Algebraic Expressions and Equations

1.

S96 Q6
2a 2 3b 2
2
Suppose
. What is the ratio a : b?

2
2
41
a b
2.
S96 Q7
In the figure below, ABCD is a rectangle and ABGE, HFGC, DEFH are squares. What is
the ratio of AB to BC?
H
D
C
E

3.
S97 Q2
Which of the following is the largest?
(A)
317.9 682.1 (B)
317.3 682.7 (C)
(E)
493.7 506.3

271.5 728.5 (D)

610.8 389.2

4.
S98 Q1
Ann sells an item at $10 less than the list price and receives 10% of her selling price as
her commission. Bill sells the same item at $20 less than the list price and receives 20%
of his selling price as his commission. If they both get the same commission, what is the
list price in dollars?
5.
S98 Q23
Consider the system of equations in x, y, z, w:
8x + 4y + 6z + 2w
x + 7y + 3z + 5w
5x + 3y + 7z + w
2x + 6y + 4z + 8w
Find the value of 100 + x.

= 32
= 32
= 32
= 32

6.
S98 Q24
Suppose a, b, c, d are four numbers such that a + b + c + d = 0 and
abc + bcd + cda + dab = 3. Find the value of a 3 b 3 c 3 d 3 .
7.
S00 Q8
If x and y are two real number such that xy = 24 and x + y = 11, find the value of x 2 y 2 .
8.
S00 Q13
Let x, y, z be three positive real numbers such that x + y + z = 6. Find the largest possible
value of xy + yz + zx.
<1>

Circles
1.
S96 Q17
In the diagram, AB and CB are diameters of semicircles ADB and CDB respectively. The
line AD is a tangent of the semicircle CPB at P. Suppose PBC = 27. Find PAC.

D
P

2.
S97 Q10
In the diagram, the two circles meet each other at C. The diameter AB of the bigger circle
is tangent to the smaller circle at D. If DE bisects ADC and BAC = 27, find BCD.

3.
S97 Q14
In the diagram, TPA and TQB are tangents to the circle at P and Q respectively. If
PQ = PR, which of the following must be true?
I.
APR and QRP
II.
QTP and QPR
III.
QPR and APR
B

Q
R

<2>

Circles

4.
S98 Q21
In the figure below, ABCD is a convex quadrilateral, BAC = 20, BCA = 35,
BDC = 40, BDA = 70 and AC intersects BD at M. Find the size of BMC in
degrees.
C
D

5.
S99 Q16
In a square ABCD of area 666 cm2, O is its centre, P is a point inside ABCD such that
OPB = 45. Suppose that PA : PB = 5 : 7. Find the length of PB in cm.

6.
S00 Q7
Let ABCD be a convex quadrilateral such that AB = BC = AC = AD. Suppose
BDC = x, find the value of x.
More Challenging Problems
7.
S98 Q29
In the figure below, there are 1999 circles C1 , C 2 , , C1999 between two lines l1 and l 2
such that for i = 1, 2, , 1998,
(i)
C i touches Ci 1 ,
(ii)
(iii)

C i is tangent to both l1 and l 2 and

the radius ri of C i is less than the radius ri 1 of Ci 1 .

Suppose ri = 1 cm and r1000 = 13 cm, find the value of r1999 in cm.

<3>

Circles
8.
S99 Q23
Let A, B, C, D be four points on a circle in that order and E the intersection of AC and
BD. Suppose that BC = CD = 4, AE = 6 and the lengths of BE and DE are integers. Find
the length of BD.

<4>

Divisibility and Prime Factorisation

1.
S95 Q5
How many pairs of positive integers a, b are there such that a 2 b 2 289 ?

2.

S95 Q18

In how many ways can the fraction

1
be written as the sum of the reciprocals of two
35

natural numbers?

3.

S96 Q15

What of the following number is prime?

(A)
(E)

3147 5 21
6
22 1

(B)

22 1
4

(C)

147 4 1212

(D)

134 11

4.
S96 Q19
What is the number of divisors of 210 37 56 ? Here the divisors of 210 37 56 include
1 and itself.

5.
S97 Q20
Let x and y be positive integers. Find y if x is a perfect square and the difference of x y
and x + y is 1000.

6.
S97 Q21
The expenses of a party numbering 43 were $229. If each man $10, each woman paid $5
and each child paid $2, what was the largest possible number of men in the party?

7.
S97 Q26
Lims stamp collection consists of three albums. Two tenths of his stamps are in the first
album, several sevenths in the second album, and there are 303 stamps in the third album.
How many stamps does Lim have?

