UK SENIOR MATHEMATICAL CHALLENGE

November 8th 2011

EXTENDED SOLUTIONS
These solutions augment the printed solutions that we send to schools. For convenience, the
solutions sent to schools are confined to two sides of A4 paper and therefore in many cases are
rather short. The solutions given here have been extended. In some cases we give alternative
solutions, and we have included some Extension Problems for further investigations.

The Senior Mathematical Challenge (SMC) is a multiple choice contest, in which you are
presented with five options, of which just one is correct. It follows that often you can find the
correct answers by working backwards from the given alternatives, or by showing that four of
them are not correct. This can be a sensible thing to do in the context of the SMC, and we often
first give a solution using this approach.

However, this does not provide a full mathematical explanation that would be acceptable if you
were just given the question without any alternative answers. So for each question we have
included a complete solution which does not use the fact that one of the given alternatives is
correct. Thus we have aimed to give full solutions with all steps explained. We therefore hope
that these solutions can be used as a model for the type of written solution that is expected when
presenting a complete solution to a mathematical problem (for example, in the British
Mathematical Olympiad and similar competitions).

We welcome comments on these solutions, and, especially, corrections or suggestions for

improving them. Please send your comments,
either by e-mail to: [email protected]
or by post to: SMC Solutions, UKMT Maths Challenges Office, School of Mathematics,
University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT.
Quick Marking Guide

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D D A/B D B C D C B C C D D C B E A E B B C A B B C
supported by

 UKMT, 2011. These solutions may be used freely within your school or college. You may,
without further permission, post these solutions on a website which is accessible only to staff
and students of the school or college, print out and distribute copies within the school or
college, and use them within the classroom. If you wish to use them in any other way, please
consult us at the address given above.
1. Which of the numbers below is not a whole number?
2011  0 2011  1 2011  2 2011  3 2011  4
A B C D E
1 2 3 4 5

Solution: D
2011  3 2014 1007
It is straightforward to check that   is not a whole number, but that all the
4 4 2
other fractions given above are whole numbers. A more general approach to the question is as
2011  (n  1) 2010  n 2010 2011  (n  1)
follows. We have that    1 , and therefore, is a whole
n n n n
2010
number if and only if is a whole number, that is, if and only if n is a factor of 2010. Since 2010
n
has the prime factorization 2  3  5  67 , its distinct factors are 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 10, 15, 30, 67, 134, 201,
335, 402, 670, 1005 and 2010. These are the only positive whole number values of n for which
2011  (n  1)
is also a whole number.
n

Extension Problems
2013  (n  1)
1.1 List the positive whole numbers for which is an integer.
n
1.2 Find all the positive whole numbers, k, such that for n  1 , 2, 3 and 5, but not for n  4 ,
k  (n  1)
is an integer.
n
1.3 Let r be a positive whole number. Find all the positive whole numbers, k, such that for all
k  (n  1)
positive integers n  r , is a whole number.
n

2. Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. Having filled the pail to the full, Jack fell
2
down spilling 3
of the water, before Jill caught the pail. She then tumbled down the hill,
2
spilling 5
of the remainder.

What fraction of the pail does the remaining water fill?

11 1 4 1 1
A B C D E
15 3 15 5 15

Solution: D

2 1 3
After Jack spills 3
of the water, there remains 3
. Jill spills 25 of this, leaving 5
of it. So there

remains 3
5
 13  15 of the water.

UKMT, Senior Mathematics Challenge 2011, Solutions 2

3. The robot Lumber9 moves along the number line. Lumber9 starts at 0, takes 1 step forward (to
1), then 2 steps backwards (to  1 ), then 3 steps forward, 4 steps back, and so on, moving
alternately forwards and backwards, one more step each time. At what number is Lumber9 after
2011 steps?

A 1006 B 27 C 11 D 0 E  18

Note: Unfortunately, the word “step” in the final sentence of this question might be interpreted in two
different ways. We apologize for this ambiguity.

