Solutions of the Forty-fourth Annual Columbus State Invitational Mathematics

Tournament

Sponsored by
The Columbus State University
Department of Mathematics
March 3, 2018

*************************

1B 6D 11 C 16 A 21 D 26 C 31 E 36 E 41 C 46 D
2A 7C 12 B 17 B 22 E 27 B 32 A 37 E 42 D 47 E
3E 8E 13 C 18 B 23 C 28 D 33 D 38 D 43 E 48 A
4B 9E 14 B 19 D 24 A 29 A 34 A 39 B 44 A 49 A
5D 10 D 15 A 20 E 25 C 30 C 35 C 40 D 45 B 50 B

1. How many positive integer divisors does 2018 have?

(A) 2 (B) 4 (C) 6 (D) 8 (E) 10

Answer: B
We have 2018 = 2 · 1009, so the number of positive divisors is 4.

2. How many of the first 2018 positive integers are perfect squares?

(A) 44 (B) 45 (C) 43 (D) 42 (E) 41

Answer: A
We have that 442 < 2018 < 452 , so there are 44 perfect squares smaller than 2018.

3. For integers a and b, we define a ⊗ b by the formula

a ⊗ b = gcf(a, b) · lcm(a, b),

where “gcf” and “lcm” are the greatest common factor and least common multiple of
a and b, respectively. Find the value of 18 ⊗ 75.

(A) 675 (B) 270 (C) 1080 (D) 450 (E) 1350

I
 Answer: E
In general, we have that gcf(a, b)·lcm(a, b) = a·b, so in our case 18⊗75 = 18·75 = 1350.
1
4. ∗ When a certain solid substance melts, its volume increases by . By how much does
7
its volume decrease when it solidifies again?

1 1 1 1 1
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)
7 8 9 10 11

Answer: B
1 8x
If x is the initial volume, when the solid melts, its volume is x + x = . When
7 7
1
the substance solidifies, the substance’s volume returns to x so it drops by . Indeed,
8
8x 1 8x
− · = x.
7 8 7
5. The equation
2017 + 2018i = (3 − 2i)(x + yi)
has a solution in positive integers x and y. What is 2y − 10x?

(A) 5 (B) 4 (C) 3 (D) 2 (E) 1

Answer: D
We have 2017 + 2018i = (3x + 2y) + i(3y − 2x). This means that 3x + 2y = 2017 and
3y − 2x = 2018, so x = 155 and y = 776. Therefore, 2y − 10x = 2.

6. If 45 is the sum of n consecutive positive integers, what is the largest possible value
on n?

(A) 3 (B) 5 (C) 7 (D) 9 (E) 11

Answer: D
The largest possible value is 9 since 1 + 2 + 3 + · · · + 7 + 8 + 9 = 45.

7. How many triples (x, y, z), of integer numbers, x > y > z > 1, satisfy the inequality

1 1 1
+ + > 1?
x y z

II
 (A) 0 (B) 1 (C) 2 (D) 3 (E) 4

Answer: C
We have z ≥ 2, y ≥ 3 and x ≥ 4. It is easy to see that there are no solutions if z ≥ 3.
If z = 2, we have y = 3, x = 4 and y = 3, x = 5. Thus, there only two solutions:
(2, 3, 4) and (2, 3, 5).

8. How many 2-digit positive integers can be represented as the sum of different powers
of 2?

(A) 30 (B) 45 (C) 60 (D) 75 (E) 90

Answer: E
Every positive integer can be represented as a sum of different powers of 2 (see base 2
representation) so, in particular, all 2-digit integers have such a representation.

9. ∗ For what value of the real number a does the system of equations
(
x2 + y 2 = z
x+y+z =a

have a unique solution in the set of real numbers?

