THE SOUTH AFRICAN MATHEMATICS OLYMPIAD

Senior Second Round 2012

1. Answer A
The fixed cost is R1000 and the variable cost for n CD’s at R6 each is R6n, so the
total cost in rands is 1000 + 6n.

2. Answer B
(x + 3)(x + a) = x2 + (3 + a)x + 3a = x2 + bx − 12, so 3 + a = b and 3a = −12.
Thus a = −4 and b = −4 + 3 = −1.

3. Answer
√ √ E
5 × 5 = 51/2 51/3 = 53/6+2/6 = 55/6 .
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4. Answer C
If the radii of the two circles are r and 2r, then their areas are πr2 and π(2r)2 = 4πr2 .
The ratio is therefore 1 : 4.

5. Answer D
Among the numbers 1, . . . , 6 on the faces of the die, there are three odd numbers,
three even numbers, three prime numbers (2, 3, and 5), five factors of 12 (all ex-
cept 5), and four factors of 18 (all except 4 and 5). Therefore the number rolled is
most likely to be a factor of 12 (with probability 56 ).

6. Answer E
The slope of the line ax + 3y = 5 is − a3 and the slope of the line 2x + by = 3 is − 2b .
Since the lines are parallel, their slopes are equal, so − a3 = − 2b and ab = 6.

7. Answer D
799 + 7100 + 7101 = 799 (1 + 7 + 72 ) = 799 × 57 = 799 × 3 × 19. The largest prime factor
is 19.

8. Answer B
Note that B = 1714 > 1614 = (24 )14 = 256 = C, so B > C. All the others are less
than 256 : firstly, A = 3111 < 3211 = (25 )11 = 255 ; secondly, D = 3210 = (25 )10 = 250 ,
and finally E = 1278 < 1288 = (27 )8 = 256 .

9. Answer A √
is π. If O is the centre of both
The area of the circle is π, so each side of the square √
and M is the midpoint of AB, then OM = 21 π, so by Pythagoras’ theorem
figures √
√
AM = 1 − π4 and AB = 2AM = 4 − π.

10. Answer C
(20122 −20112 )+(20102 −20092 )+· · ·+(42 −32 )+(22 −1) = 4023+4019+· · ·+7+3,
using the formula for the difference of two squares. The series has 1006 terms, so
its sum is 12 (1006)(4023 + 3) = 1006 × 2013 ≈ 2 × 106 .

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11. Answer A
Suppose there are a girls and b boys, a muffin costs p rands and a sandwich costs
q rands. We know that ap + bq = bp + aq − 1, so (a − b)(p − q) = −1. Since both
factors are integers, one must be +1 and the other −1. We are also given that a > b,
so a − b = +1, i.e., there is one more girl.

12. Answer A
The single digit primes are 2, 3, 5, 7, of which we must choose two. The other two
digits must be chosen from 0, 1, 4, 6, 8, 9 so that the sum of the four digits is 19.
Ignoring order, the possible choices for the four digits are:

Primes Others
2, 3 6, 8;
2, 5 4, 8;
2, 7 1, 9; 4, 6
3, 5 none
3, 7 0, 9; 1, 8;
5, 7 1, 6;

This gives seven choices for the four digits, and each choice can be arranged in
4 × 3 × 2 × 1 = 24 different ways, making a total of 7 × 24 = 168 passwords.

13. Answer E
1099 − 1 = 999 . . . 999, with 99 digits. Subtracting another 98 gives 999 . . . 901,
for which the sum of the digits is 97 × 9 + 0 + 1 = 874.

14. Answer B
Each square is half the area of the square just bigger than it (which is the other
colour), so it is one-quarter of the area of the next larger square of the same colour.
Taking the area of the whole figure to be 1, we see that the area of the four largest
grey triangles is 41 , and each set of four grey triangles is 14 of the area of the previous
one. Thus the total grey area is 14 + 412 + 413 + · · · = 1−(1/4)
1/4
= 13 . Alternatively, we
could count grey area as positive and white area as negative. If we start with the
largest grey square, which has area 12 , we get 12 − 212 + 213 − 214 + . . . = 1−(−1/2)
1/2
= 31 .
(In both series we used the formula a/(1 − r) for the sum of an infinite geometric
series with first term a and common ratio r, with |r| < 1.)

15. Answer D
1
There is a 64 probability of choosing any one of the small cubes. Since none of the
five visible faces is painted, the chosen cube either has no painted faces or has one
painted face, which is out of sight (with probability 16 ). There are 2×2×2 = 8 small
cubes with no painted faces (from the middle of the large cube), and 6 × 4 = 24
with one painted face (four from each of the six large faces). The probability of no
8
painted face being visible is therefore 64 .1 + 24 . 1 = 16
64 6
3
.

16. Answer C
Measured in km from the original position of boat B, after t hours boat A will be

2
 100 − 9t east and boat B will be 12t south (see the figure on the left, below). By
Pythagoras’ theorem, the square of the distance between the boats will be

(100−9t)2 +(12t)2 = 225t2 −1800t+10000 = 225(t2 −8t)+10000 = 225(t−4)2 +6400.