On one reading, the question asks at what number Lumber9 is after 2011 stages in the process.
Solution 1 corresponds to this interpretation.

The question could also mean “At what number is Lumber9 after it has taken 2011 steps in total.”
Solution 2 corresponds to this interpretation.

Both solutions were awarded the marks when the paper was marked.

Solution 1: A
After 2011 stages Lumber9 reaches the number 1  2  3  4  ...  2009  2010  2011

 (1  2)  (3  4)  ...  (2009  2010)  2011  (1  1  ...  1)  2011. The number of  1 s in

this sum is 1
2
(2010)  1005 . So 1  2  3  4  ...  2011  1005  (1)  2011  2011  1005  1006 .

Solution 2: B

After 62 stages of the process Lumber9 has taken 1  2  3  ...  62  1953 steps and has reached the
number 1  2  3  4  ...  61  62  31 . After taking another 58 steps in the positive direction, it has
taken 1953  58  2011 steps in total, and has reached the number  31  58  27 .

4. What is the last digit of 32011 ?

A 1 B 3 C 5 D 7 E 9

Solution: D

Since 34  81 , the last digit of 3 2008  (3 4 ) 502 is 1. Since 3 2011  3 20083  3 2008  33

 3 2008  27 , the last digit of 32011 is the same as the last digit of 27, that is, 7.
[The last digit of a number is its remainder when we divide by 10. So here we are really working with
congruences (mod 10). In this language we can write the above calculation as

3 2011  3 45023  (3 4 ) 502  33  1502  7  7 (mod 10).]

UKMT, Senior Mathematics Challenge 2011, Solutions 3

5. The diagram shows a regular hexagon inside a rectangle.

What is the sum of the four marked angles?

A 90 0 B 120 0 C 150 0 D 180 0 E 210 0 +

Solution: B P Q
We label the vertices P, Q, R, S, T and U as shown. In the triangle PQR
R
the sum of all three angles is 180 0 and PQR  90 0 . Therefore,
U
QPR  PRQ  90 0 . In the quadrilateral RSTU, the sum of all four
T S
angles is 360 0 , RST  90 0 , and the exterior angle at U is 240 0 , because the interior angle of a

regular hexagon is 120 0 . Therefore, SRU  STU  360 0  90 0  240 0  30 0 . Therefore the sum

of the four marked angles, that is, QPR  PRQ  SRU  STU , is 90 0  30 0  120 0 .

6. Granny and her granddaughter Gill both had their birthday yesterday. Today, Granny’s age in
years is an even number and 15 times that of Gill. In 4 year’s time Granny’s age in years will
be the square of Gill’s age in years. How many years older than Gill is Granny today?
A 42 B 49 C 56 D 60 E 64

Solution: C
Suppose that today Gill is x years old. It follows that Granny is 15x years old. In 4 years time their
ages in years will be x  4 and 15 x  4 respectively. So 15 x  4  ( x  4) 2 . Thus 15x  4 

x 2  8 x  16 . Hence x 2  7 x  12  0 , that is, ( x  3)( x  4)  0 and so x is either 3 or 4. So today Gill

is either 3 or 4 years old and Granny is either 45 or 60. Since Granny’s age in years is an even
number, we deduce that today Granny is 60 and Gill is 4. So the difference in their ages is 56 years.

7. Two sides of a triangle have lengths 4cm and 5cm. The third side has length x cm, where x is a
positive integer. How many different values can x have?
A 4 B 5 C 6 D 7 E 8

Solution: D
We use two key facts. First, the sum of the lengths of the two shorter sides of a triangle must be
greater than the length of the longest side. Second, if a, b, c are positive numbers with a  b  c and
a  b  c , then there is a triangle whose side lengths are a, b and c.

UKMT, Senior Mathematics Challenge 2011, Solutions 4

So if x  4 , we must have that x  4  5 , so x  1 , and so there are 3 possible integer values of x,
namely 2, 3 and 4. If x  5 , we must have that x  4  5  9 , and there are 4 possible integer values
of x, namely 5, 6, 7 and 8. So altogether there are 7 possible values for x.
Extension Problem
7.1 If two sides of a triangle have lengths a cm and b cm, where a and b are integers with a  b ,
how many possible integer values are there for the third side of the triangle?

