CIMC 2024 Solutions

Math Club Executive Team

November 21, 2024

Difficulty:

STICKERS INCLUDED:

• for sharing solutions to at least one example problem. (max of 1)

• for correcting the executives when they make mistakes. (max of 1)

• for pie-ing Matthew in the face (max of 1)

• for demonstrating consistent leadership and math knowledge (max of 1)

• mission hidden (max of 1)

Contents

1 Part A 2

1.1 Problem 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

1.2 Problem 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

1.3 Problem 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

1.4 Problem 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

1.5 Problem 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

1.6 Problem 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

2 Part B 5

2.1 Problem 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

2.2 Problem 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

2.3 Problem 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

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CIMC 2024 Solutions Bayview S.S. Math Club 2

1 Part A

1.1 Problem 1

A1
A container in the shape of a cube has dimensions 4 cm by 4 cm by 4 cm. The container is sitting
on a horizontal table on one of its faces and is filed with water to a depth of 2 cm. In cm3 , what is
the volume of the water in the container?

Solution 1 (Answer: 32):

The water forms a rectangular prism with dimensions 4 cm by 4 cm by 2 cm. This rectangular prism
has volume 4 × 4 × 2 = 32 cm3 .

1.2 Problem 2

A2
A group of students were asked to choose their favourite of the three colours red, green and blue.
Unfortunately, some of the results of the survey were lost. All of the remaining data are expressed in
both the pie graph and the bar graph shown below. What is the total number of students that were
surveyed?

Frequency Number of Students

Red

Blue: 45%
Green: 35%
8

Red Green Blue

Solution 2 (Answer: 40):

Let the total number of students be x. The percentage of people who voted red is 100%−45%−35% =
20%. We know that this is 8 people, so 20% of x is 8.

0.2x = 8
x = 40

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CIMC 2024 Solutions Bayview S.S. Math Club 3

1.3 Problem 3

A3
In the diagram, ABDE is a square and △BCD is equilateral. What is the measure of ∠ECB?

B D

A E

Solution 3 (Answer: 45◦ ):

∠CDE = 60◦ + 90◦ = 150◦ . Note that DC = DB = DE so △CDE is isosceles. Thus ∠ECD =
180◦ −∠CDE ◦ ◦

2 = 180 −150
2 = 15◦ .

∠BCE = ∠BCD − ∠ECD

= 60◦ − 15◦
= 45◦

1.4 Problem 4

A4
a b
The positive integers a and b satisfy 2a < b. The sum 4 + 2 is greater than 27 and less than 28.
What is the greatest possible value of a?

Solution 4 (Answer: 21):

We are given that
a b
27 < + < 28
4 2
108 < a + 2b < 112

We know that 2a < b so 4a < 2b. This means that 5a < a + 2b. Since a + 2b < 112, combining the
two inequalities gives 5a < 112. Since a is an integer, a ≤ 22.

If a = 22 then b > 2a = 44 so b ≥ 45. But a + 2b ≥ 22 + 2(45) = 112 so a = 22 fails.

For a = 21 we take b = 44 since 2(21) < 44 and 108 < 21 + 2(44) < 112. Therefore a = 21 .

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CIMC 2024 Solutions Bayview S.S. Math Club 4

1.5 Problem 5

A5
Ango creates a table with 95 rows and 7 columns. He places a positive integer in each of the
95 × 7 = 665 cells according to the following rules.
• Every integer in the first (leftmost) column is 5.

• The cells in the second column contain the consecutive integers from 5 through 99 in order with
5 at the top and 99 at the bottom.
• Every integer in the remaining columns is equal to the sum of the integers in the two cells
directly to its left in the same row.

The first three rows of the table are shown below.

5 5 10 15 25 40 65
5 6 11 17 28 45 73
5 7 12 19 31 50 81
.. .. .. .. .. .. ..
. . . . . . .
How many different two-digit integers are in exactly 5 cells in the table?

Solution 5 (Answer: 5):

Note that the numbers in each column form an arithmetic progression, with common differences
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 respectively. To prove this rigorously, let the 2nd column have value 5 + x and write
out the entire row in terms of x.
5 5+x 10 + x 15 + 2x 25 + 3x 40 + 5x 65 + 8x

Every time we move down a column, x increases by exactly 1. Thus all columns are arithmetic
sequences. We can also note that every two-digit integer appears in column 2 and column 3, so it
suffices to consider columns 4 through 7.

All two-digit integers in column 7 also appear in column 4, so if a two-digit integer does not
appear in column 4 it cannot appear 5 times. Writing out the remaining 3 columns and checking
for odd integers that appear in exactly 2 of them, we find the solutions 55, 65, 73, 85, 97. Therefore
there are 5 such two-digit integers.

1.6 Problem 6

A6
Eight points are equally spaced around the circumference of a circle and pairs of points are connected
by 4 diameters, as shown. The eight points are to be labelled randomly using the integers from 1
through 8, each exactly once. What is the probaility that at least one of the four diameters has a
multiple of 3 at one of its ends and a multiple of 2 at its other end?

