2024 Canadian Senior
Mathematics Contest
Wednesday, November 13, 2024
(in North America and South America)
Thursday, November 14, 2024
(outside of North American and South America)

©2024 University of Waterloo
Instructions
Time: 2 hours
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.
Do not open this booklet until instructed to do so.
There are two parts to this paper. The questions in each part are arranged roughly in order of increasing difficulty. The early problems in Part B are likely easier than the later problems in Part A.
PART A
- This part consists of six questions, each worth 5 marks.
- Enter the answer in the appropriate box in the answer booklet. For these questions, full marks will be given for a correct answer which is placed in the box. Part marks will be awarded only if relevant work is shown in the space provided in the answer booklet.
PART B
- This part consists of three questions, each worth 10 marks.
- Finished solutions must be written in the appropriate location in the answer booklet. Rough work should be done separately. If you require extra pages for your finished solutions, they will be supplied by your supervising teacher. Insert these pages into your answer booklet. Write your name, school name, and question number on any inserted pages.
- Marks are awarded for completeness, clarity, and style of presentation. A correct solution, poorly presented, will not earn full marks.
At the completion of the contest, insert your student information form inside your answer booklet.
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 the website, cemc.uwaterloo.ca. In addition, the name, grade, school and location, and score of some students may be shared with other mathematical organizations for other recognition opportunities.
NOTE:
- Please read the instructions on the front cover of this booklet.
- Write solutions in the answer booklet provided.
- Express answers as simplified exact numbers except where otherwise indicated. For example, and are simplified exact numbers.
- 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 -intercepts of the graph of an equation like , you should show the algebraic steps that you used to find these numbers, rather than simply writing these numbers down.
- Diagrams are not drawn to scale. They are intended as aids only.
- No student may write both the Canadian Senior Mathematics Contest and the Canadian Intermediate Mathematics Contest in the same year.
PART A
For each question in Part A, full marks will be given for a correct answer which is placed in the box. Part marks will be awarded only if relevant work is shown in the space provided in the answer booklet.
What integer is equal to ?
Two vertical trees are m
and m tall. The bases of the
trees are m apart along
horizontal ground. A bird flies from the top of the shorter tree to the
top of the taller tree along a straight path at a constant speed of
m/s. How long does it take the
bird to complete the flight?
At the end of yesterday’s soccer game between Team Why and Team
Zed, Team Why had scored goals
and Team Zed had scored goals. At
half-time of the game, Team Why had scored goals and Team Zed had scored goals. If and , how
many possibilities are there for the ordered pair of integers ?
(In soccer, each team’s score is always a non-negative integer that
never decreases as the game proceeds.)
For how many ordered quadruples of positive integers with is equal to the product of ,
and ? (That is, for how many such
ordered quadruples is ?)
In the diagram, is a
hexagon with six equal interior angles (that is, ). Also, and . Line segments
, , , , , create a smaller hexagon , as shown.
If the area of hexagon is
, where and are positive integers with as small as possible, what is the
ordered pair ?
A Gleeson list is an increasing list of distinct
positive integers with a sum of . For example, , , is a Gleeson list of length and , , , , , , is a Gleeson list of length . Let be the maximum possible length of a
Gleeson list. How many Gleeson lists of length are there?
PART B
For each question in Part B, your solution must be well-organized and contain words of explanation or justification. Marks are awarded for completeness, clarity, and style of presentation. A correct solution, poorly presented, will not earn full marks.
-
Determine the integer for
which .
Determine the values of
and that satisfy the following
system of equations:
Determine the integers and
for which .
Show that there are no integers and for which .
The quadratic equation has solutions and
. Determine integers and for which the quadratic equation has solutions and .
Suppose that and are real numbers for which the
polynomial has
two distinct positive real roots. Prove that the polynomial has two
distinct positive real roots.
Suppose that , and . For each positive integer , let Prove that the polynomial
has three distinct positive real roots.
In the diagram, is a
rectangle with . Point
is on so that .
Suppose that and
. Determine the length of
.
Suppose that . If
the length of is an integer,
prove that the length of cannot
be an integer.
Suppose that for some
positive integer . Suppose further
that, for this value of , there
are exactly positive integers
so that when , the length of is an integer. Determine all possible
values of with .