8. A 2  3 grid of squares can be divided into

1 2 rectangles in three different ways.
How many ways are there of dividing the bottom shape
into 1 2 rectangles?
A 1 B 4 C 6 D 7 E 8

Solution: C
In the context of the SMC it is most straightforward just to list all the 6 different layouts:

For a deeper analysis of the problem see the Extension Problems below.
Extension Problems
8.1 First consider the number of ways of dividing a 2  n grid into 1 2 rectangles. Let this number
be x n . The example given in the question shows that x3  3 . Determine the values of x n for
n  1 , 2, 4 and 5. Use these values to make a conjecture about the infinite sequence of values
x1 , x 2 , x3 ,... .

8.2 Prove that your conjecture in 8.1 is correct. Hence obtain a formula for x n .
8.3 Next we consider the number of ways of dividing the type of grid that Question 8 deals with,
that is a 2  n grid, where n is even, augmented with a 1 2 grid on top in the middle. Thus the
grid in Question 8 is the case n  4 , and the grid below is the case n  8 .

In the case where n is even, we let y n be the number of ways of dividing a 2  n grid with a
1 2 grid on top in the middle into 1 2 rectangles. By considering first the 1 2 grid on top,
show that, when n is even y n  x n  ( x 1 n 1 ) 2 .
2

Use this formula to verify that y 4  6 , and to calculate the values of y 6 and y8 .

UKMT, Senior Mathematics Challenge 2011, Solutions 5

8.4 This problem can be generalized to other grids, divided into other rectangles. You are invited to
consider some of these generalizations. Most of them are rather intractable. It is suggested that
you begin by considering the number of ways of dividing a 3  n grid into 1 3 rectangles.

9. Sam has a large collection of 1  1  1 cubes, each of which is either red or yellow. Sam makes a
3  3  3 block from twenty-seven cubes, so that no cubes of the same colour meet face-to-face.
What is the difference between the largest number of red cubes that Sam can use and the
smallest number?
A 0 B 1 C 2 D 3 E 4

Solution: B
There are only two arrangements that meet the requirement that cubes of the same colour do not meet
face to face. Either the centre small cube is red, in which case all the small cubes at the centres of the
12 edges of the large cube are red, with all the other small cubes being yellow, or the colours are the
other way round. In the first case there are 13 red cubes and 14 yellow cubes. In the second case there
are 14 red cubes and 13 yellow cubes. 14  13  1 .
10. A triangle has two edges of length 5. What length should be chosen for the third edge of the
triangle so as to maximize the area within the triangle?

A 5 B 6 C 5 2 D 8 E 5 3

Solution: C
Let the triangle be PQR, where PQ  PR  5 , and let RN be the perpendicular from R to PQ. [The
diagram illustrates the case where QPR is acute. You should satisfy yourself that the argument is
the same in the case where this angle is obtuse.] The area of the triangle R
5
is 1
2
PQ.RN  52 RN and hence is a maximum when the length of RN is a

maximum. From the right-angled triangle PNR we see that if the points 
P 5 N Q
the points N and P are distinct, RN  PR . Hence the maximum possible length

of RN is 5 when RPQ  90 0 , so that N and P coincide.. In this case RQ is

the hypotenuse of a right-angled isosceles triangle in which the other two sides R

have length 5, and so, by Pythagoras’ Theorem RQ  5 2 . Therefore, this is the 5 5 2

length of the third side which makes the area a maximum. 5P Q

[Another way to obtain this answer is to use trigonometry. If RPQ   , the area of the triangle is
1
2
5 2 sin  . This is a maximum when sin   1 , that is, when   90 0 . For a third method see

Extension Problem 10.1.]

