Saginaw Valley State University

2008 Math Olympics – Level II

1. Find all solutions to the equation: log3 (x − 1) + log3 (x + 7) = 2

(a) −8 and 2 (b) 2 (c) −2 (d) 1 (e) None of the above

sin 80◦
2. Compute
sin 20◦ + sin 40◦

√
2
(a) 1 (b) 0 (c) (d) sin 20◦ (e) None of the above
2

3. The strange operation ∗ is defined to be:

a
a ∗ b := 1
a+ b

where a and b are real numbers. Which of the following is true?

(a) ∗ is associative but not commutative.

(b) ∗ is commutative but not associative.

(c) ∗ is both associative and commutative.

(d) ∗ is neither associative nor commutative.

(e) ∗ is not associative and is commutative only if a = 1 or b = 1.

4. Let x1 and x2 be the roots of the quadratic equation x 2 + px + q = 0. If

x2 + 2
x1 = ,
2x2 − 1

which of the following expresses the relation between p and q?

(a) 2q + p = 2 (b) 2q − p = 2

(c) −2q + p = 2 (d) the relation cannot be determined

(e) None of the above

5. Simplify the following expression: 2 loga (cos θ) + 2 loga (sec θ)

(a) loga tan2 θ (b) loga 2 (c) 1 (d) 0

(e) None of the above

SVSU – 2008 Math Olympics Level II – Page 2 of 4

6. Find all solutions to the equation: cos (ln x) = 0

π π
(a) e 2 +nπ (b) 2nπ (c) 2 + nπ (d) e2nπ (e) None of the above

7. Simplify the following expression: loga b · logb c · logc d · logd a

loga b
(a) (b) loga d (c) 1 (d) 0 (e) None of the above
logc d

8. Which of the following express the circumference of a A

circle inscribed in a sector OAB with radius R and AB =
2a? Q
a
Ra r
(a) 2π
R+a
O P
2
M N
2π R
(b) (c) 2π (R − a)2
9 a
R
R
(d) 2π (e) None of the above
R−a
B
9. Mary and John wrote 100 numbers each. Mary’s sequence starts with 5, 8, 11, 14, . . . , John’s sequence
starts with 3, 7, 11, 15, . . . . How many common numbers are there in both sequences?

(a) 20 (b) 21 (c) 25 (d) 30 (e) None of the above

10. The legs of a right triangle 4ABC are a and b (∠C = 90◦ , BC = a and
AC = b). The points M, N and O are the centers of the squares of 4ABC
M with sides BC, AC and AB, respectively. Find the area of 4MNO.
C
N
a
b

1
(a) 4 (a + b)2
A B
a2 + b2 √ √
(b) (c) 2 a2 + b2 a2 − b2
4
O

a2 + b2
(d) (e) None of the above
2

11. Find the number of solutions of the system


 3x 2 − 2xy + y 2 = 36
 5x 2 − 4xy + y 2 = 20

(a) None (b) One (c) Two (d) Four (e) Five

12. How many integer solutions does the equation (x + 2)(x − 4)(x + 6)(x − 8) = 225 have?

(a) None (b) One (c) Two (d) Three (e) Four
SVSU – 2008 Math Olympics Level II – Page 3 of 4

13. The legs AC and BC of a right triangle 4ABC (∠C = 90◦ ) are 4 and 3 units, respectively. The point P is
chosen inside 4ABC so that AP + BC = BP + CA = CP + AB. Find the distance from P to B.

52 75 29
(a) 23 (b) 23 (c) 23 (d) 2 (e) None of the above

14. Each edge of a cube is increased by 50%. What is the percent increase in the surface area of the cube?

(a) 50% (b) 125% (c) 150% (d) 300% (e) None of the above

15. If f (x) = x 3 + 1 and c is a positive number such that f (c + 2) = f (c) + f (2) then c equals:

s s s
30 7 p 7
(a) +1 (b) +1 (c) 10 − 1 (d) −1 (e) None of the above
3 6 6

16. log2 log3 log4 2n

= 2. Find n.

27 481
(a) (b) (c) 162 (d) 24 (e) None of the above
log4 2 2

17. A square and an equilateral triangle both have perimeter of 7 cm. How much bigger is the area of the
square than the area of the triangle?

√ ! √ !
49 1 3 49 49 49 1 3
(a) − cm2 (b) − cm2 (c) − cm2
2 8 9 16 36 4 4 9

49 49
(d) − cm2 (e) None of the above
16 18

18. The operations of addition and multiplications of sets and sets and sets and numbers are defined in
the following way: if A and B are sets of numbers and c is a number,

A + B = x + y|x ∈ A and y ∈ B

A · B = x · y|x ∈ A and y ∈ B
A + c = {x + c|x ∈ A}
c · A = {c · x|x ∈ A}

Let E = {0, ±2, ±4, . . . } be the set of all even integers. Which of the following statements is false?

(a) E + 1 = E + (−1) (b) E + E = 2 · E

(c) E = −1 · E (d) More than one of them are false

(e) None of the statements is false

19. How many triangles with positive area are there whose vertices are points in the xy-plane with integer
coordinates (x, y) satisfying 1 ≤ x ≤ 4 and 1 ≤ y ≤ 4?

(a) 496 (b) 500 (c) 512 (d) 516 (e) 560
SVSU – 2008 Math Olympics Level II – Page 4 of 4

20. Two copies of the parabola with equation y = x 2 are modified in the following ways:

• The first copy is scaled in the vertical direction by a factor of 2.

• The second copy is scaled in the horizontal direction by a positive factor k.

The resulting graphs are exactly the same. Find k.

√ √
1 2
(a) k = 2 (b) k = 2 (c) k = 2 (d) k = 2 (e) None of the above

21. Suppose n and b are positive numbers. If logb n = 2 and logn 2b = 2, what is b?

√ √
3
√
3
(a) 1 (b) 2 (c) 4 (d) 2 (e) None of the above

22. Which of the following is not equal to sec2 θ csc2 θ?

(a) sec2 θ + csc2 θ

tan2 θ + 1
(b)
1 − cos2 θ

(c) (tan θ + cot θ)2

1 1
(d) +
sec2 θ csc2 θ

(e) More than one of them are not equal to sec2 θ csc2 θ

23. What is (1 + i)13 ?

√ √
(a) −64 − 64i (b) −8192i (c) 64 2 + 64 2i (d) −12 − 12i

(e) None of the above

24. Juniors and Seniors from four schools are going to a State competition. There are 40 students from
Atherton High School, 25 from Bayside High, 20 from Clairemont High School and 15 from Devonshire
High School. 16 of the students from Atherton, 5 of the students from Bayside, 15 of the students
from Clairemont, and 9 from Devonshire, are Juniors. If a Senior is selected at random, what is the
probablilty that he or she is from Clairemont?

1 1
(a) .05 (b) .25 (c) 11 (d) 3 (e) None of the above

2(a3 −b3 )
 
1
25. Suppose f (x) = f x , for all x ≠ 0, and that f (a) + f (b) − f (a + b) = ab(a2 −b2 )
for all a and b such
2 2
that a ≠ b . Suppose also that f (2) = 5. What is f (2.5)?

(a) 4.2 (b) 5.8 (c) 7.9 (d) 1 (e) None of the above