1 1 1 1 1
(A) (B) (C) (D) − (E) −
4 5 2 3 2

Answer: E
 2  2
2 2 1 1 1
Combining the equations, we get x +y +x+y = a, so x + + y+ = a+ .
2 2 2
1
This equation has a unique solution if and only if a = − . This implies that the unique
2
1 1
solution to the system is x = y = − and z = , so the answer is E.
2 2
10. Find the sum of the real numbers x and y which satisfy the equation
√ p
4x2 − 12x + 25 + 4x2 + 12xy + 9y 2 + 64 = 12.

7 3 9 1 5
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)
2 2 2 2 2

III
 Answer: D
We have that
√ p
4x2 − 12x + 25 + 4x2 + 12xy + 9y 2 + 64 =
p p √ √
(2x − 3)2 + 16 + (2x + 3y)2 + 64 ≥ 16 + 64 = 12.
3
The equality occurs if and only if 2x − 3 = 0 and 2x + 3y = 0. This implies that x = 2
and y = −1, thus x + y = 21 , so the answer is D
11. ∗ The positive real numbers x and y satisfy the equation

x2 − 2xy − 3y 2 = 0.
x + 2y
What is the value of ?
x−y

5
(A) 0 (B) 1 (C) (D) 3 (E) 4
2

Answer: C
The equation can be written as (x−y)2 −(2y)2 = 0, which factors as (x−3y)(x+y) = 0.
Since x and y are positive, we have x = 3y, so x+2y
x−y
= 5y
2y
= 52 .
12. Three distinct prime numbers p, q and r are chosen in such a way the number
p4 + q 4 + r4 − 35
is also a prime. What is the minimum possible value of |pq − r|?

(A) 2 (B) 1 (C) 4 (D) 0 (E) 3

Answer: B
Clearly |pq − r| ≥ 1. We also have that 24 + 34 + 54 − 35 = 479, which is prime. Since
|2 · 3 − 5| = 1, we get that the smallest possible value is 1.
13. ∗ What is the units digit of 20182018 ?

(A) 0 (B) 2 (C) 4 (D) 6 (E) 8

Answer: C
It is easy to see that for each positive integer k, 84k has the units digit 6. This implies
that 82018 has the units digit 4, so 20182018 has the units digit 4.

IV
 √
q p
14. ∗ There is only one 4-digit integer n for which 3 2 n is an integer. Find the sum
of the digits of n.

(A) 17 (B) 18 (C) 19 (D) 20 (E) 21

Answer: B
q p
√ √8
Note that 3 2 n = 34 · 22 · n, so n is a multiple of 34 · 26 = 5184. Since there are
no other multiples which have 4 digits, we have that n = 5184. The sum of its digits
is 18.
15. ∗ Let x, y and z be positive integers such that
1 26
x+ 1 = .
y+ z
21
What is the value of xyz?

(A) 20 (B) 24 (C) 28 (D) 32 (E) 36

Answer: A
z 5
Clearly x = 1, so we have to solve the equation = . This implies that y = 4
yz + 1 21
and z = 5, so the product xyz = 20.
16. ∗ Twelve marbles are placed in three boxes such that each box contains a red marble,
a blue marble, a black marble, and a white marble. If we pick at random one marble
from each box, what is the probability that exactly two marbles are red?

9 1 3 5 1
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)
64 8 32 64 16

Answer: A
There are 64 possible outcomes of which 9 have exactly two red marbles, so the answer
9
is .
64
17. How many permutations (x1 , x2 , x3 , x4 ) of the set of integers {1, 2, 3, 4} have the prop-
erty that the sum x1 x2 + x2 x3 + x3 x4 + x4 x1 is not divisible by 3?

(A) 6 (B) 8 (C) 12 (D) 14 (E) 16

Answer: B

V
 Since x1 x2 +x2 x3 +x3 x4 +x4 x1 = (x1 +x3 )(x2 +x4 ), we have to count those permutations
such that x1 + x3 and x2 + x4 are not multiples of 3. There are 8 such possibilities.

18. The numbers a and b are chosen from the set {1, 2, . . . , 26}, such that the product ab
is equal to the sum of the remaining numbers. What is the value of |a − b|?

