbers is 0. If the sum of their cubes is −3, find their product.
Answer: −1
21. Every day at noon, a ship leaves Le Havre in France from New York and another ship leaves New
York for Le Havre. The trip lasts 7 days and 7 nights. How many New York – Le Havre ships will the
ship leaving Le Havre today meet during its journey to New York (including the ships it might meet
at the harbors? All schedules are on Greenwich Mean Time.
Answer: 15
22. On a certain island, there are two varieties of people: the truth tellers, who always tell the truth and
liars, who always lie. You meet a group of three people there. Some of the three are liars and some
are truthtellers, but you don’t know who is who. You ask the first of them “What variety are you” The
first person answers, but you can’t hear the answer. The second of the three then says: “The first one
said he is a truth teller.” Then the third one says: “The second one is lying.” Determine what variety
the second and the third ones are.
Answers: 2nd – truth teller, 3rd – liar
23. A heat-seeking particle is located at the point (2, −3) on a metal plate whose temperature in degrees
Celsius at (𝑥, 𝑦) is
𝑇(𝑥, 𝑦) = 20 − 4𝑥 2 − 𝑦 2
Find a Cartesian equation in rectangular coordinates for the path of the particle as it continuously
moves in the direction of the maximum temperature increase.
2
Answer: 𝑥 = 81 𝑦 4