8.
S98 Q19 (repeated in a different form in J03 Q28)
What is the largest integer n such that n 2 is divisible by every even number 2 and 20
inclusively?

<5>

Divisibility and Prime Factorisation

9.
S98 Q28
A point (x, y) in the xy-plane is called a lattice point if both x and y are integers. For any
integer n, let f(n) be the number of lattice points on the line segment joining (0, 0) and
(n, n + 5). For instance, we have f(0) = 6 and f(1) = 2. Find the value of
f (1) f (2) f (3) f (1998) .

10.
S00 Q1
Find the number of positive prime numbers P less than 100 and such that one of the digits
of P is 3 or 7.

11.
S00 Q3
Find the number of positive 3-digit integers which are divisible by both 7 and 13.

12.

S00 Q15

Find the smallest positive integer N such that

N
N
is the square of an integer and
is the
2
5

cube of an integer.

13.
S00 Q20
Let n be a positive 2-digit integer. Suppose n2 is a four-digit number whose last two digits
are the same as those of n. What is n?

14.

S00 Q21

Find the positive integer x such that

x2
is a prime number.
740 x

15.
S00 Q27
Let p1 , p2 , p3 be three positive prime numbers such that
p1 p2 p3 129 141 147 320 .
Find the value of p1 p2 p3 .

<6>

Indices and Logarithm

1.
S95 Q1
Which of the following numbers is the largest?
3

(A)

5 6

(B)

63 5 (C)

53 6 (D)

5 6 (E)

6 5

2.

S95 Q3
4 45 45 45 65 65 65 65 65 65
If

2 n , what is the value of n?

35 35 35
25 25
5

3.
S95 Q15
If log 2 [log 1 (log 2 x)] log 3 [log 1 (log 3 y)] log 5 [log 1 (log 5 z )] 0 , then
2

(A)
(E)

zx y
xz y

4.

S96 Q5

What does log

(B)

x yz

(C)

yzx

(D)

z yx

25
5
32
equal to?
2 log log
16
9
81

5.
S96 Q12
Let a 6 , b 2 3 and c ( 2 ) 3 . Which of the following is true?
(A)
(E)

abc
acb

(B)

cba

(C)

cab

6.
S97 Q8
Suppose log 10 2 a and log 10 3 b , what is the value of log 5 12 ?

7.

S98 Q2
2

27
.
Find the value of 100 6 27

<7>

(D)

bac

Indices and Logarithm

8.
S98 Q10
Let x, y, z be three number all bigger than 1 and let w be a positive number such that
log x w 24 , log y w 40 , log xyz w 12 .
Find the value of log z w .

9.

S99 Q17

If 60 3 and 60 5 , find the value of 12

a

1 a b

2 (1b )

10.

S00 Q2
11
5
Simplify

7 5.
2 5 3
52

11.

S00 Q4

x 1
Find the real number x satisfying log 7 x log 7 1 .
8 7

12.
S00 Q6
Let x and y be two real number such that 30 x 3 and 30 y 5 . Find the value of
30 x 2 y 1 in simplest form.
More Challenging Problems
13.

S95 Q12

Suppose xy = 144 and log y x log x y

14.

10
x y
with x, y > 0. Find the value of
.
3
2

S96 Q21
1

Solve the equation 9 9 x 16 15 x 5 25 x .

15.

S99 Q14
1
1
1
Let x (1999) 2000 (1999) 2000 . Find the value of
2

<8>

1 x

2000

Modular Arithmetic
1.
S95 Q14
Find the number of pairs (m, n) of integers which satisfy the equation
m3 6m 2 5m 27n 3 9n 2 9n 1.

2.
S95 Q22
Find the last digit of the number (2 1)(2 2 1)(2 4 1)(28 1)(216 1)(232 1)(2 64 1) .

3.
S96 Q2
Find the smallest positive integer x such that when x is divided by 4, the remainder is 1;
x 1
1
x 1
when
is divided by 3, the remainder is 1; and when 4
is divided by 2, the
4
3
remainder is 1.

4.
S97 Q3
Which of the following is divisible by 8?
(A)
69678478
(B)
765434
(E)
none of the above

(C)

483210

(D)

7184632

14326225

(D)

28313041

5.
S97 Q9
What is the unit digit of (1997)1997?

6.
S97 Q12
Which of the following is not a perfect square?
(A)
3196944
(B)
6431296
(C)
(E)
431490910

7.
S99 Q10
What is the remainder of 123456789 4 when it is divided by 8?

8.
S99 Q11
What is the smallest positive integer such that it has remainders 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 when divided
by 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 respectively?