(A) 3 (B) 6 (C) 8 (D) 10 (E) 13

Answer: B
Since 1 + 2 + · · · + 26 = 351, we have that ab = 351 − a − b. This implies that
(a + 1)(b + 1) = 352 = 25 · 11, so either a + 1 or b + 1 is a multiple of 11. Without losing
the generality, we may assume that a + 1 is a multiple of 11. Since a is smaller than
26, we have that a = 10, or a = 21. But if a = 10, we get b = 31, which is impossible
since b ≤ 26. Therefore, a = 21 and b = 15, so |a − b| = 6.

19. How many triangles ∆ABC with ∠ABC = 90◦ and AB = 10 exist such that all sides
have integer lengths?

(A) infinitely many (B) 3 (C) 2

(D) 1 (E) none

Answer: D
If x is the length of hypothenuse AC and y is the length of side BC, we have x2 =
y 2 + 100. This implies that (x − y)(x + y) = 100. Since both x and y have to be
integers, we have that x − y and x + y are factors of 100. Also, we have that x > y
and x − y and x + y have the same parity. The only possibilities are x − y = 2 and
x + y = 50, which lead to the unique solution x = 26 and y = 24. Therefore the answer
is D.

20. Find the product of the solutions of the equation

p p 5√3
3
(x + 1)2 + 3
(x − 1)2 = x2 − 1.
2

36 16 9 25 81
(A) − (B) − (C) − (D) − (E) −
121 81 25 36 49

Answer: E
√
3
Note that x = 1 and x = −1 are not solutions. Dividing the equation by x2 − 1 and
simplifying, results in the equivalent equation

VI
 r r
3 x+1 3 x−1 5
+ = .
x−1 x+1 2
r
x+1
3 1 5
Setting t = , we have to solve t + = . This reduces to the quadratic
x−1 t 2
5 1
equation t2 − t + 1 = 0, which implies that t = 2 or t = . In the first case, we get
2 2
9 9
x = and in the second case we get x = − .
7 7
n2
21. ∗ Find the number of integers n such that is an integer.
n + 2018

(A) 12 (B) 14 (C) 16 (D) 18 (E) 20

Answer: D
2
n 2018 2
Note that n+2018 = n−2018+ n+2018 , so the problem is equivalent to finding all integers
n such that n + 2018 divides 2018 . The prime factorization of 20182 is 20182 = 22 ·
2

10092 , so 20182 has exactly 18 integer factors. Thus, we have the following 18 equations:
n + 2018 = ±1, ±2, ±4, ±1009, ±10092 , ±2 · 1009, ±22 · 1009, ±2 · 10092 , ±22 · 10092 .
n
Thus, we get 18 solutions for n, such that n+2018 is an integer so the answer is D.

22. What is the remainder when 20172018 is divided by 13?

(A) 1 (B) 5 (C) 3 (D) 2 (E) 4

Answer: E
One checks that 2017 has remainder 2 when divided by 13. Also, the smallest power
of 2 with the property that 2m has remainder 1 when divided by 13 is 12. This means
that the remainder of the division 20172018 by 13 is the same as that of 22018 by 13.
Also, 22018 = (212 )168 · 22 = (4096)168 · 4 = (13 · 315 + 1)168 · 4, so the reminder is 4.

23. Three regular dice are rolled. The probability that the numbers thrown have the least
m
common multiple equal to 60 is equal to , for some relatively prime positive integers
n
n − 2m
m and n. What is the value of ?
m+3

(A) 5 (B) 2 (C) 4 (D) 1 (E) 3

Answer: C

VII
 To get the least common multiple equal to 60, one must roll (5, 6, 4), (5, 3, 4), or any
permutation of these numbers. Therefore there are 12 possible triplets which give a
common multiple of 60. Since there are 63 = 216 possible outcomes, the probability to
12 1
have the least common multiple equal to 60 is 216 = 18 . This means that n−2m
m+3
= 4, so
the answer is C.