UKMT, Senior Mathematics Challenge 2011, Solutions 6

Extension Problem
10.1 Show that Question 10 may also be solved using calculus, as follows. Let x be the length of the
third side. Use Pythagoras’ Theorem to calculate the area of the triangle in terms of x, and then
calculus to find the value of x which gives the maximum value of the area.

11. PQRSTU is a regular hexagon, and V is the midpoint of PQ. P V Q

What fraction of the area of PQRSTU is the area of triangle STV?
1 2 1 2 5 U R
A B C D E
4 15 3 5 12

T S
Solution: C V
P Q
Let O be the centre of the hexagon. The triangle STO has the same
base as triangle STV and half its height. So the area of triangle STV O
U R
1
is twice that of triangle STO. The area of triangle STO is 6
of the

area of the hexagon. Hence, the area of triangle STV is 1

3
of the area T S

of the hexagon.

12. The primorial of a number is the product of all the prime numbers less than or equal to that
number. For example, the primorial of 6 is 2  3  5  30 . How many different whole numbers
have a primorial of 210?
A 1 B 2 C 3 D 4 E 5

Solution: D
Since 210  2  3  5  7 , the primorial of a positive integer n is 210 if and only if the primes less than
or equal to n are 2, 3, 5 and 7. This holds if and only if 7  n  11 , as 11 is the next largest prime after
7. So the primorial of n is 210 just for the four values n  7, 8, 9 and 10.

UKMT, Senior Mathematics Challenge 2011, Solutions 7

13. The diagram represents a maze. Given that you can only move
horizontally and vertically and are not allowed to revisit a
square, how many different routes are there through the maze?
A 16 B 12 C 10 D 8 E 6

Solution: D
The arrows show all the routes from the initial square to the final square
1 1
following the rules. The number in the bottom right corner of each
1 2 2
square shows the number of ways of reaching it following these arrows.
2 2 8 8 For the initial square this number is 1. For each other square it is the sum
2 4 4 8 of the numbers in the other squares for which there are arrows leading
into the given square. As this gives 8 as the number in the final square, there are 8 routes through the
maze.

14. An equilateral triangle of side length 4 cm is divided up into smaller equilateral triangles, all of
which have side length equal to a whole number of centimetres. Which of the following cannot
be the number of smaller triangles obtained?
A 4 B 8 C 12 D 13 E 16

Solution: C
In the context of the SMC, it is enough to see that all the other options are possible. This is shown in
the following diagrams:

4 8 13 16

However, a complete mathematical solution requires a proof that option C is not possible.
We first note that the big triangle can only be divided into smaller triangles with side lengths 1cm,
2cm and 3cm. There is room just for one triangle of side length 3cm, and we see, from the second
diagram above, that if we have such a triangle in our subdivision, then there isn’t room for a triangle
of side length 2cm. So the remainder of the subdivision must consist of 7 triangles with side length
1cm. This gives a subdivision into 8 smaller triangles.

We now consider the possible subdivisions into, say, a, triangles with side length 1cm and b triangle
with side length 2cm. By considering the areas of these triangles and that of the large triangle, we
have that

UKMT, Senior Mathematics Challenge 2011, Solutions 8

 a  4b  16 , where a and b are non-negative integers. (1)

There are just 5 solutions of (1), as shown in the table. This a b a+b
shows that the only possible values for a  b are 4, 7, 10, 0 4 4
13 and 16. So a subdivision into 12 smaller triangles is not 4 3 7
possible. Subdivisions into 4, 7, 10, 13 and 16 smaller 8 2 10
triangles are all achievable. The cases 4, 13 and 16 are shown 12 1 13
above. 16 0 16
Extension Problems
14.1 Give diagrams to show the cases where a  b  7 and where a  b  10 .
14.2 Consider the different ways of dividing an equilateral triangle with side length 5cm into smaller
equilateral triangles whose side lengths are a whole number of centimeters. What are the
possible values for the number of smaller triangles in subdivisions of this type?