9.
S99 Q15
Let n be a positive integer. Suppose that the tens digit of n 2 is 7. Find the units digit of
n2 .

<9>

Modular Arithmetic
10.
S00 Q19
Suppose 1ababababab is an 11-digit integer which is divisible by 99. Find the value of
a + b.

11.
S00 Q22
Find the largest possible remainder when the square of a prime number is divided by 24.

12.

S00 Q26

For any positive integer n, let a n be the remainder when 7 n is divided by 100. Find the
value of a1 a2 a3 a100 .

13.
S00 Q29
Find the largest 3-digit integer abc satisfying 14a + 49b + 2c = 263.

< 10 >

Patterns, Sequences and Sums

1.
S95 Q2
Given that the sum of the first 100 odd positive integers is p. find the sum of the first 100
even positive integers.

2.

S96 Q13

Evaluate the sum

1
1
1
.
2
2
2 1 3 1
15 1
2

3.
S97 Q5
Suppose three numbers 1, a and b are three consecutive terms of both an Arithmetic
Progression (AP) and a Geometric Progression (GP). How many possible pairs (a, b) are
there?

4.
S98 Q4
The first four terms of an arithmetic progression are x, y, 1998, 2y. Find the value of x.

5.
S98 Q13
The even numbers 2, 4, 6, 8, are put into groups G1, G2, G3, in the following way:
G1 = {2, 4}, G2 = {6, 8, 10, 12}, G3 = {14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24},
so that the group G2 = contains 2n numbers. Find the value of x if 1998 appears in Gx.
6.
S98 Q16
Find the positive square root of 444444888889.

7.
S99 Q2
Suppose that the three dimensions of a certain rectangular solid are in geometric
progression, and total surface area is equal to the sum of all the edges. Find the volume of
this solid.

8.
S99 Q5
If f(n) = 2 f(n 1) + 1 for all positive integral values of n, and f(1) = 1, find a formula for
f(n) in terms of n when n is a positive integer.

9.
S99 Q8
Suppose that a p , a q and a r are the p-th, q-th and r-th terms of an arithmetic
progression. Find the sum (q r )a p (r p)aq ( p q)ar .

< 11 >

Patterns, Sequences and Sums

10.
S99 Q19
Find the number of possible integers n such that there are exactly two positive integers
88 n
88
between 19
and 19
.
n
More Challenging Problems
11.
S99 Q24
Find the sum 11!2 2!3 3! 9 9!.

12.
S00 Q30
Let A be the set of all integers in the form n (n 1) (n k ) , where n, k are
positive integers. Suppose the elements of A are arranged in ascending order. Find the
2000th number.

< 12 >

Properties of numbers and Inequality

1.
S95 Q17
If the sum of positive numbers a and b is equal to 1, then the smallest possible value
1 1
is
a b
(A)

(B)

(C)

(D)

(E)

None of the above

2.
S96 Q1
Suppose x and y are positive real numbers. Which of the following expressions must be
larger than x and y?
(A)

xy

(B)

(E)

( x y 1) 2

( x y) 2

(C)

x2 y

(D)

( x y) 3

3.
S96 Q10
Find the maximum value of a such that for any positive real x, y, if x y = 10, then
xy a.
(A)

(B)

(C)

10

(D)

10 4

(E)

10 8

4.
S96 Q11
Which of the following is true?
(A)
(C)
(E)

12345 12347 > (12346) 2 (B)

(1001) 2 + (1097) 2 < (1001)(1097)(1.99)
12340 12352 > (12346) 2
(1001) 2 + (1097) 2 < (1001)(1097)(1.9999) (D)
None of the above

5.
S96 Q23
Suppose a, b, c, d, e satisfy the following system of equations: a + b + c = 1,
b + c + d = 2, c + d + e = 3, d + e + a = 4 and e + a + b = 5. Write down the order of
a, b, c, d, e.

6.
S97 Q1
Suppose a given circle and a given square have equal area. If the perimemter of the circle
and the square are P1 and P2 respectively, then
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
P1 = P2
P1 < P2
P1 > P2
P1 = 12 P2
(E)
None of the above.

< 13 >

Properties of numbers and Inequality

7.
S97 Q15
Let M = 54 76 89
(A)
(E)

9998
9999

M 2 = 0.0004 (B)
M 2 > 0.04

. Which of the following is true?

M 2 < 0.0004 (C)

< 14 >

M 2 > 0.0004 (D)

M 2 = 0.04

Trigonometrical Identities
1.
S95 Q24
Suppose 0 2 and
cos cos cos 0 = sin sin sin 0 = 0.
Find the value of .

2.
S96 Q18
Find sin 2 x sin 2 ( x 1) sin 2 ( x 2) sin 2 ( x 179) .

3.