24. Vlad is playing on the mall escalators. One escalator goes up, one goes down, and one
is out of service; otherwise, they’re all identical. The up and down escalators go at
the same speed. You can assume that Vlad always runs at the same speed. Vlad can
run up the up escalator in 6 seconds. He can run up the down escalator in 30 seconds.
How long does it take him to run up the out-of-service escalator?

(A) 10 s (B) 12 s (C) 14 s (D) 16 s (E) 18 s

Answer: A
Let sv be Vlad’s speed, se the speed of the up and down escalators, and d the length
of each escalator. Then we have d = 6(sv + se ) and d = 30(sv − se ). Multiply the first
equation by 5 and add it to the second. We get 6d = 60sv , so d = 10sv , thus it takes
Vlad 10 seconds to run up the out-of-service escalator.

25. How many triples (x, y, z), of integer numbers, x > y > z > 1, satisfy the inequality

1 1 1
+ + > 1?
x y z

(A) 0 (B) 1 (C) 2 (D) 3 (E) 4

Answer: C
We have z ≥ 2, y ≥ 3 and x ≥ 4. It is easy to see that there are no solutions if z ≥ 3.
If z = 2, we have y = 3, x = 4 and y = 3, x = 5. Thus, there only two solutions:
(2, 3, 4) and (2, 3, 5).

26. ∗ The function f satisfies the relations

f (1) = 1 and f (m + n) = f (m) + f (n) + mn,

for all positive integers m and n. What is the value of f (200)?

(A) 20000 (B) 20010 (C) 20100 (D) 21000 (E) 21100

Answer: C

VIII
 For n = 1, we get f (m + 1) = f (m) + m + 1 for all positive integers m. This implies
that f (m + 1) = f (m − 1) + m + (m + 1) = · · · = 1 + 2 + · · · + m + (m + 1) = (m+1)(m+2)
2
.
200 · 201
Now, we get that f (200) = = 20100.
2
27. ∗ If x, y, and z are real numbers such that x, y, z > 1, what is the smallest possible
value of

logxy z + logyz x + logxz y?

7 3 8 29 4
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)
5 2 5 20 3

Answer: B
Note that for any positive real number a, we have a + a1 ≥ 2. Also, recall that if a, b
are positive an not equal to 1, we have loga b = log1 a . Taking these into account we
b
have the inequalities

logxy (yz) + logyz (xy) ≥ 2

logyz (zx) + logzx (yz) ≥ 2
logyx (zx) + logzx (yx) ≥ 2.

Adding these inequalities and using the properties of logs, we get that logxy z +logyz x+
logxz y ≥ 3/2. Note that if x = y = z, we get the equality so the answer is B.

28. Find the sum of all real numbers m with the property that the equation

x2 − x + m = 0

has two solutions, x1 and x2 , which satisfy the equation x51 + x52 = 211.

(A) 2 (B) 4 (C) 3 (D) 1 (E) 5

Answer: D
We have that x1 +x2 = 1 and x1 x2 = m. This implies that x21 +x22 = (x1 +x2 )2 −2x1 x2 =
1 − 2m and x31 + x32 = (x1 + x2 )3 − 3x1 x2 (x1 + x2 ) = 1 − 3m. Now, x51 + x52 =
(x21 + x22 )(x31 + x32 ) − x21 x22 (x1 + x2 ) = (1 − 2m)(1 − 3m) − m2 , so we get the equation
5m2 − 5m − 210 = 0, which factors as 5(m − 7)(m + 6) = 0. This implies that m = 7
or m = −6, so the sum of the values of m is 1.

IX
 29. In the accompanying figure, ∆ABC
is a right triangle with hypothenuse
BC = 2018 cm and AC = 1680
cm. The circle inscribed in this tri-
angle has radius r = OD. What
is the value of r, in centimeters?

(A) 390 (B) 380 (C) 370

(D) 360 (E) 350

Answer: A
By the Pythagorean theorem we have, AB 2 = 20182 − 16802 = 11182 . On the other
hand, the radius is r = (b + c − a)/2 = 390.

