SENIOR SECOND ROUND 2014
1. Answer
q 049 √ √ √
Since 2 + x = 3, it follows that 2+ x = 32 = 9, so x = 9−2 = 7,
and x = 72 = 49.
2. Answer 012
A perfect square must be positive or zero, so if the sum of perfect
squares is zero, then each perfect square must itself be zero. Thus from
(x − 3)2 + (y − 4)2 + (z − 5)2 = 0
it follows that x − 3 = y − 4 = z − 5 = 0. Therefore x = 3 and y = 4
and z = 5, so x + y + z = 3 + 4 + 5 = 12.
3. Answer
√ √015 √ q√ √
24 ≈ 25 =q5, so 24 − 1 ≈ 5 − 1 = 4 and 24 − 1 ≈ 4 = 2.
√
Therefore 30/ 24 − 1 ≈ 30/2 = 15.
4. Answer 025
Q = 100
30
× M = 10 and P = 100
20
× Q = 50 and N = 50
100
× P = 25.
5. Answer 008
In general, the median of nine numbers is the middle one, which is
greater than four of the other numbers and less than the remaining
four. We already have (in order) 3, 5, 5, 7, 8, 9, and 8 is greater than
the first four of these. If the extra three numbers are all greater than
8, then 8 is also less than four numbers (9 and the extra three), so the
median is 8. This is the largest possible value of the median, because
any number greater than 8 is larger than at least five out of the nine
numbers.
6. Answer 004
Angle DAD0 is equal to 60◦ , since the quadrilateral is rotated through
60◦ . Also AD0 = AD = 4, so triangle ADD0 is isosceles, with the two
base angles each equal to 12 (180◦ − 60◦ ) = 60◦ . Thus the triangle is
in fact equilateral, so the third side is equal to the other two, that is,
DD0 = 4.
1
7. Answer 139
Clearly 2709 = 9 × 301, and with a bit more effort 301 = 7 × 43, so
2709 = 3×3×7×43 in prime factors. To write this as a product of three
distinct numbers we need to combine one 3 with one of the other three
factors. The largest sum comes from the expression 2709 = 3 × 7 × 129,
for which 3 + 7 + 129 = 139.
8. Answer 720
There are six choices for first place, leaving five choices for second
place, four for third place, and so on, with finally only one choice
for sixth place. Thus the total number of rankings or orderings is
6 × 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 = 720. [The expression 6 × 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 is
denoted 6! and read as 6 factorial.]
9. Answer 048
We need two blocks to complete the solid shown up to height 1 cm,
then another six blocks to complete up to height 5 cm,and finally four
blocks to complete to height 6 cm, making a total of 12 blocks so far.
However, the solid then has dimensions 6 cm by 6 cm by 4 cm, so to
make a cube we need to add a section 6 cm by 6 cm by 2 cm, which
requires another 36 blocks. Thus the total number of blocks required
to complete the cube is 12 + 36 = 48.
10. Answer 002 √ √
By adding the two equations we see that 8(2a ) = 16 2, so 2a = 2 2 =
23/2 and a = 23 . By substituting for 2a in either equation we see that
√
2b = 2, so b = 21 . Thus a + b = 2.
11. Answer 025
If 4 shows up on exactly one die out of the three, then there are three
choices for the die showing the 4. There are five choices for the number
appearing on each of the other two dice, so the total number of successes
is 3 × 5 × 5 = 75. There are in total 6 × 6 × 6 = 216 throws, which are
75
all equally probable, so the probability of exactly one 4 is 216 = 25
72
.
12. Answer 024
For a number to be divisible by 9, the sum of its digits must also
be divisible by 9. Of the five ways of choosing four out of the five
odd numbers 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, the only choice whose sum is divisible by 9 is
2
1, 3, 5, 9.These four digits can be arranged in 4! = 24 ways to give 24
four-digit numbers divisible by 9.
13. Answer 729
There are various ways of tackling this problem:
(a) By inspection, the sums of the numbers in the four groups shown
are 1, 8, 27, 64, that is, 13 , 23 , 33 , 43 , so a good guess (”multiple-choice
technique”) is that the sum of the numbers in the ninth group is 93 =
729.
(b) By brute force, writing out all the groups in turn, you can discover
that the ninth group consists of the nine odd numbers from 73 to 89,
whose sum is 729.