15. The equation x 2  ax  b  0 , where a and b are different, has solutions x  a and x  b .
How many such equations are there?
A 0 B 1 C 3 D 4 E an infinity

Solution: B
The equation x 2  ax  b  0 has the solutions x  a and x  b if and only if x 2  ax  b may be
factorized as ( x  a )( x  b) , that is, if and only if

x 2  ax  b  x 2  (a  b) x  ab (1)
Now, equating the coefficients of x and the constant terms, we see that (1) holds if and only if
a  ( a  b) (2)
and b  ab (3)
From (3) we have that either a  1 or b  0 . If a  1 then, by (2), b  2 . If b  0 , then by (2) a  0 .
Therefore, there is just one case, a  1 , b  2 , where (1) holds and a  b .

UKMT, Senior Mathematics Challenge 2011, Solutions 9

 1
16. PQRS is a rectangle. The area of triangle QRT is 5
of the area Q R
1
of PQRS, and the area of triangle TSU is 8
of the area of PQRS. T

What fraction of the area of rectangle PQRS is the area of the P U S

triangle QTU?
27 21 1 19 23
A B C D E
40 40 2 40 60

Solution: E
In the rectangle PQRS we let PS  QR  a and PQ  SR  b . Since the area of QRT is 1
5
of the area

of PQRS, we have that 1

2
(a  RT )  15 (ab) . Hence RT  52 b , and therefore TS  35 b . Since the area of

TSU is 1
8
of the area of PQRS, we have that 1
2
( SU  53 b)  18 ab . Therefore SU  125 a and therefore

PU  127 a . Hence the area of the triangle PQU is 1 7

(
2 12
a  b)  7
24
ab . The area of the triangle QTU

is the area of the rectangle PQRS minus the areas of the triangles QRT, TSU and PQU, that is,
ab  15 ab  18 ab  7
24
ab  23
60
ab . So the area of the triangle QTU is 23
60
of the area of the rectangle

PQRS.

17. Jamie conducted a survey on the food preferences of pupils at a school and discovered that
70% of the pupils like pears, 75% like oranges, 80% like bananas and 85% like apples. What is
the smallest possible percentage of pupils who like all four of these fruits?
A at least 10% B at least 15% C at least 20% D at least 25% E at least 70%

Solution: A
We use the idea that if at least x% of the pupils are in a category X and at least y% are in a category Y,
then at least ( x  y  100)% are in both categories. For suppose z% are in both categories. Then at
least ( x  z )% are in X but not Y, and at least ( y  z )% in Y but not X. We must have that
( x  z )%  z %  ( y  z )%  100% , and hence ( x  y  100)%  z % .

X ( x  z )% z% ( y  z )% Y

Now, as 70% of the pupils like pears and 75% like oranges, at least (70  75  100)%  45% like both
pears and oranges. Hence, as 80% like bananas, at least (45  80  100)%  25% like pears, oranges
and bananas. Therefore, as 85% like apples, at least (25  85  100)%  10% like all four fruits.

UKMT, Senior Mathematics Challenge 2011, Solutions 10

 1 1 1
18. Two numbers x and y are such that x  y  20 and   .
x y 2
What is the value of x 2 y  xy 2 ?
A 80 B 200 C 400 D 640 E 800

Solution: E
1 1 1 x  y 20 1 20
We have that     . So  and hence xy  40 . Therefore
2 x y xy xy 2 xy

x 2 y  xy 2  xy( x  y )  40  20  800 .
Extension Problems
18.1 The polynomials x  y and xy have the property that, in each case, if we interchange x and y
the resulting polynomial is equivalent to the one we started with. That is, y  x  x  y and
yx  xy . For this reason they are called symmetric polynomials.
Which of the following are symmetric polynomials?
(a) x 2 y  xy 2 , (b) x 3 y 2  x 2 y 2 , (c) x 3  y 3 , (d) x 2  y 2  3xy 2 .
18.2 It is a remarkable fact that every symmetric polynomial involving just x and y can be expressed
in terms of the basic polynomials x  y and xy. For example

x 2  y 2  ( x  y ) 2  2 xy . (1)
[To make this more precise we need to say what we mean by “expressed in terms of”. Here this
means that if p( x, y ) is a symmetric polynomial there is another polynomial, say, P ( X , Y ) ,
such that p( x, y )  P ( x  y , xy) . That is, we obtain p( x, y ) by substituting x  y for X and xy
for Y in the polynomial P ( X , Y ) . The example, (1), above shows that when p( x, y ) is the

polynomial x 2  y 2 , we can take P ( X , Y ) to be the polynomial X 2  2Y .]

