April 2022

Problem 1
The 12-sided polygon below was created by placing three 3 × 3 squares with their sides parallel so that
vertices of two of the squares are at the center of the third square. Find the perimeter of this 12-sided
polygon.

Answer: 24
The perimeter is the same as the sum of the perimeters of two of the squares which is 2 · 4 · 3 = 24.

Problem 2
Cary made an investment of $1000. During years 1, 2, 3, and 4, his investment went up 20 percent, down
50 percent, up 30 percent, and up 40 percent, respectively. Find the number of dollars Cary’s investment
was worth at the end of the fourth year.

Answer: 1092
At the end of the fourth year, Cary’s investment is worth 1000 · 1.2 · 0.5 · 1.3 · 1.4 = 1092.

Problem 3
Find the least odd positive integer that is the middle number of five consecutive integers that are all
composite.

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Answer: 93
The prime numbers less than 100 are 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37, 41, 43, 47, 53, 59, 61, 67, 71,
73, 79, 83, 89, and 97. If 5 consecutive composite integers have an odd integer in the middle, then that list
of 5 integers begins and ends with an odd integer. The integers that immediately precede and immediately
follow this list are even integers and are, therefore, also composite, and extend the list to 7 consecutive
composite integers. The first gap between adjacent prime numbers of at least 7 is the gap between 89 and
97. The requested odd integer is 93, the middle of the 5 consecutive composite integers 91, 92, 93, 94, 95.

Problem 4
A jar contains red, blue, and yellow candies. There are 14% more yellow candies than blue candies, and
14% fewer red candies than blue candies. Find the percent of candies in the jar that are yellow.

Answer: 38
If there are n blue candies in the jar, then there are 1.14n yellow candies and 0.86n red candies. The
percent yellow candies in the jar is, therefore,

1.14n 114%
· 100% = = 38%.
n + 1.14n + 0.86n 3

Problem 5
Let A1 , A2 , A3 , . . . , A12 be the vertices of a regular 12-gon (dodecagon). Find the number of points in the
plane that are equidistant to at least 3 distinct vertices of this 12-gon.

Answer: 1
All 12 of the vertices lie on a single circle. Thus, the center of that circle is equidistant to all the vertices.
Any 3 non-collinear points in the plane lie on exactly one circle, so there is only one circle that contains
any 3 distinct vertices, and that circle has only one center.

Problem 6
At Ignus School there are 425 students. Of these students 351 study mathematics, 71 study Latin, and 203
study chemistry. There are 199 students who study more than one of these subjects, and 8 students who
do not study any of these subjects. Find the number of students who study all three of these subjects.

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Answer: 9
Let the sets of students studying mathematics, Latin, and chemistry be M , L, and C, respectively. Then
the Inclusion/Exclusion Principle gives

|M ∪ L ∪ C| = (|M | + |L| + |C|) − (|M ∩ L| + |M ∩ C| + |L ∩ C|) + |M ∩ L ∩ C|.

So, if |M ∩ L ∩ C| = x, it follows that

|M ∪ L ∪ C| = 425 − 8 = 417 = (351 + 71 + 203) − (199 + 2x) + x = 426 − x.

Thus, the number of students studying all three of these subjects is x = 426 − 417 = 9.

Problem 7
The value of      
1 1 1 1
1− 1− 1− · · · 1 − 29
22 − 1 23 − 1 24 − 1 2 −1
m
can be written as n, where m and n are relatively prime positive integers. Find 2m − n.

Answer: 1
Note that for any positive integer k

1 2k − 2 2k−1 − 1
1− = k =2· k .
2k −1 2 −1 2 −1

Hence, the given product is equal to

22 − 1 23 − 1 228 − 1
     
2−1
2· 2 2· 3 2· 4 · · · 2 · 29 ,
2 −1 2 −1 2 −1 2 −1

228

which telescopes to . The requested expression is 2 · 228 − 229 − 1 = 1.
229 −1

Problem 8
Find the number of divisors of 2022 that are perfect squares.

Answer: 276
A perfect square that divides 2022 = 244 522 is of the form 22m 52n , where m is an integer with 0 ≤ m ≤ 22
and n is an integer with 0 ≤ n ≤ 11. Hence, the number of perfect square divisors is (22 + 1)(11 + 1) = 276.

Problem 9
Let a and b be positive integers satisfying 3a < b and a2 + ab + b2 = (b + 3)2 + 27. Find the minimum
possible value of a + b.

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Answer: 25
Squaring the binomial gives a2 + ab + b2 = b2 + 6b + 9 + 27 which simplifies to
0 = a2 + ab − 6b − 36 = (a − 6)(a + b + 6). Because a and b are positive, a + b + 6 > 0, so it must be that
a = 6. Because 3a < b, the least value of b that satisfies the given conditions is b = 19. The minimum
possible value of a + b is 6 + 19 = 25.