S97 Q6

1
1
What is the value of sin 1 cos 1 ?
4
4

4.
S97 Q13
Suppose

1 cos
1 cos
x

=
,
1 cos
1 cos sin
where 0 180 . Find the value of x.

5.
S98 Q11
If tan x + tan y = 24 and cot x + cot y = 28, find the value of tan(x + y).

6.
S98 Q27
Find the value of 16(cos 2 10 cos 2 50 sin 2 40 sin 80 ) .

7.
S99 Q29
Let 0 . Find the minimum value of
100

3 (sin )(1 cos )

2
8.

S00 Q11

If 3 sin 4 cos 5 , what is the value of 3 sin

< 15 >

cos

Trigonometry
1.
S95 Q4
In triangle ABC (see diagram), if A : B : C = 1 : 2 : 3, then a : b: c is
A

b
c
C
a

B
(A)
(D)

1:2:3
(B)
sin 1 : sin 2 : sin 3

2.
S95 Q8
If and are between 0 and
(A)
(E)

+<
>

(B)

(C)
cos 1 : cos 2 : cos 3
1: 3 :2
(E)
None of the above

, and cos > sin , then

+ = 2
(C)
+>

3.
S96 Q3
Let a = tan 224, b = sin 136, c = cos 310. Then
(A)
a<b<c
(B)
b<c<a
(C)
(E)
b<a<c

c<a<b

(D)

>

(D)

c<b<a

4.
S96 Q4
In triangle ABC, (AC + AB) : (AB + BC) : (BC + AC) = 4 : 5 : 6. What is the ratio of
sin BAC : sin ABC : sin ACB?
(A)
6:5:4 (B)
7:5:3 (C)
11:10:9
(D)
12:11:8
(E)
7:6:4

5.
S96 Q14
Let triangle ABC be a right angled triangle with ACB = 90. Suppose CD AB and
BD : DA = 1 : 3. Find CAB.

6.
S97 Q4
Which of the following is the largest?
(A)
(D)

tan 48 + cot 48
sin 48 + cos 48

(B)
(E)

tan 48 + cos 48
(c)
(sin 48)2 + (cos 48)2

< 16 >

cot 48 + sin 48

Trigonometry
7.
S97 Q7
In triangle ABC, A = 30, c = 6. Find all the values of a such that it is possible to draw
two distinct triangles as shown in the figure.
B
B
c

c
a
A

(A)
(E)

0<a<3
a>6

(B)

C
0<a<6

(C)

3<a<6

(D)

a>3

8.
S97 Q17
In triangle ABC, suppose AC = 2(BC)sin B. Find A.

9.
S98 Q3
If sin x = 3 cos x, find the value of 900(sin x)(cos x).

10.
S00 Q10
A road is in the shape of a regular hexagon (six-sided figure) with each side of length
4 km. Suppose a car starts at a corner and moves along the road for a distance of 14 km.
Let the distance of the car from its starting point be x km. Find the value of x2.

< 17 >

Quadratic equations
1.
S96 Q9
Obtain the conditions satisfied by k if the quadratic equation
k ( x 2 x 1) x 2 3x 1 0
has real roots.

2.
S97 Q19
Solve the equation (( x 1997) 2 1996) 2 1996 2 .

3.
S98 Q6
Find the sum of all the solutions of the equation
6
4
.
x
54 x

4.
S98 Q7
A stone is dropped into a dry well and the sound of the stone striking the bottom is heard
7.7 seconds after it is dropped. Assume that the stone falls 16t2 feet in t seconds and that
the velocity of sound is 1120 feet per second. Find the depth of the well in feet.

5.
S98 Q9
If the perimeter of a rectangle is 16 2 cm, what is the smallest possible value of the
length of one of its diagonals in cm?

6.
S99 Q4
Find the number of lines which are tangent to both the parabolas y x 2 and
y x 2 8x 16 .

7.

S99 Q7

Solve the following equation for x:

5 x
x 1 3

5 x 2
x 1

8.
S99 Q12
The polynomial x 3 px 2 qx r has three distinct integral roots. If r is a prime number,
what is q?

< 18 >

Quadratic equations
9.
S99 Q22
Let x1 , x2 , x3 and x 4 be roots of the equation x 4 x 1 0 . Find the value of

x18 x 28 x38 x 48 .

10.
S00 Q28
Let p(x) be a polynomial such that its leading coefficient (i.e. coefficient of the highest
power of x) is 1, and
27(x 1)p(x) = (x 27)p(3x)
for all real number x. Find the value of p(4).
More Challenging Problems
1.
S95 Q11
How many distinct roots for x does the following equation have?
x

2 3 2 3 4

2.
S95 Q21
For each n, let the roots of the quadratic equation x 2 (2n 1) x n 2 0 be n and n .
Determine the value of
1
1
1
.

