UK Intermediate

Mathematical Challenge

Thursday 2nd February 2017

SOLUTIONS LEAFLET

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This solutions leaflet for the IMC is sent
in the hope that it might provide all
concerned with some alternative
solutions to the ones they have
obtained. It is not intended to be
definitive. The organisers would be
very pleased to receive alternatives
created by candidates.
For reasons of space, these solutions
are necessarily brief. Extended
solutions, and some exercises for
further investigation, can be found at:

http://www.ukmt.org.uk/

The UKMT is a registered charity

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1. D
2  2  2  200  20  2  222  444
5 50 500 500 500 1000

 0.444.

2. B
When one third of the circle is shaded,
the angle at the centre of the shaded
sector is 360° ÷ 3 = 120°. In diagram A,
the sector angle is 90°. In diagram C,
the sector angle is 90° + (90° ÷ 2) = 135°.
So the correct diagram has a sector
angle greater than that shown in A, but
smaller than that shown in C. The only
such sector angle is that in B.

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3. A
Consider the units digits of the squares
of the integers 0, 1, 2, 3, ..., 9. These are
0, 1, 4, 9, 6, 5, 6, 9, 4, 1. Note that none
of these is 7, so no square ends in a 7.

4. D
All primes except 2 are odd. So the sum
of a pair of primes cannot be odd, and
so cannot be prime, unless one of the
pair is 2. We note that 5 = 2 + 3;
7 = 2 + 5; 9 = 2 + 7; 13 = 2 + 11. However,
11 = 2 + 9 and so it is not the sum of two
primes, as 9 is not prime.

5. B
Let the area of the inner circle be A. The
radius of the outer circle is twice that of
the inner circle, so its area is four times
that of the inner circle, that is 4A.

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Therefore the region between the two
circles has area 3A. As three of the six
equal segments are shaded, the total
shaded area is 3A ÷ 2. So the required
fraction is 3 A ÷ 4A = 3 .
2 8

6. D
The sum of the interior angles of a
quadrilateral is 360°. So the smallest
angle in the quadrilateral is
360
3× = 60° and the largest
3 456
360
angle is 6 × = 120°. Hence the
3 456
required difference is 60°.

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7. C
The smallest possible range of four
positive integers is 3. Let these integers
be n, n + 1, n + 2, n + 3. For the mean of
these four integers to equal 2017, we
n  n  1 n  2  n  3
have = 2017, that is
4
n = 2015 1 . So the smallest possible
2
range is not 3. However, note that the
integers 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019
have mean 2017 and range 4. So the
smallest possible range of the integers
is 4.

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8. D
Consider options B to E:
1.3542  1.354222... ;
1.3542  1.35424242... ;
1.3542  1.3542542... ;
1.3542  1.35423542... .
These are all greater than 1.3542, so
option A is not correct. The other four
options have the same units digit and
the first four digits after the decimal
point are the same in all. So the largest
option is that which has the largest
digit five places after the decimal point
and this is 1.3542 .

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9. B
First note that as 'ab' and 'ba' are two
digit numbers, neither a nor b is equal
to zero.
Now 'ab' − 'ba' = (10a + b) − (10b + a)
= 9a − 9b = 9 (a − b). So for the
difference to be as large as possible, a
must be as large as possible, that is 9,
and b must be as small as possible,
that is 1.
So the required difference is
91 − 19 = 72.

10. A
As shown in the diagram, the
perpendicular from A to BC meets BC
at D. Because AD is parallel to two
sides of the lower rectangle, ∠BAD =
43° and ∠DAC = 29° (corresponding
angles in both cases). The angles at

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point A sum to 360°,
so 43 + 29 + 90 + x + 90 = 360 and hence
x = 108.

x°

B D C

43° 29°

11. E
Let the area of the equilateral triangle of
side 1 be A. If similar figures have sides
which are in the ratio k : 1, then the ratio
of their areas is k2 : 1. So the areas of
the triangles with sides 2, 3, 4 are 4A,
9A, 16A respectively.

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So, as shown in the diagram, the total
shaded area is 3A + 8A + 15A = 26A.
Therefore n = 26.

3A 15A
A

8A

12. D
Let the ages of Alice, Bob, Clare, Dan
and Eve be a, b, c, d, e respectively. So,
for example, b + c = 40 and d + e = 44.
Adding these gives b + c + d + e = 84.
We are also told that
a + b + c + d + e = 105. The difference
between these equations shows that
a = 105 − 84 = 21. Hence b = 39 − 21 = 18

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and, similarly, c = 40 − 18 = 22,
d = 38 − 22 = 16 and e = 44 − 16 = 28.
So Dan is the youngest.

13. A
Pythagoras' Theorem shows that
PR = 32  42 = 5. So the perimeter of
triangle PQR is 12. Since the triangles
are similar and PR : PQ = 5 : 3 we see
that the perimeter of triangle PRS is 20.
Hence the perimeter of PQRS is
12 + 20 − 2 × PR = 32 − 10 = 22.

14. B
Note that 64 = 26 and 512 = 29.
Therefore (26)x = (29)5. So 26x = 245.
Hence 6x = 45, that is x = 7.5.

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15. C
Let ∠QRS = x°. Then, as SQ = QR,
∠RSQ = x° also. Now ∠SPQ = 2 × ∠RSQ
= 2x°. In triangle PQS, PQ = SQ, so
∠PSQ = ∠SPQ = 2x°. Therefore ∠PSR =
∠PSQ + ∠RSQ = 2x° + x° = 3x°. The sum
of the interior angles of a triangle is
180°. So, considering triangle PSR,
∠SPR + ∠PSR + ∠PRS = 180°. Therefore
2x° + 3x° + x° = 180°.
So 6x = 180, that is x = 30.