Problem 10
Find the positive integer n such that a convex polygon with 3n + 2 sides has 61.5 percent fewer diagonals
than a convex polygon with 5n − 2 sides.

Answer: 26
k(k−3)
A convex polygon with k sides has 2 diagonals, so

(3n + 2)(3n − 1) (5n − 2)(5n − 5)

= (1 − 0.615) .
2 2
77
It follows that (3n + 2)(3n − 1) = 200 (5n − 2) · 5(n − 1), implying that 40(9n2 + 3n − 2) = 77(5n2 − 7n + 2).
This reduces to 25n2 − 659n + 234 = 0, which has integer solution n = 26.

Problem 11
For positive integer n, let s(n) be the sum of the digits of n when n is expressed in base ten. For example,
s(2022) = 2 + 0 + 2 + 2 = 6. Find the sum of the two solutions to the equation n − 3s(n) = 2022.

Answer: 4107
If n has k digits, then s(n) ≤ 9k, so n > n − 3s(n) ≥ 10k−1 − 27k. Thus, if n − 3s(n) = 2022, k < 5, and
because n > 2022, it is clear that any solution to the given equation has 4 digits. Moreover, the thousands
digit of n must be 2. Then, because s(n) ≤ 2 + 9 + 9 + 9 = 29, any solution n must be less than or equal to
2022 + 3 · 29 = 2109. But then, s(n) ≤ 2 + 1 + 9 + 9 = 21, implying that n ≤ 2022 + 3 · 21 = 2085. Assume
that n = 2 0 a b for digits a and b. Then 2000 + 10a + b − 3(2 + a + b) = 2022, implying 7a − 2b = 28.
Because a and b are digits, it follows that (a, b) = (4, 0) or (6, 7), and n = 2040 or 2067. The requested sum
is 2040 + 2067 = 4107.

Problem 12
A rectangle with width 30 inches has the property that all points in the rectangle are within 12 inches of at
least one of the diagonals of the rectangle. Find the maximum possible length for the rectangle in inches.

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Answer: 40
Label the rectangle ABCD with AB = 30. Let E be the midpoint of AD, and F be the perpendicular
projection of E onto the diagonal AC. Let x = AE.

E
A D

B C

Because the midpoints of the sides of a rectangle are the points on the rectangle farthest from the
diagonals, x is as great as possible when EF = 12. Because △ACD ≃ △AEF ,
√
AC AE 302 + 4x2 x
= so = ,
CD EF 30 12

which simplifies to x = 20. Thus, the requested side length is AD = 2x = 40 inches. Note that on any
rectangle, the four midpoints of the sides are all the same distance from the diagonals of the rectangle.

Problem 13
Each different letter in the following addition represents a different decimal digit. The sum is a six-digit
integer whose digits are all equal.

P U R P L E
+ C O M E T

Find the greatest possible value that the five-digit number COMET could represent.

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Answer: 98057
Let X represent the digit that is repeated six times in the sum, and note that X might be a value shared
by one of the other letters in the problem. In order to maximize C O M E T , try C = 9 and O = 8.
Because P cannot also be 8 or 9, P cannot exceed 7, and X cannot exceed 8. If R = 0, then the R + O sum
would have to be 8. But this cannot be the result when U is added to C = 9 because then U would have to
be 8 or 9, which are already used. Thus, R cannot be 0. This implies that there must be a carry when R is
added to O. Because there is a carry of 1 when U is added to 9, it follows that X = U , and U = P + 1 ≥ 2.
Also, L is different from T , so E + T must carry over and L = T − 1. Since 9 and 8 are already used, E + T
could be 12 (5 and 7 in some order) or 13 (E = 7 and T = 6 because L = T − 1 cannot be 6, as E would
be). So the only possibility is

1 2 4 1 6 5
+ 9 8 0 5 7
2 2 2 2 2 2

because E = 7 and T = 5 would lead to R = L = 4, a contradiction, and E = 7 and T = 6 would yield

R = L = 3. Hence, the greatest possible value of C O M E T is 98,057.

Problem 14
Starting at 12:00:00 AM on January 1, 2022, after 13! seconds it will be y years (including leap years) and
d days later, where d < 365. Find y + d.

