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Pizza and Problems: Fall 2008

This document contains 9 math problems assigned as homework on October 31, 2008 due the same day. The problems cover a range of topics from solving systems of equations to number theory to age word problems. A wiki page with the URL http://msenux.redwoods.edu/wiki/index.php/Pizza_and_Problems is provided for editing solutions. The problems are drawn from various sources including a book by Martin Gardner and past math exams.

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John Anderson
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52 views

Pizza and Problems: Fall 2008

This document contains 9 math problems assigned as homework on October 31, 2008 due the same day. The problems cover a range of topics from solving systems of equations to number theory to age word problems. A wiki page with the URL http://msenux.redwoods.edu/wiki/index.php/Pizza_and_Problems is provided for editing solutions. The problems are drawn from various sources including a book by Martin Gardner and past math exams.

Uploaded by

John Anderson
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Pizza and Problems

Fall 2008
Assigned on: October 31, 2008 Due on: October 31, 2008
Problem 1 Find all pairs of real numbers (x, y) satisfying the system of equations
1 1
+ = (x2 + 3y2 )(3x2 + y2 )
x 2y
1 1
− = 2(y4 − x4 )
x 2y
Problem 2 Determine all integers n > 1 such that form
2n + 1
n2
is an integer.
Problem 3 In Problematical Recreations, No. 7, a series of puzzle booklets once issued annually
by Litton Industries in Beverly Hills, California, the following problem appeared. A man
places his beer glass on the bar three times to produce the set of triple rings shown in the
figure that follows. He does it carefully, so that each circle passes through the center of the
other two.

The bartender thinks the area of mutual overlap (shaded) is less than one-fourth of the
area of a circle, but the customer says it is more than one-fourth. Who is right?
The solution can be obtained the hard way by finding the area of an equilateral triangle
inscribed in he shaded section and then adding the areas of the three segments of the circles

Assigned: October 31, 2008 1 Due: October 31, 2008


Pizza and Problems

on each side of the triangle. A reader of this column, Tad Dunne of Willdale in Ontario,
sent me a beautiful graphical “look and see” solution that involves no geometrical formulas
and almost no arithmetic, although it does make use of a repeating wallpaper pattern. Can
you rediscover it?
Problem 4 If a penny rolls around another penny without slipping, how many times will it
rotate in making one revolution?
Problem 5 The integers 1, 3, 8, and 120 form a set with a remarkable property: the product of
any two integers is one less than a perfect square. Find a fifth number that can be added to
the set without destroying this property.
Problem 6 Find a number base other than 10 in which 121 is a perfect square.
Problem 7 (Water and Wine) There are two beakers, one containing water, the other wine. A
certain amount of water is transferred to the wine, then the same amount of the mixture is
transferred back to the water. Is there now more water in the wine than there is wine in the
water?
Problem 8 Let a, b, c, and d be integers with a > b > c > d > 0. Suppose that

ac + bd = (b + d + a − c)(b + d − a + c).

Prove that ab + cd is not prime.


Problem 9 Three times Dick’s age plus Tom’s age equals twice Harry’s age. Double the cube
of Harry’s age is equal to three times the cube of Dick’s age added to the cube of Tom’s age.
There respective ages are relatively prime to each other. What is the sum of the squares of
their ages?

1 Wiki Page
Our wiki page for Pizza and Problems is located at the following URL:
http://msenux.redwoods.edu/wiki/index.php/Pizza_and_Problems
If interested in editing solutions on this page, you need an account. If you wish an account,
post an email to [email protected] that includes a username and password which
you wish to use to log into the wiki. 1

1 Someproblems on this page are extracted from a wonderful text by Martin Gardner, The Collosal Book of Short Puzzles
and Problems, Norton Publishing. Other problems come from past Putnam and Math Olympiad examinations, and
some come from Contest Problem Books published by the American Mathematical Society.

Assigned: October 31, 2008 2 Due: October 31, 2008

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