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2024 Euclid Contest

Wednesday, April 3, 2024
(in North America and South America)

Thursday, April 4, 2024
(outside of North American and South America)

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©2024 University of Waterloo

Instructions

Time: \(2\frac{1}{2}\) hours

Number of Questions: 10

Each question is worth 10 marks.

Calculating devices are allowed, provided that they do not have any of the following features: (i) internet access, (ii) the ability to communicate with other devices, (iii) information previously stored by students (such as formulas, programs, notes, etc.), (iv) a computer algebra system, (v) dynamic geometry software.

Parts of each question can be of two types:

  1. SHORT ANSWER parts indicated by Lightbulb
  2. FULL SOLUTION parts indicated by Full Solution

WRITE ALL ANSWERS IN THE ANSWER BOOKLET PROVIDED.


Do not discuss the problems or solutions from this contest online for the next 48 hours.
The name, grade, school and location, and score range of some top-scoring students will be published on our website, cemc.uwaterloo.ca. In addition, the name, grade, school and location, and score of some top-scoring students may be shared with other mathematical organizations for other recognition opportunities.
NOTE:
  1. Please read the instructions for the contest.
  2. Write all answers in the answer booklet provided.
  3. For questions marked Lightbulb, place your answer in the appropriate box in the answer booklet and show your work.
  4. For questions marked Full Solution, provide a well-organized solution in the answer booklet. Use mathematical statements and words to explain all of the steps of your solution. Work out some details in rough on a separate piece of paper before writing your finished solution.
  5. Diagrams are not drawn to scale. They are intended as aids only.
  6. While calculators may be used for numerical calculations, other mathematical steps must be shown and justified in your written solutions, and specific marks may be allocated for these steps. For example, while your calculator might be able to find the \(x\)-intercepts of the graph of an equation like \(y=x^{3} -x\), you should show the algebraic steps that you used to find these numbers, rather than simply writing these numbers down.

Questions

    1. Lightbulb If \(x=2\), what is the value of \(\dfrac{x^4 + 3x^2}{x^2}\) ?

    2. Lightbulb In the diagram, \(\triangle ABC\) is right-angled at \(B\). Also, \(AB=10\), \(BC=t-1\), and \(AC=t+1\). What is the value of \(t\)?

    3. Full solution Suppose that \(\dfrac{2}{y} + \dfrac{3}{2y} = 14\). Determine the value of \(y\).

    1. Lightbulb In a sequence with six terms, each term after the second is the sum of the previous two terms. If the fourth term is \(13\) and the sixth term is \(36\), what is the first term?

    2. Lightbulb For some real number \(r \neq 0\), the sequence \(5r\), \(5r^2\), \(5r^3\) has the property that the second term plus the third term equals the square of the first term. What is the value of \(r\)?

    3. Full solution Jimmy wrote four tests last week. The average of his marks on the first, second and third tests was \(65\). The average of his marks on the second, third and fourth tests was \(80\). His mark on the fourth test was \(2\) times his mark on the first test. Determine his mark on the fourth test.

    1. Lightbulb The graph of the equation \(y = r(x-3)(x-r)\) intersects the \(y\)-axis at \((0,48)\). What are the two possible values of \(r\)?

    2. Lightbulb A bicycle costs \(\$B\) before taxes. If the sales tax were \(13\%\), Annemiek would pay a total that is \(\$24\) higher than if the sales tax were \(5\%\). What is the value of \(B\)?

    3. Full solution The function \(f\) has the following three properties:

      • \(f(1) = 3\).

      • \(f(2n) = (f(n))^2\) for all positive integers \(n\).

      • \(f(2m+1) = 3f(2m)\) for all positive integers \(m\).

      Determine the value of \(f(2)+f(3)+f(4)\).

    1. Lightbulb In the diagram, \(AB\) is perpendicular to \(CD\) (with \(B\) on \(CD\)), \(CP\) is perpendicular to \(AD\) (with \(P\) on \(AD\)), and \(N\) is the point of intersection of \(AB\) and \(CP\).

      Also, \(\angle ADB = 45\degree\), \(AB=12\), and \(CB=6\). What is the area of \(\triangle APN\)?

    2. Full solution In the diagram, the line with equation \(y=-3x+6\) crosses the \(x\)-axis at \(A\) and the \(y\)-axis at \(B\). Suppose that \(m>0\) and that the line with equation \(y = mx + 1\) crosses the \(y\)-axis at \(D\) and intersects the line with equation \(y = -3x+6\) at the point \(C\).

      If \(O\) is the origin and the area of \(\triangle ACD\) is \(\frac{1}{2}\) of the area of \(\triangle ABO\), determine the coordinates of \(C\).

    1. Lightbulb In the diagram, rectangle \(ABCD\) is divided into four smaller rectangles by the lines \(PQ\) and \(RS\), which intersect at \(X\).

      In rectangle ABCD, there is a vertical line from P on top side AD to Q on bottom side BC, and a horizontal line from S on left side AB to R on right side CD.