Answer: 317
Divide 13! by 60 = 5 · 12 to get the number of minutes, by 60 = 6 · 10 to get the number of hours, and by
24 = 3 · 8 to get the number of days:

13 · 12 · 11 · 10 · 9 · 8 · 7 · 6 · 5 · 4 · 3 · 2 · 1
= 13 · 11 · 9 · 7 · 4 · 2.
(5 · 12) · (6 · 10) · (3 · 8)

Note that a year is either 1 or 2 days longer than 364 = 7 · 4 · 13 days, showing that 13! seconds is a little
short of 11 · 9 · 2 = 198 years. Each leap year has 2 more than 364 days, and other years have 1 more than
364 days. Thus, 13! seconds is short of 198 years by 197 days plus one more day for each leap year between
2022 and 2022 + 197 = 2219. The leap years in that range are 2024, 2028, 2032, . . . , 2216 except for 2100
2216−2020
and 2200. This accounts for 4 − 2 = 47 leap years. Therefore, the number of years is 197, and the
number of days is 364 − (197 + 47) = 120. The requested sum is 197 + 120 = 317.

Problem 15
Find the number of rearrangements of the nine letters AAABBBCCC where no three consecutive letters
are the same. For example, count AABBCCABC and ACABBCCAB but not ABABCCCBA.

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Answer: 1314
9 9!


There are 3,3,3 = 3!3!3! = 1680 permutations of the nine letters. Let X be the set of permutations where
three As appear together, Y be the set of permutations where three Bs appear together, and Z be the set
of permutations where three Cs appear together. Then the Inclusion/Exclusion Principle gives the size of
the union of these three sets as |X ∪ Y ∪ Z| =
7 5



(|X| + |Y | + |Z|) − (|X ∩ Y | + |X ∩ Z| + |Y ∩ Z|) + |X ∩ Y ∩ Z| = 3 · 3,3,1 −3· 3,1,1 + 3! =
3 · 140 − 3 · 20 + 6 = 366. The requested number of permutations is then 1680 − 366 = 1314.

Problem 16
m
A rectangular box has width 12 inches, length 16 inches, and height n inches, where m and n are relatively
prime positive integers. Three rectangular sides of the box meet at a corner of the box. The center points
of those three rectangular sides are the vertices of a triangle with area 30 square inches. Find m + n.

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Answer: 41
Each side of the triangle in question connects the midpoint of one side of the box with the midpoint of an
adjacent side of the box. These two sides of the box have a shared edge. If the distances of the two
midpoints of the adjacent sides to the shared edge are a and b, the Pythagorean Theorem implies that the
√
length of the side of the triangle is a2 + b2 . Let the box have height 2h. Then the three sides of the
√ √ √ √ √
triangle in question have lengths 62 + 82 = 10, 62 + h2 = 36 + h2 , and 82 + h2 = 64 + h2 .

x 10 − x
B D C

√
The diagram shows this triangle labeled ABC where side AB has length 36 + h2 , side BC has length 10,
√
and side CA has length 64 + h2 . Let D be the base of the altitude drawn to the side BC. Let x = BD so
that DC is 10 − x. Then the square of the length of the altitude can be written in two ways giving
√
2 √
2
36 + h2 − x2 = 64 + h2 − (10 − x)2 . This simplifies to 36 + h2 − x2 = 64 + h2 − 100 + 20x − x2
18
which can be solved to yield x = 5 .
Because the triangle has area 30, the altitude AD must have length
30·2

2
10 = 6. Therefore, the square of the altitude is 36 = 36 + h2 − x2 = 36 + h2 − 185 . Solving for h yields
18 36
h= 5 , and the height of the box is 2h = 5 . The requested sum is 36 + 5 = 41.

Alternatively, let A, B, and C be the three centers of the sides where A is the center of the side with
dimensions 12 × 16, let D be the foot of the altitude of △ABC from A, let E be the center of the box, and
√
let the box have height 2h. Then BC = 62 + 82 = 10, and because △ABC has area 30 = 12 BC · AD, it
1 1
follows that AD = 20. The area of △EBC is 2 · EB · EC = 24 = 2 · ED · BC, so if follows that ED = 4.8.
2 2 2 18
Then AD = AE + ED , from which ED = h = 5 , as above.

Alternatively, the box can be placed in coordinate space with 4 vertices at (0, 0, 0), (16, 0, 0), (0, 12, 0), and
(0, 0, 2h). The centers of three sides of the box are then at (8, 6, 0), (8, 0, h), and (0, 6, h). Two sides of the
triangle are given by the vectors ⟨8, −6, 0⟩ and ⟨0, 6, −h⟩. The area of the triangle is given by half the
length of the cross product of these two vectors. That is,

1 1 1p
· ⟨8, −6, 0⟩ × ⟨0, 6, −h⟩ = · ⟨6h, 8h, 48⟩ = (6h)2 + (8h)2 + 482 = 30.
2 2 2
18
This yields h = 5 , as above.