30. ∗ The function f satisfies the conditions f (4) = 6 and xf (x) = (x − 3)f (x + 1), for all
integers x. What is the value of the product

f (2018) · f (2015) · f (2012) · · · f (8) · f (5)?

(A) 0 (B) 2017 (C) 2017! (D) 2018 (E) 2018!

Answer: C
x x x−1 x x−1 4
We have that f (x+1) = f (x) = · ·f (x−1) = · · · = · ··· ·
x−3 x−3 x−4 x−3 x−4 1
f (4). This implies that f (x+1) = x(x−1)(x−2), so f (2018)·f (2015) · · · f (5) = 2017!.
2018!
31. Let x and y be positive integers such that x is an integer. What is the largest
7 · 13y
possible value of x + y?

(A) 480 (B) 485 (C) 490 (D) 495 (E) 500

Answer: E
The exponent of 7 in 2018! is 334. Indeed, we have

b 2018
7
c + b 2018
49
c + b 2018
343
2018
c + b 2401 c = 288 + 41 + 5 + 0 = 334.

Similarly, the exponent of 13 in 2018! is 166 because

b 2018
13
c + b 2018
169
2018
c + b 2197 c = 155 + 11 + 0 = 166.

X
 The maximum value of x + y is 500.

32. Find the sum of the digits of the unique solution of the equation

xlog100 (x−1) + 100(x − 1)log100 x = 101x2 .

(A) 2 (B) 6 (C) 10 (D) 14 (E) 18

Answer: A
The conditions for the existence of the logarithms and the exponential functions im-
ply that x > 1. Note that xlog100 (x−1) = (x − 1)log100 x , so the equation becomes
101xlog100 (x−1) = 101x2 . This implies that xlog100 (x−1) = x2 , so log100 (x − 1) = 2 or
x = 10001. Therefore, the sum of the digits of x is 2.

33. ∗ If x is a positive real number, what is the minimum possible value of the expression

1 4 1



x+ x
− x4 + x4
E(x) =
?
1 3 1


x+ x
− x3 + x 3

2 4 5 7 8
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)
3 3 3 3 3

Answer: D
Let y = x + x1 and note that y ≥ 2. Successively rasing the identity to the second,
third, and fourth powers, gives us x2 + x12 = y 2 − 2, and x3 + x13 = y 3 − 3y, and
2
x4 + x14 = y 4 − 4y 2 + 2. This implies that E(x) = 4y3y−2 = 43 y − 3y
2
. It is easy to see that
4 2
the function g(y) = 3 y − 3y is increasing for y ≥ 2, so the minimum value is attained
at y = 2. This means that x = 1, so the minimum of E(x) is 73 .

34. ∗ Let x, y, z be real numbers such that

3x + 3y + 3z + 3−x + 3−y + 3−z = 10.

If E(x, y, z) = 3x + 3y + 3z , what is the difference between the largest and the smallest
possible values of E(x, y, z)?

(A) 8 (B) 7 (C) 9 (D) 6 (E) 10

Answer: A

XI
 If F (x, y, z) = 3−x + 3−y + 3−z , we have that E + F = 10 and that E · F ≥ 9. This
implies that E(10 − E) ≥ 9, so 1 ≤ E ≤ 9. Note that x = y = z = 1 is a solution of
the equation and that E(1, 1, 1) = 9. Also, note that x = y = z = −1 is also a solution
of the equation and that E(−1, −1, −1) = 1, so the difference between the largest and
smallest possible values of E is 8.

35. ∗ Let x be a real number such that

1
sec x − tan x = .
2

Find the value of cos x.

3 2 4 6 1
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)
4 3 5 7 2

Answer: C
We have sec x = 12 +tan x. By squaring both sides we obtain sec2 x = 41 +tan x+tan2 x.
Since sec2 x = 1 + tan2 x, we get that tan x = 34 . If follows that sec x = 45 , so cos x = 45 .
5 95
36. ∗ A line is parallel to the line y = x + , intersects the x-axis and y-axis at points A
4 4
and B, respectively, and passes through the point (−1, −25). How many points with
integer coordinates are there on the line segment AB (including points A and B)?