16. D
Let the two positive integers be m and
n. Then mn = 2(m + n) = 6(m − n).
So 2m + 2n = 6m − 6n, that is 8n = 4m.
Therefore m = 2n. Substituting for m
gives: (2n)n = 2(2n + n). So 2n2 = 6n,
that is 2n (n − 3) = 0. Therefore n = 0 or
3. However, n is positive so the only

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solution is n = 3. Therefore
m = 2 × 3 = 6 and m + n = 6 + 3 = 9.

17. B
Since VWXYZ is a pentagon, the sum of
its interior angles is 540°. Now ∠ZVW is
an interior angle of a regular pentagon
and so is 108°. Both ∠VWX and ∠XYZ
are 90°; and the reflex angle ∠YZV = 90°
+ 108°. Therefore 540° = 108° + 90° + 90°
+ 90° + 108° + x°.
Hence x = 540 − 486 = 54.

Z
x° X
Y

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18. E
Let the capacity of the tank be x litres.
Then 30 = 5 x  4 x  25 x  24 x  x .
6 5 30 30
So x = 30 × 30 = 900.

19. E
Let square PQRS have side 3x cm.
Then, as PT : TQ = 1 : 2, PT = x cm.
Similarly, US = x cm. In triangles PTS
and UST, PT = US, ∠PTS = ∠UST
(alternate angles) and TS is common to
both. So the triangles are congruent
(SAS). Therefore UT = PS = 3x cm and
∠TUS = ∠SPT = 90°. Hence PTUS is a
rectangle, which has perimeter 40 cm.
So 40 = 2(3x + x) = 8x. Therefore x = 5
and the area of PTUS, in cm2, is
15 × 5 = 75.

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 P T Q

3x
cm

S U R

20. D
First note that as the length of each
side of the heptagon is 4, the radius of
each of the seven arcs is 2. The sum of
the interior angles of a heptagon is
(7 − 2) × 180° = 900°. So the sum of the
angles subtended by the circular arcs
at the centres of the circles of radius
2 cm is 7 × 360° − 900° = (7− 5 ) × 360°
2
= 9 × 360°. Therefore the total shaded
2
area is equal to the total area of

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9 circles of radius 2. So the total
2
shaded area is 9  π  22 = 18π.
2

21. A
Let the number of Brachycephalus
frogs and common frogs in the bucket
be b and c respectively. Note that each
Brachycephalus frog has 6 toes and 4
fingers, while a common frog has 10
toes and 8 fingers.
Therefore, 6b + 10c = 122 (1);
4b + 8c = 92 (2). Subtracting (2) from (1)
gives 2b + 2c = 30, so b + c = 15.

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22. C
Consider triangles MON and MPN. Note
that MO = MP = 4 because M is the
midpoint of OP; ∠OMN = ∠PMN = 90°
because MN is perpendicular to OP;
side NM is common to both triangles.
So triangles MON and MPN are
congruent (SAS). Therefore
PN = ON = 8 because ON is a radius of
the circle. By Pythagoras' Theorem in
triangle OMN, ON2 = OM2 + MN2, so
82 = 42 + MN2. Therefore
MN2 = 82 − 42 = 48. So MN = 48.
The perimeter of triangle PNM is PN +
NM + MP = 8 + 48 + 4 = 12 + 48 .
Now 6.5 < 48 < 7, since
42.25 < 48 < 49 . So 48 is
closer in value to 7 than it is to 6.

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So 12 + 48 is nearer to 19 than it is to
18.

23. D
Let the five positions in the photograph
be numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Then the boys
may occupy a total of six positions: 1
and 3; 1 and 4; 1 and 5; 2 and 4; 2 and 5;
3 and 5. For each of these positions, the
boys may be arranged in two ways as
they can interchange places. So there
are 12 ways of positioning the boys. For
each of these, the girls must be placed
in three positions. In each case, the first
girl may choose any one of three
positions, the second girl may choose
either of two positions and then there is
just one place remaining for the third
girl. So for each arrangement of the two
boys there are 3 × 2 × 1 different ways

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of arranging the three girls. Therefore
the total number of line-ups is
12 × 6 = 72.

24. C
The product may be written
3 4 5 6
2 3 4 5

3 4 5 6
=     .
2 3 4 5
Notice that the numerator of each
fraction is cancelled out by the
denominator of the following fraction
and the only terms which are not
cancelled are the denominator of the
first fraction and the numerator of the
last fraction. So the nth term of the
n2 n  2 As n ≥ 1 the
sequence is 
2 2
product is not equal to 1.

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The product increases with n. So the
next possible integer value to consider
is 2 and this does occur when n = 6 as
6 2 = 4 = 2.
2
So the smallest number of terms
required for the product to be an
integer is 6.

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25. A
The diagram shows part of the diagram
in the question. Point O is the centre of
the circle and points A, B, C, D, E, F, are
as shown.

B A F
1
D
C E
2 αx

Consider triangle BOF: BF is equal in

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Therefore ∠BOF = 60°, so the area of
sector OBF = 60 × π × 22 = 2 π .
360 3
By Pythagoras' Theorem:
OA = 22  12  3.
So the area of triangle OBF =
1 2 3 3 . Therefore the area of
2
the segment bounded by arc BF and
line segment BF = 2 π  3.
3
The area of rectangle BFEC =
BF × AD = 2 × ( 3 − x).
The shaded region has area 2, so the
area of the above segment + area of
rectangle BFEC = area of the given
square minus 2 = 4 − 2 = 2.

Hence 2 π  3 2 3  2 x  2.
3

So x = π 
3
 1.
3 2

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