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Problem 17
There are real numbers x, y, and z such that the value of
 2
y2 z2

x
x+y+z− + +
5 6 7
m
reaches its maximum of n, where m and n are relatively prime positive integers. Find m + n + x + y + z.

Answer: 20
Completing the squares in the expression yields

x2 y2 z2
       
5 6 7 5 6 7
+ + + − +x− + − +y− + − +z−
4 4 4 4 5 4 6 4 7
 2  2  2
9 1 x 1 y 1 z
= − 5 − − 6 − − 7 − .
2 2 5 2 6 2 7
9 5 7


Therefore, the maximum value of the expression is 2 obtained when (x, y, z) = 2 , 3, 2 . The requested
5 7
sum is 9 + 2 + 2 +3+ 2 = 20.

Problem 18
In △ABC let point D be the foot of the altitude from A to BC. Suppose that ∠A = 90◦ , AB − AC = 5,
and BD − CD = 7. Find the area of △ABC.

Answer: 150
Let AC = x and AD = h. Then AB 2 = (x + 5)2 = BD2 + h2 and AC 2 = x2 = CD2 + h2 , implying

(x + 5)2 − x2 = (BD − CD)(BD + CD).

Thus, 10x + 25 = 7BC and, from the Pythagorean Theorem,

(10x + 25)2
= (x + 5)2 + x2 .
49

This equation reduces to x2 + 5x − 300 = 0, whose positive solution is x = 15. Hence, AC = 15, AB = 20,
AD · BC 12 · 25
and BC = 25, implying AD = h = 12. The requested area is = = 150.
2 2

Problem 19
Given that a1 , a2 , a3 , . . . , a99 is a permutation of 1, 2, 3, . . . , 99, find the maximum possible value of

|a1 − 1| + |a2 − 2| + |a3 − 3| + · · · + |a99 − 99|.

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Answer: 4900
Note that |xk − k| is either equal to xk − k or k − xk . Thus, for each permutation, there is an
S ⊆ {1, 2, 3, . . . , 99} such that
! !
X X X X
|a1 − 1| + |a2 − 2| + |a3 − 3| + · · · + |a99 − 99| = xk − xk + k− k .
k∈S k∈S
/ k∈S
/ k∈S
P P
If S contains m elements, the maximum possible value for xk − xk is
k∈S k∈S
/

99 99−m
! 99 99−m
!
X X X X
k− k = k− 2 k = 99 · 50 − (99 − m)(100 − m).
k=100−m k=1 k=1 k=1

When S has m elements, the complement of S has 99 − m elements, so, for a given value of m, the
maximum for the given sum is

[99 · 50 − (99 − m)(100 − m)] + [99 · 50 − (m)(m + 1)] = 9900 − (2m2 − 198m + 9900) = 2m(99 − m).

99
This reaches its maximum when m is as close as possible to 2 , which is when m is either 49 or 50. The
maximum is, therefore, 2 · 49 · 50 = 4900. For example, this is achieved when the permutation
x1 , x2 , x3 , . . . , x99 is 50, 51, 52, . . . , 99, 1, 2, 3, . . . , 49.

Problem 20
Let S be a sphere with radius 2. There are 8 congruent spheres whose centers are at the vertices of a cube,
each has radius x, each is externally tangent to 3 of the other 7 spheres with radius x, and each is
internally tangent to S. There is a sphere with radius y that is the smallest sphere internally tangent to S
and externally tangent to 4 spheres with radius x. There is a sphere with radius z centered at the center of
S that is externally tangent to all 8 of the spheres with radius x. Find 18x + 5y + 4z.

10
Answer: 18
The centers of the 8 spheres with radius x are at the vertices of a cube with side length 2x. Each of these
√ √
vertices is a distance x 3 from the center of S, so it follows that the radius of S is x( 3 + 1) = 2, so
2
√
x = √3+1 = 3 − 1. Let A be the center of S, let B and C be centers of 2 of the spheres with radius x that
√
lie diagonally across a face of the cube, so that BC = 2 2x, and let D be the center of the sphere with
radius y tangent to the spheres centered at B and C. Let E be the projection of B onto AD, as shown.

y
D

B E C
x
z
A

√ p
The radius of S is 2 = AE + DE + y = x + BD2 − BE 2 + y = x + y + (x + y)2 − 2x2 . Then

2 2 √
2 − (x + y) = (x + y)2 − 2x2 , which simplifies to y = 1 − x + x2 = 4 − 2 3. Also, AB 2 = AE 2 + BE 2 , so
√
(x + z)2 = x2 + 2x2 , which simplifies to z = 4 − 2 3 = y. The requested expression is
√ √
18( 3 − 1) + 9(4 − 2 3) = 18.

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