Express the following symmetric polynomials in terms of the polynomials x  y and xy.

(a) x 2 y  xy 2 , (b) x 3  y 3 , (c) x 4  y 4 , (d) x 5  y 5 .

18.3 The theory of symmetric polynomials applies also to polynomials involving more than two
unknowns. For example, x  y  z , xy  yz  zx and xyz are symmetric polynomials
involving the unknowns x, y and z. They are symmetric because in each case, if we swap round
the unknowns in any way we end up with a polynomial which is equivalent to the one we started
with. For example, if we replace x by z, y by x and z by y, the polynomial xy  yz  zx becomes
zx  xy  yz and zx  xy  yz  xy  yz  zx . The polynomials x  y  z , xy  yz  zx and xyz
are the basic symmetric polynomials using the variables x, y and z. Every other symmetric
polynomial using these unknowns can be expressed in terms of them.
Express x 3  y 3  z 3 in terms of x  y  z , xy  yz  zx and xyz.

UKMT, Senior Mathematics Challenge 2011, Solutions 11

19. The diagram shows a small regular octagram (an eight-sided star)
surrounded by eight squares (dark grey) and eight kites (light
grey) to make a large regular octagram. Each square has area 1.
What is the area of one of the light grey kites?
21 11
A 2 B 2 1 C D 4 2 3 E
8 4

Solution: B
Q
We first give a geometrical solution, and then one which uses
450 trigonometry.
Solution 1. We let PQRS be one of the kites. We suppose that the
when the edges PS and QR are extended, they meet at the point T.
R
As each of the squares has area 1, they have side length 1. So
1
450 450 PS  RS  1 . The angle between the sides of a regular octagram
P 1 S 2 T
is 45 0 . So PQR  45 0 . The angles QPS and QRS are right

angles, so from triangle PQT, we have that RTS  45 0 . Also, from the rectangle PQRS,

PSR  135 0 and therefore RST  45 0 . Hence the triangle RST is an isosceles right-angled

triangle in which RS has length 1. So, by Pythagoras’ Theorem, ST  2 . PQT is also a right-angled

isosceles triangle. Hence, PQ  PT  1  2 . So the triangle PQS has base 1 and height 1  2 , and

hence area 1
2
(1  2 ) . Therefore the area of the kite, which is twice the area of the triangle PQS, is

1 2 .
P
Solution 2. We let PQRS be the kite as in Solution 1. Since
PQR  45 0 we have that PQS  12 (45) 0 . Also QPS  90 0 S Q
and PS  1 , as it is the edge of a square which has area 1. R
So the area of the triangle PQS is 1
2
(1  PQ)  PQ . So the area of the kite which is twice the area of
1
2

triangle PQS is PQ.

PS
Now, from the right-angled triangle PQS, we have that  tan PQS and therefore
PQ

1 2 tan 
PQ  . From the formula tan 2  , and the fact that tan 45 0  1 , it follows,
1
tan (45)
2
0
1  tan 
2

2x
putting   12 ( 45) 0 and x  tan 12 ( 45) 0 , that 1  2
. Hence 1  x 2  2 x , and therefore
1 x

x 2  2 x  1  0 . From the formula for the roots of a quadratic equation it follows that

UKMT, Senior Mathematics Challenge 2011, Solutions 12

 2 8
x  1  2 . Since tan 12 (45) 0  0 , it follows that tan 12 (45) 0  1  2  2  1 .
2
1 2 1
Therefore PQ    2  1 . It follows that the area of the kite is 2  1.
2 1 ( 2  1)( 2  1)