This has a minimum

100 − 9t A A
9t
12t
y
p D
(100 − 9t)2 + (12t)2
B

B x C
Alternatively, for a geometrical approach one could fix the position of one of the
boats, and consider the motion of the second boat relative to the first. Consider,
for example, boat B at the origin of a fixed (x, y) coordinate system (see the figure
on the right, above). Relative to an observer on boat B, boat A will travel along
the line CE. Now BE : BC √ = 12 : 9 (the ratio of the two speeds) and therefore
BE = 3 · 100 and CE = 16
4
9
· 1002 + 1002 = 53 · 100. The distance is a minimum
when BD is perpendicular to CE. From similar triangles BD : BC = BE : CE
and hence BD = 43 · 1002 ÷ ( 53 · 100) = 80 km.

17. Answer D
By the midpoint theorem EG = 21 and GF = 1, so EF = 1 12 and AC = 3. If the
perpendicular from A to CD cuts CD extended at H, then by symmetry DH = 21 , so
CH = 32 . By Pythagoras’ theorem in triangle ACH we have AH2 = 32 − ( 23 )2 = 27 4
.
Then by Pythagoras’ theorem in triangle ADH we have AD2 = AH2 +( 21 )2 = 27 + 1
=
√ 4 4
7. Therefore AD = 7. Finally, GFCD is a parallelogram (opposite sides are parallel
√
and of equal length), so DG=CF, which equals DE, so DG = DE = 12 AD = 12 7.
Alternatively, instead of Pythagoras’ theorem, we can use Ptolemy’s theorem for
d
cyclic quadrilaterals. (Trapezium ABCD is cyclic because DAB+ d = CBA+
DCB d CDA, d
which equals 180◦ , since AB ∥ CD.) Ptolemy’s theorem says that the sum of the
products of the two pairs of opposite sides of a cyclic quadrilateral is equal to the
product of the diagonals, that is, AB · CD + AD · BC = AC · BD. This simplifies to
2 × 1 + AD2 = 32 , giving AD2 = 7, as before.

18. Answer D
Call the three-digit number A. It is helpful to write down a few factorials first:
0! = 1, 1! = 1, 2! = 2, 3! = 6, 4! = 24, 5! = 120, 6! = 720 and digits larger than
6 can be excluded since 7! is already a four-digit number. We can also exclude 6,
because if there is one 6 among the digits, then A > 6! = 720 and the hundreds
digit is too large. The digit 5 has to be included, since 4! + 4! + 4! = 72, which has

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 only two digits. Because 5! + 5! + 5! = 360, the first digit is at most 3. Because
3! + 5! + 5! = 246, the first digit is at most 2. Now 2! + 5! + 5! = 242 < 255 and
2! + 4! + 5! = 146 so the first digit is 1. Given that two of the digits are 1 and 5, we
know A = 121 + n!, where n is the third digit. By checking n = 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 we find
only n = 4 works and 145 = 1! + 4! + 5!. The sum of the three digits is therefore 10.
19. Answer B
Because the coefficients are symmetrical, it follows that if r is a root of the equation,
then so is r−1 . (Divide the equation through by x4 and you get the same equation,
but with x replaced by x−1 .) The left hand side is therefore the product of two
factors of the form (x − r)(x − r−1 ) = x2 − ax + 1, say, where a = r + r−1 . Thus we
can write
x4 +2x3 −22x2 +2x+1 = (x2 −ax+1)(x2 −bx+1) = x4 −(a+b)x3 +(2+ab)x2 −(a+b)x+1,
giving a + b = −2 and ab = −24. Thus a = −6 and b = 4 (or the other way around),
so the factors are x2 + 6x + 1 and x2 − 4x + 1. The roots are
√ √
x2 + 6x + 1 = 0 =⇒ x = −3 ± 2 2; x2 − 4x + 1 = 0 =⇒ x = 2 ± 3.
√
The largest root is therefore 2 + 3. Alternatively, divide the equation by x2 and
group the first and last terms together, as well as the second and fourth terms
1 ( 1) ( 1 )2 ( 1)
x2 + + 2 x + − 22 = 0 =⇒ x+ +2 x+ − 24 = 0
x2 x x x
where we have completed the square. Now put t = x + x−1 , then t2 + 2t − 24 =
(t − 4)(t + 6) = 0 which implies t = 4 or t = −6. Putting 4 = x + x−1 leads to
x2 − 4x + 1 = 0 as above, and putting −6 = x + x−1 leads to x2 + 6x + 1 = 0.
(Both these approaches work for polynomial equations of degree 4 with a symmetric
coefficient pattern.)
20. Answer C
First note that if f (n) ≤ n, then f (f (n)) ≤ f (n) (because if m < n then f (m) <
f (n)). It follows that f (f (n)) ≤ n, that is, 3n ≤ n, which is impossible, since n
is positive. Thus f (n) > n. Further, 1 < f (1) < f (f (1)) = 3, so f (1) = 2 and
f (2) = f (f (1)) = 3. Then f (3) = f (f (2)) = 6, and in the same way we can start
building up a table of values as follows.

n 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
f (n) 2 3 6 9 18

Next 6 = f (3) < f (4) < f (5) < f (6) = 9, so f (4) = 7 and f (5) = 8. This, together
with the fact that f (f (n)) = 3n, enables us to extend our table to

n 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
f (n) 2 3 6 7 8 9 12 15 18 21

Finally, as before, 18 = f (9) < f (10) < f (11) < f (12) = f (f (7)) = 21, so f (10) =
19 and f (11) = 20.