(A) 1 (B) 2 (C) 3 (D) 4 (E) 5

Answer: E
The slope of the line is m = 54 , so y = 45 x + b. Since (−1, −25) is on the line, we get
b = − 95
4
. We get that the y-intercept is B(0, 954
) and the x-intercept is A(19, 0). Now,
we have to find all integers x, such that 0 ≤ x ≤ 19 and 45 x − 95 4
is an integer. This
is equivalent to 5x − 95 is a multiple of 4. Since 5x − 95 = 4(x − 24) + (x + 1), we
need to determine the values or x such that x + 1 is a multiple of 4. These values are
x = 3, 7, 11, 15, 19, so there are 5 points with integer coordinates on the line segment
AB.

37. ∗ A sphere is inscribed in a cube, and a smaller cube is inscribed within the sphere.
What is the ratio of the volume of the large cube to the volume of the small cube?
√ √ √ √ √
(A) 4 2 (B) 6 3 (C) 2 2 (D) 2 3 (E) 3 3

Answer: E

XII
 If the large cube has side a, the sphere has diameter a, so the diagonal
√ of the smaller
cube is also equal to a. Since the diagonal in a cube of side x is x 3, we get that
√ the
side of the small cube is √a3 . This means that the ratio of the two volumes is 3 3.

38. Suppose that real numbers x and y satisfy the equation

4x2 − 6xy + 4y 2 = 7.

Let S = x2 + y 2 and Smin and Smax denote the minimum and maximum values of S,
respectively. Find the value of Smin + Smax .

(A) 3 (B) 4 (C) 6 (D) 8 (E) 9

Answer: D
If x = r sin α and y = r cos α, the equation becomes

4r2 − 6r2 sin α cos α = 7.

7
Therefore, S = r2 = 4−3 sin 2α
and Smin + Smax = 1 + 7 = 8.

39. ∗ Two of the altitudes of a triangle are 10 cm and 11 cm. Which of the following can
not be the length of the third altitude?

(A) 6 cm (B) 5 cm (C) 8 cm (D) 7 cm (E) 9 cm

Answer: B
Let a and b be the sides corresponding to the altitudes of length 10 cm and 11 cm
respectively. Let c be the length of the third side and hc the length of the third
altitude. The area of the triangle is A = 10·a
2
= 11·b
2
= hc2·c , so we have a = 2A
10
, b = 2A
11
,
and c = 2A
hc
. The sum of any two of the sides of the triangle has to be greater than the
1 1
third side, so we have that hc = 5 is impossible ( 10 + 11 < 15 ).

XIII
40. In the accompanying figure, ABCD
is a cyclic quadrilateral (inscribed in
a circle) in which AB = 2018 cm,
BD = BC = 2322 cm, and AC = 1330
cm. The length of x = AD (in cen-
timeters) is a three-digit number (in
base 10). What is the units digit of x?

(A) 5 (B) 4 (C) 3

(D) 2 (E) 1

Answer: D
From the Law of Cosines, in triangle ∆ABC, we have that
13302 + 23222 − 20182 1
cos(∠BCA)) = = .
2 · 1330 · 2322 2
This implies that ∠BCA = 60◦ . Since ABCD is a cyclic quadrilateral, we get that
∠ADB = 60◦ . If we use the Law of Cosines in triangle ∆ADB, we have AB 2 =
DB 2 + DA2 − 2 · DB · DA · cos(60◦ ), so x is a solution of the quadratic equation
x2 − 2322x + 1319360 = 0. This implies x = 992 or x = 1330. Since x is a three-digit
number, we have x = 992, therefore the units digit of x is 2.

41. In the equilateral triangle ∆ABC, the

equilateral triangle ∆DEF is inscribed
CD AE BF
in such a way = = = 3.
DA EB CF
The ratio between the areas of the
m
triangles ∆ABC and ∆DEF is ,
n
for some relatively prime positive in-
tegers m and n. What is 5m − 11n ?