      The areas of these smaller rectangles are, in some order, \(2\), \(6\), \(3\), and \(a\). What are the three possible values of \(a\)?

    2. Full solution Suppose that the parabola with equation \(y = x^2 - 4tx + 5t^2 - 6t\) has two distinct \(x\)-intercepts. Determine the value of \(t\) for which the distance between these \(x\)-intercepts is as large as possible.

    1. Lightbulb There are \(M\) integers between \(10\,000\) and \(100\,000\) that are multiples of \(21\) and whose units (ones) digit is \(1\). What is the value of \(M\)?

    2. Full solution There are \(N\) students who attend Strickland S.S., where \(500 < N < 600\). Among these \(N\) students, \(\frac{2}{5}\) are in the physics club and \(\frac{1}{4}\) are in the math club. In the physics club, there are \(2\) times as many students who are not in the math club as there are students who are in the math club. Determine the number of students who are not in either club.

    1. Lightbulb Arun and Bella run around a circular track, starting from diametrically opposite points. Arun runs clockwise around the track and Bella runs counterclockwise. Arun and Bella run at constant, but different, speeds. They meet for the first time after Arun has run \(100\) m. They meet for the second time after Bella runs \(150\) m past their first meeting point. What is the length of the track?

    2. Full solution Determine all angles \(\theta\) with \(0\degree \leq \theta \leq 360\degree\) for which \(4^{1 + \cos^3\theta} = 2^{2-\cos\theta}\cdot 8^{\cos^2\theta}\).

    1. Full solution In the diagram, the circle with centre \(A\) has radius \(4\), and \(A\) lies on the circle which has centre \(B\) and radius \(3\). The line passing through \(A\) and \(B\) lies along the diameter of each circle and is perpendicular to \(MN\) at \(T\). Also, \(MN\) is tangent to the larger circle, and \(MC\) and \(NC\) are each tangent to both circles at points \(D\), \(E\), \(F\), and \(G\), as shown. Determine the area of \(\triangle MNC\).

    2. Full solution Determine all triples \((x,y,z)\) of real numbers that are solutions to the following system of equations: \[\begin{align*} \log_9 x + \log_9 y + \log_3 z & = 2\\ \log_{16} x + \log_4 y + \log_{16} z & = 1 \\ \log_5 x + \log_{25} y + \log_{25} z & = 0\end{align*}\]

  1. Full solution An ant walks along the \(x\)-axis by taking a sequence of steps of length \(1\). Some, all or none of these steps are in the positive \(x\)-direction; some, all or none of these steps are in the negative \(x\)-direction. The ant begins at \(x=0\), takes a total of \(n\) steps, and ends at \(x=d\). For each such sequence, let \(c\) be the number of times that the ant changes direction.

    1. Determine the number of different sequences of steps for which \(n=9\) and \(d=5\).

    2. Suppose that \(n=9\) and \(d=3\). Determine the number of sequences for which \(c\) is even.

    3. Determine the number of pairs \((d,n)\) of integers with \(1 \leq n \leq 2024\) and \(d \geq 0\) for which \(c\) is even for exactly half of the sequences of \(n\) steps that end at \(x = d\).

  2. Full solution Suppose that \(s\) and \(t\) are real numbers with \(0 < s \leq 1\) and \(0 < t \leq 1\). Points \(A(-1,0)\), \(B(0,4)\) and \(C(1,0)\) form \(\triangle ABC\). Points \(S(s,0)\) and \(T(-t,0)\) lie on \(AC\). Point \(P\) lies on \(AB\) and point \(Q\) lies on \(BC\), with neither \(P\) nor \(Q\) at a vertex of \(\triangle ABC\). Line segments \(SP\) and \(TQ\) intersect at \(X\) and partition \(\triangle ABC\) into four regions. For some such pairs \((s,t)\) of real numbers and points \(P\) and \(Q\), the line segments \(SP\) and \(TQ\) in fact partition \(\triangle ABC\) into four regions of equal area. We call such a pair \((s,t)\) a balancing pair.

    1. Suppose that \((s,t)\) is a balancing pair with \(s=1\) and that line segments \(SP\) and \(TQ\) partition \(\triangle ABC\) into four regions of equal area. Determine the coordinates of \(P\).

    2. Prove that there exist real numbers \(d\), \(e\), \(f\), and \(g\) for which all balancing pairs \((s,t)\) satisfy an equation of the form \[s^2 + t^2 = dst + es + ft + g\] and determine the values of \(d\), \(e\), \(f\), and \(g\).

    3. Determine an infinite family of distinct pairs of rational numbers \((s,t)\) with \(0 < s \leq t \leq 1\) that satisfy the equation in (b).


Further Information

For students...

Thank you for writing the Euclid Contest!

If you are graduating from secondary school, good luck in your future endeavours! If you will be returning to secondary school next year, encourage your teacher to register you for the Canadian Senior Mathematics Contest, which will be written in November.

Visit our website cemc.uwaterloo.ca to find

For teachers...

Visit our website cemc.uwaterloo.ca to