Extension Problems
2 tan 
19.1 This problem is for students who are not familiar with the formula tan 2  used in
1  tan 2 
the above solution.
(a) Use the addition formulas sin( A  B)  sin A cos B  cos A sin B and
cos( A  B )  cos A cos B  sin A sin B , to obtain a formula for tan( A  B ) in terms of tan A and
tan B .
(b) Use the formula you obtain for tan( A  B ) to derive the formula above for tan 2 .
19.2 Express tan 3 in terms of tan  . Hence find a cubic equation with integer coefficients which

has tan 15 0 as one of its roots.

19.3 From the cubic equation which is the answer to 19.2 derive a quadratic equation with integer
coefficients which has tan 15 0 as one of its roots. Hence obtain an exact expression for

tan 15 0 in terms of surds.

20. Positive integers x and y satisfy the equation x  11  y.

x
What is the maximum possible value of ?
y
A 2 B 4 C 8 D 11 E 44
Solution: B
We suppose that x and y are positive integers such that x  11  y . As x and y are positive, we

may square both sides, to give x  2 11x  11  y . It follows that 2 11x  y  x  11 and so 2 11x is

an integer. Suppose that 2 11x  n , where n is an integer. Then, 4(11x)  n 2 and so n is divisible by

2 and by 11. Hence for some positive integer a, n  22a . Therefore 4(11x)  (22a ) 2 and therefore
2
x  a 
x  11a 2 . It follows that y  x  2 11x  11  11a 2  22a  11  11(a  1) 2 . Hence   .
y  a 1

a a 1 1
For a  2 , we have that  2 , and for a  3 , 1  1   2 . So the maximum
a 1 a 1 a 1 2
x
possible value of is 2 2  4 . This occurs when a  2 , and hence for x  44 and y  11 .
y

UKMT, Senior Mathematics Challenge 2011, Solutions 13

21. Each of the Four Musketeers made a statement about the four of them, as follows:
d’Artagnan: “Exactly one is lying.”
Athos: “Exactly two of us are lying.”
Porthos: “An odd number of us is lying.”
Aramis: “An even number of us is lying.”
How many of them were lying (with the others telling the truth)?
A one B one or two C two or three D three E four

Solution: C
One of Porthos and Aramis is telling the truth, and the other is lying. Since they contradict each other,
at least one of d’Artagnan and Athos is lying, and possibly both of them are lying. So it cannot be
that just one person is lying or all four are lying. But it is possible either that two people (d’Artagnan
and Porthos) are lying or that three of them (all but Porthos) are lying.

22. In the diagram, ABE  10 0 ; EBC  70 0 ; ACD  50 0 ; A

DCB  20 0 ; DEF   .
E
Which of the following is equal to tan  ? D

tan 10 0 tan 20 0 tan 10 0 tan 20 0 tan 10 0 tan 50 0 100 F 500
A B C
tan 50 0 tan 70 0 tan 70 0 700 200
B C
tan 20 0 tan 50 0 tan 10 0 tan 70 0
D E
tan 70 0 tan 50 0

Solution: A

From triangle BFC we deduce that BFC  90 0 . It follows that all the triangles EFD, CFE, BFC and
BFD have a right angle at the vertex F. Therefore we have

DF EF BF DF
tan   , tan 50 0  , tan 20 0  and tan 10 0  .
EF CF CF BF

DF DF BF CF 1 tan 10 0 tan 20 0
Therefore, tan    . .  tan 10 0  tan 20 0   .
EF BF CF EF tan 50 0 tan 50 0

23. What is the minimum value of x 2  y 2  2 xy  6 x  6 y  4 ?

A 7 B 5 C 4 D 1 E 4

Solution: B
Note that the polynomial x 2  y 2  2 xy  6 x  6 y  4 is symmetric in the sense described in the
Extension Problems for Question 18.