(A) 1 (B) 2 (C) 3

(D) 4 (E) 5

Answer: C
It is easy to see that AD = BE = CF = x and CD = AE =√ BF = 3x, for
2
some positive real number x. The area of triangle ∆ABC is 16x4 3 . The area of

XIV
 2
√
triangles ∆ADE, √
∆BEF , and ∆CDF is equal to 3x 4 3 . This implies that the area
2
of ∆DEF = 7x 4 3 . Therefore the ratio between the areas of the triangles ∆ABC and
∆DEF is 16 7
, so 5m − 11n = 80 − 77 = 3.

42. How many integer triples (x, y, z) satisfy the equation

x2 + y 2 + z 2 = 22018 (x + y + z)?

(A) 2 (B) 4 (C) 6 (D) 8 (E) 10

Answer: D
Since x2 + y 2 + z 2 is even, x, y, z are all even or two of them are odd. If x = 2x1 + 1,
y = 2y1 + 1, and z = 2z1 , we get that 4(x21 + x1 + y12 + y1 + z12 ) + 2 = 22019 (x1 + y1 + z1 ),
which is impossible. Thus, x = 2x1 , y = 2y1 , z = 2z1 , and we have the equation
x21 + y12 + z12 = 22017 (x1 + y1 + z1 ). Reiterating the above argument, we get that the
solutions of the equation are x, y, z ∈ {0, 22018 }. Therefore, there are 8 different triples
(x, y, z), which satisfy the equation.

43. For a positive integer n, written in base 10, we denote by p(n) the product of its digits.
What is the sum of the digits of n, if it satisfies the equation

10p(n) = n2 + 6n − 2095?

(A) 15 (B) 12 (C) 6 (D) 18 (E) 9

Answer: E
Note that n2 + 6n − 2095 ≥ 0, so n ≥ 43. Also, note that p(n) ≤ n, so we have the
inequality n2 − 4n − 2095 ≤ 0, so 0 ≤ n ≤ 47. Finally, since n2 + 6n is a multiple of 5,
the only possibilities are n = 44 and n = 45. Only n = 45 satisfies the given equation,
so the answer is 9.
b
44. Two positive numbers a and b are chosen in such a way that = e ≈ 2.71828 (the
a
Euler number). Two points of coordinates x and y are chosen at random from the
interval [0, b]. The probability that the geometric average of x and y is greater than a
m
is equal to 1 − 2 . What is the value of m ?
e

(A) 3 (B) 1 (C) 4 (D) 2 (E) 5

Answer: A

XV
 2
We need to have xy ≥ a2 . The probability that y ≥ ax is equal to ratio between the
2
area of the region above the curve y ≥ ax , but which lies inside the square [0, b] × [0, b],
and the area of the square [0, b] × [0, b]. The first area is equal to

b
a2
Z  
b− dx = b2 − 3a2 .
a2
b
x

On the other hand, the area of the square [0, b] × [0, b] is b2 , so the ratio is equal to
b2 −3a2
b2
= 1 − e32 .

45. The sequence {xn }n≥1 is defined by the formula

√
xn = sin(π 4n2 + 2n + 1),

for all positive integers n. Find the value of lim xn .

n→∞

√ √
1 2 3
(A) (B) 1 (C) (D) 0 (E)
2 2 2

Answer: B
Using that sine is periodic of period 2π, we have that
√ √ h
(2n+1)π
i
sin(π 4n2 2
+ 2n + 1) = sin[π · ( 4n + 2n + 1 − 2n)] = sin 4n2 +2n+1+2n =
√

 1
  1

2nπ (1+ 2n )  π (1+ 2n )
sin q
1
= sin q  .
2n 1+ 2n + 12 +1 1
1+ 2n + 1
+1
4n 4n2

Therefore,
 
√ 1


π 1 + 2n π
lim sin(π 4n2 + 2n + 1) = lim sin  q   = sin = 1.
 
