JMO mentoring scheme

January 2006 paper

‘A’ questions in each paper are meant to be straightforward - ‘B’ and ‘C’ questions more difficult.
Hints are included upside down at the bottom of the page. Fold this back and look at them when you need.
A1 The number 1 is written on a piece of paper and then passed round the room to each of 50 students in
turn. Each student must cross out the number seen and replace it with its double plus 1. The last
student does this then announces the final number. What should the final number be?
A2 Given a and b are any numbers, positive zero or negative, and √(a2 + 1) = b, which one (and one only)
of the following statements is correct?
(A) a ≥ 0 (B) b ≥ 0 (C) a2 + 1 ≥ b (D) b ≥ a2 + 1 (E) a > 1
B 3. You are given a Greek cross formed using 5 squares with sides of unit
length. A second Greek cross is formed by rotating, enlarging and
translating the first one so that four vertices of the first cross coincide
with four vertices of the second as shown in the diagram. Find the area
of the second cross (in surd form if necessary : √5 is an example of a
surd).
B4 At a meeting, every delegate shakes hands exactly once with every other
delegate. Between the women alone there are 36 handshakes. Between
the men alone there are 28 handshakes. How many handshakes are there
between men and women ?
B 5. ABCD is a trapezium whose sides touch the circle. AB is parallel D C
to DC and the angles at A and D are 90°. BC is 7 and the radius of
the circle is 1. What is the area of the trapezium?
C 6. Taken from New Scientist 26th November Enigma -
‘Dutch Squares’ by Richard England :
Een, vier and negen are Dutch for 1, 4 and 9. Assuming E, N, V, I,
R, G represent distinct digits in the encoded square numbers EEN,
VIER and NEGEN, find √(EEN × VIER × NEGEN). A B

C7 Prove that √(2 + √3) + √(2 − √3) = √6. Find a value for √(2 + √3) − √(2 − √3).
C8 A number n consists of 7 different digits and is divisible by each of these digits. Which digits can n
not contain ?

This is about rules of divisibility, particularly the rules for 5, 3 and 9. 8.

Let x = √3 then square the whole expression replacing x2 by √3 wherever it occurs. See section C of guide notes. 7.
No number starts with 0. Consider what digits and pairs of digits square numbers must end in. 6.
Lengths of tangents to the points of contact are equal. 5.
What is the way of working out how many handshakes can take place in a group of 5 people (for example)? 4.
Divide the large cross into five squares and examine the overlap of one of the them with the smaller cross. 3.
Careful about positives and negatives. 2.
Don’t use a calculator! 1.
Hints :