( 3 1)( 3 1) ( 4 1)( 4 1)
( 20 1)( 20 1)

3.
S96 Q22
Let f(x) = (5 p)x2 6x + (p + 5). Find all real values p such that f ( x) 0 for all
positive values x.

< 19 >

Triangles
1.
S95 Q5
In triangle ABC, AB = AC, BAC = 40 and D is a point in triangle ABC. If
BAC = BAC, calculate BDC.

2.
S95 Q13
A given triangle has integral lengths and its perimeter is 8 cm. What is the area of this
triangle?

3.
S95 Q19
Consider the quadrilateral ABCD whose diagonal intersect at O. If Area (ACB) = 5,
Area (BCD) = 9, Area (CDA) = 10 and Area(DAB) = 6, find the area of triangle AOB.

4.
S95 Q20
In a right angled triangle ABC, B = 41. Square PQRS is inscribed as shown. Let AB = c
1 1 2
and the altitude from C to AB be h. If , find the length of a side of the square.
h c 3
A
P
Q

S
C

5.
S96 Q8
In the diagram, the sides of triangle ABC are produced as shown. If AB = AC, BG = BH
and AK = KG, find BAC.
A

C
K

< 20 >

Triangles
6.
S97 Q23
In the diagram, AN = BM = AB, C = 35. Find BAC.
C

N
P
B

7.
S97 Q24
In the diagram, the areas of BDO, ODC, OCE and OFA are 10 cm2, 15 cm2, 20 cm2, and
15 cm2 respectively. Find the area of OFB.
A
E

F
O
B

8.
S98 Q14
In ABC, AB = 16, BC = 17 and CA = 18. M is the midpoint of AB and H is the foot of the
altitude from A to BC. Find the length of MH.

9.
S98 Q17
In ABC, AB = BC, ABC = 20, and M is a point on AB such that BM = AC. Find the size
of AMC in degrees.

10.
S99 Q6
In a triangle ABC, the angle BAC is a right angle and AB = 2AC. AD is the perpendicular
BD
.
from A to BC. Find the numerical value of
DC

11.
S99 Q9
In ABC, let A = 60 and B = 30. A line passes through C, divides ABC into two
pieces of equal area, and cuts AB at M. What is the value of CMB?

< 21 >

Triangles
12.
S99 Q28
In the figure below, suppose that AB = AD and BD = AC. Find BCD.

D
100

C
13.
S00 Q9
Let ABCD be a trapezium such that BC // AD, 2AB = CD, BC < AD and
ABC + ABC = 120. Suppose the smallest angle of the trapezium is x. Find the value
of x.

14.
S00 Q18
ABCD is a square-shaped sheet of paper of area 81 cm2. A square of area 1 cm2 with one
vertex at A and sides parallel to those of ABCD is removed from ABCD. Then the
remaining part is cut into k congruent triangles (without pasting). Find the smallest
possible value of k.

< 22 >

Pythagoras Theorem
1.
S95 Q10
Pictured below are two semicircles. AB is tangent to the smaller semicircle and is parallel
to CD. Given AB = 24, find the area of the shaded region.

2.
S96 Q16
In the diagram, ABCD is a square with each side of length 1. Suppose BPC is an
equilateral triangle. Find the area of the triangle BPD.
A
D

3.
S98 Q12
The length of the perimeter of a right-angled triangle is 180 cm and the length of the
altitude perpendicular to the hypotenuse is 36 cm. Find the length of the hypotenuse in
cm.

4.
S99 Q26
In the following figure, AB = AC, BAD is a right angle, BD = 36 cm and DC = 14 cm.
Find the length of AB.
A

< 23 >

Pythagoras Theorem
5.
S00 Q14
Let ABC be a right-angled triangle with A = 90, and let D be the midpoint of BC.
Suppose AD = 1 cm, the perimeter of ABC is 2 8 cm, and the area of ABC is x cm2.
Find the value of x.

6.
S00 Q16
ABCD is a trapezium with AB // DC. Suppose AB = 3 cm, BC = 5 cm, CD = 6 cm,
DA = 4 cm and the area of the trapezium is x cm2. Find the value of x.

7.
S00 Q17
In a convex quadrilateral of area 64 cm2, the sum of the lengths of a diagonal and a pair
of opposite sides is 16 2 cm. Suppose the length of the other diagonal is x cm, find the
value of x.

< 24 >