n→∞ n→∞ 1
1 + 2n + 4n1 2 + 1 2

46. Consider the sequence {xn }n≥1 such that

1
x1 = 1 and xn+1 = xn + , for n ≥ 1.
2xn
xn
Find lim √ .
n→∞ n

(A) 4 (B) 3 (C) 2 (D) 1 (E) 0

XVI
 Answer: D
Note that xn is increasing, since xn+1 > xn > 1, for all n. Also, lim xn = ∞.
n→∞
1
Otherwise, if we assume xn convergent to L, we would have L = L + 2L
, which is
impossible. Now, use Cesaro-Stolz to obtain
2
x2n x2n+1 − x2n
  
1 2 1
lim = lim = lim xn + − xn = lim 1 + 2 = 1.
n→∞ n n→∞ (n + 1) − n n→∞ 2xn n→∞ 4xn

xn
Therefore, lim √ = 1.
n→∞ n
47. Let a and b be positive real numbers. If the equation

x + ln(ab) = ln(x + a) + ln(x + b)

1 1
has only one real solution x, what is the value of + ?
a b

(A) 5 (B) 4 (C) 3 (D) 2 (E) 1

Answer: E
The function f (x) = x + ln(ab) − (ln(x + a) + ln(x + b)) has a derivative equal to
f 0 (x) = 1 − x+a
1 1
− x+b . Since f (0) = 0, then f 0 (0) = 0. One can show that we have
more than one solution if f 0 (0) 6= 0.

48. Two points are chosen at random on a circle (uniform distribution on the circumference)
of radius 1. The probability that the distance between them is more than 1 is equal to
m
, for some relatively prime positive integers m and n. What is the value of n − m?
n

(A) 1 (B) 2 (C) 3 (D) 4 (E) 5

Answer: A
If A and B are points on the circumference of the circle of center O and radius 1, the
distance between A and B is more than 1 if and only if the central angle ∠AOB is
bigger that 60◦ . This means that for a given point A, the point B would have to be
outside of a 120◦ central angle bisected by OA. Therefore, the probability is 23 and the
answer is A.
b
49. Two positive numbers a and b are chosen in such a way that = e ≈ 2.71828 (the
a
Euler number). Two points of coordinates x and y are chosen at random from the

XVII
 interval [0, b]. The probability that the geometric average of x and y is greater than a
m
is equal to 1 − 2 . What is the value of m ?
e

(A) 3 (B) 1 (C) 4 (D) 2 (E) 5

Answer: A
2
We need to have xy ≥ a2 . The probability that y ≥ ax is equal to ratio between the
2
area of the region above the curve y ≥ ax , but which lies inside the square [0, b] × [0, b],
and the area of the square [0, b] × [0, b]. The first area is equal to

b
a2
Z  
b− dx = b2 − 3a2 .
a2
b
x

On the other hand, the area of the square [0, b] × [0, b] is b2 , so the ratio is equal to
b2 −3a2
b2
= 1 − e32 .

50. How many real numbers x, 0 ≤ x ≤ 2018, are solutions of the equation
4 x−cos2 x 4 x−sin2 x
2sin − 2cos = cos 2x?

(A) 1286 (B) 1285 (C) 1284 (D) 1283 (E) 1282

Answer: B
The equation is equivalent to
4 x+sin2 x 4 x+cos2 x
2sin − 2cos = 2 cos 2x = cos4 x + cos2 x − sin4 x − sin2 x.

This can be viewed as 2a + a = 2b + b, for a = sin4 x + sin2 x and b = cos4 x + cos2 x.

The function f : R → R, f (t) = 2t + t is increasing, so it is also one-to-one. This means
that a = b, so sin4 x + sin2 x = cos4 x + cos2 x, which is equivalent with 2 cos 2x = 0.
Therefore the solutions of the equation are of the form x = (2k+1)π 4
, where k is an
integer. Since 0 ≤ x ≤ 2018, we get that 0 ≤ k ≤ 1284, so there are 1285 solutions in
the given interval.

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