UKMT, Senior Mathematics Challenge 2011, Solutions 14

We have that x 2  y 2  2 xy  6 x  6 y  4  [ x  y ] 2  6[ x  y ]  4  ([ x  y ]  3) 2  5 .

Since ([ x  y ] 2  3) 2  0 , it follows that x 2  y 2  2 xy  6 x  6 y  4  5 , and this value,  5 , is

achieved for x  y  3  0 , that is whenever y   x  3 .

24. Three circles and the lines PQ and QR touch as shown. P

The distance between the centres of the smallest and
biggest circles is 16 times the radius of the smallest
circle. What is the size of PQR ? Q

A 450 B 600 C 750 D 900 E 1350

R

Solution: B
P
We let the centres of the circles be S, T and U, and
the points where they touch PQ be V, W and X, X

as shown. We let the radii of the circles be

c
a, b and c, with a  b  c as shown, let QS  d . a W
V b
and let PQU   . Q
S T U
Then QT  d  a  b and QU  d  a  2b  c . Because PQ is a tangent to all three circles,
the triangles QVS , QWT and QXU have right angles at V, W and X, respectively. Therefore
a b c
sin     .
d d  a  b d  a  2b  c
a
Since  sin  , we have a  d sin  .
d
b
Therefore, as  sin  , we have b  (d  a  b) sin  . Hence b  b sin   (d  d sin  ) sin 
d ab
d sin  (1  sin  )
and therefore b  .
1  sin 
c
Hence, as  sin  , we have c  (d  a  2b  c) sin  . Hence
d  a  2b  c
 2d sin  (1  sin  ) 
c  c sin    d  d sin    sin  and therefore
 (1  sin  ) 

d sin   2 sin  (1  sin  )  d sin 

c 1  sin     (1  sin  )(1  sin  )  2 sin  (1  sin  )
(1  sin  )  (1  sin  )  (1  sin  )
2

d sin  (1  sin  ) 2
 .
(1  sin  ) 2

UKMT, Senior Mathematics Challenge 2011, Solutions 15

Now, as the distance between the centres of the smallest and largest circles is 16 times the radius of
the largest circle, a  2b  c  16a , and thus

2d sin  (1  sin  ) d sin  (1  sin  ) 2

d sin     16d sin  .
(1  sin  ) (1  sin  ) 2
We can divide through by d sin  as this cannot be 0. We then obtain
2
 1  sin    1  sin  
1  2   1,
 1  sin    1  sin  
that is,
2 2
  1  sin     2 
1      16 , or, equivalently,    16 .
  1  sin     1  sin  
2 1 1 3
It follows that  4 , giving 1  sin    , and hence that sin   , or sin   . The
1  sin  2 2 2
1
latter value is impossible, so sin   , and, as from the geometry of the problem, 0    90 0 , we
2
deduce that   30 0 . Therefore PQR  2  60 0 .

25. A solid sculpture consists of a 4  4  4 cube with a 3  3  3 cube

sticking out as shown. Three vertices of the smaller cube lie on
edges of the larger cube, the same distance along each edge.
What is the total volume of the sculpture?
A 79 B 81 C 82 D 84 E 85

Solution: C
The volume of the sculpture is the sum of the volumes of the two cubes minus the volume of their
intersection. This intersection consists of two tetrahedra which are both congruent to the tetrahedron
P PQRS, shown, where P, Q and R are three vertices of the smaller cube.
3 In one of these tetrahedra the fourth vertex S corresponds to the vertex of
3 Q
the smaller cube which is inside the larger cube. In the other, S corresponds
S
3 to the vertex of the larger cube which is inside the smaller cube.

R So PQRS is a tetrahedron whose base has area b  12 3 2  92 and with

height h  3 . So the volume of PQRS is 1

3
bh  92 . So the volume of the intersection which is made up

of two of these tetrahedra is 2  92  9 .

It follows that the volume of the sculpture is 4 3  33  9  64  27  9  82 .

UKMT, Senior Mathematics Challenge 2011, Solutions 16