(c) More mathematically, the first n groups contain 1 + 2 + · · · + n
odd numbers, that is, 21 n(n + 1) odd numbers (arithmetic series). It is
also well known that the sum of the first k odd numbers is k 2 (another
arithmetic series). Thus the sum of all numbers in the first n groups is
[ 21 n(n + 1)]2 . The sum of the numbers in the n-th group alone is the
difference between the sum of the first n groups and the first (n − 1)
groups, that is,
1 1
[ n(n + 1)]2 − [ (n − 1)n]2 ,
2 2
3
which indeed simplifies to n . (Another method of proof is to show
that the average of the numbers in the n-th group is n2 .)
14. Answer 008
Extend AD and BC to intersect at E. If angle B = x , then angle D =
2x (given), so angle A = 180−2x (internal angles) and angle DCE = x
(corresponding angles). Also angle E = x, using the sum of the angles
in triangle ACE. Thus triangles ACE and DCE are both isosceles,
with base angles equal to x. It follows that DE = DC = 3 and
AB = AE = AD + DE = 5 + 3 = 8.
Alternatively, draw DE parallel to CB to intersect AB at E. If angle
B is x, then angle EC is also x since EDCB is a parallelogram. Since
angle ADC = 2x (given), it follows that angle ADE = x. But angle
AED = x as it corresponds with angle B. Hence, triangle AED is
isosceles with AE = AD = 5. Since EB = DC = 3 (EDCB is a
parallelogram), it follows that AB = AE + EB = 5 + 3 = 8.
3
15. Answer 012
The diagonal entries (in the same row and column) are 1, 3, 7, 13, 21, . . .,
in which the differences between successive terms are 2, 4, 6, 8, . . ., an
arithmetic sequence. The n-th diagonal entry is therefore 1 + (2 + 4 +
6 + 8 + · · ·), where the arithmetic series in brackets has (n − 1) terms.
Thus the n-th diagonal entry is equal to 1 + (n − 1)n = n2 − n + 1. The
last diagonal entry less than 2014 occurs when n = 45 and is equal to
1981. Since 45 is odd, the numbers following 1981 are found higher up
in column 45. Thus 1982 is in row 44, and 1983 is in row 43, and so
on. Note that the sum of the entry and the row number is 2026 each
time. Thus the row number for entry 2014 is 2026 − 2014 = 12.
16. Answer 017
Let O be the centre of the circle, join OA and OP , and let Q be the
foot of the perpendicular from P to OA. Then AQ = 9 and P Q = 15,
so if r is the radius of the circle, then OP = r and OQ = r − 9. By
Pythagoras’ theorem in triangle OP Q we have 152 = r2 − (r − 9)2 ,
giving 225 = 9(2r − 9), from which it follows that r = 17.
17. Answer 036
Suppose Dr Richards is guilty of the theft: then by the first statement
Lady Windermere is also guilty, which contradicts the second state-
ment. Thus Dr Richards is innocent (i.e., not guilty), so by the third
statement Miss Carlyle is also innocent. Since at least one of the three
is guilty, the only possibility is that Lady Windermere (in room 36) is
the thief.
18. Answer 011
The prime factorisation of 14! = 1 × 2 × 3 × · · · × 14 is 211 35 52 72 111 131 .
Since in a perfect square all prime factors must occur to an even power,
we must reduce all the odd powers by one. That means we must divide
by 2 × 3 × 11 × 13, which can be done by removing the factors 6, 11, 13
from the expression for 14!, leaving us with the product of 11 numbers.
19. Answer 480
If the circumference of the track is x m, then when they first meet B
has travelled 100 m and A has travelled 12 x − 100 m. When they next
meet, A has travelled x − 60 m and B has travelled 12 x + 60 m.Since A
and B travel at constant speeds, these distances must be in the same
4
ratio, that is,
1
2
x − 100 x − 60
= 1 .
100 2
x + 60
This gives 14 x2 − 20x − 6000 = 100x − 6000, which simplifies to x(x −
480) = 0. Since x = 0 is obviously not possible, the circumference is
480 m.
20. Answer 210
The number of balls in each box is
n2 + 290n − 2490 510
= n − 10 + ,
n + 300 n + 300
which must be an integer. It follows that 510/(n + 300) is an integer,
but it is obviously positive and is also less than 510/300, which is less
than 2.The only possibility is that 510/(n + 300) = 1, so n + 300 = 510,
giving n = 210.