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Solution 6 (Answer: 29 35 ):
We instead compute the probability that none of the diameters satisfy the given condition. First
consider the number that 6 is paired with. 6 cannot be paired with any of 2, 4, 8, 3, so it must be
paired with one of 1, 5, 7. This has a 73 probability of occurring.

Now consider the number that 3 is paired with. It cannot be paired with any of 2, 4, 8 so it
must be paired with one of 1, 5, 7. However one of these numbers was already paired with the 6, so
there are only 2 numbers the 3 can be paired with. This has a 52 probability of occurring.

We have already paired all the multiples of 3 so the remaining numbers can be paired in any
way without affecting the outcome, so we can ignore them.

The probability that both events occur is 37 · 52 = 35 6

. We want the probability that at least
one diameter satisfies the given condition, so we subtract this probability from 1.

6 29
1− =
35 35

Another solution involves counting the number of valid configurations and dividing that by 8! = 40320.

2 Part B

2.1 Problem 1

B1

(a) In the diagram, A(2, 3) and C(6, 7) are two of the vertices of △ABC. If AB is horizontal and
BC is vertical, determine the area of right-angled ABC.
y
C(6, 7)

A(2, 3) B

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(b) In the diagram, △XY Z has vertices X(5, 10), Y (3, 4), and Z(a, 4), for some real number a > 3,
which means that side Y Z is horizontal. If the area of △XY Z is 24, determine the value of a.

y
X(5, 10)

Y (3, 4) Z(a, 4)
x

(c) Quadrilateral P QRS has vertices P (28, 4), Q(c, c), R(25, c + 2), and S(2c, c). The diagonal QS
is horizontal and divides P QRS into two triangles, as shown. There is one positive integer c
with the property that the area of P QRS is 180. Determine this value of c.

R(25, c + 2)

Q(c, c) S(2c, c)

P (28, 4)
x

Solution 7 (Answer to (a): 8):

B has the same x-coordinate as C and the same y-coordinate as A. Since A = (2, 3) and C = (6, 7),
B must be (6, 3).

△ABC has base 6 − 2 = 4 and height 7 − 3 = 4 so its area is 21 (4)(4) = 8 .

Solution 8 (Answer to (b): 11):

△XY Z has a base of a − 3 and a height of 10 − 4 = 6. We know that it has area 24, so
1
(a − 3)(6) = 24
2
a−3=8
a = 11

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CIMC 2024 Solutions Bayview S.S. Math Club 7

Solution 9 (Answer to (c): 20):

△QRS and △P QS share base QS which has length 2c − c = c. △QRS has height (c + 2) − c = 2
and △P QS has height c − 4. We know that the entire figure has area 180, so
1 1
(c)(2) + (c)(c − 4) = 180
2 2
(2c) + (c2 − 4c) = 360
c2 − 2c − 360 = 0
(c − 20)(c + 18) = 0
c = 20, −18

We are given that c > 0 so we discard the negative solution, leaving c = 20 .

2.2 Problem 2

B2

(a) Ango ran 30 km. He ran the first 20 km at 12km/h and the last 10 km at 10 km/h. Determine
the total amount of time, in hours, that it took for Ango to run 30 km.
(b) Ango walked 10 km in 2 hours and 18 minutes. For the first x km, he walked at 6 km/h. For
the remaining 10 − x km, he walked at 4 km/h. Determine the value of x.
(c) Ango rode his bicycle for a total of 3 hours. He rode a km at 24 km/h followed by b km/h.
Determine the number of pairs (a, b) of positive integers for which this is possible.

(d) Ango competed in an endurance competition that took 5 hours. He ran r km at 12 km/h, then
he jogged j km at 8 km/h, and finally walked w at 4 km/h. Determine the number of triples
(r, j, w) of positive integers for which this is possible.

Solution 10 (Answer to (a): 83 ):

The first 20 km are ran in 20 5
12 = 3 hours, and the last 10 km are ran in
10
10 = 1 hour. This totals to
5 8
3 + 1 = 3 hours.

Solution 11 (Answer to (b): 12 5 ):

2 hours and 18 minutes is equivalent to 2.3 hours. We set up an equation to solve for x.
x 10 − x 23
+ =
6 4 10
10x + 15(10 − x) = 138
150 − 5x = 138
5x = 12
12
x=
5

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CIMC 2024 Solutions Bayview S.S. Math Club 8

Solution 12 (Answer to (c): 23):

We are given that
a b
+ =3
24 16
2a + 3b = 144

2 divides both of 2a and 144 so it must divide b. Similarly, 3 divides both of 3b and 144 so it must
divide a. Let a = 3x and b = 2y.

6x + 6y = 144
x + y = 24

(x, y) are positive integers in the range (1, 23), (2, 22), . . . , (23, 1). Each of these pairs (x, y) uniquely
corresponds to a pair (a, b) so there are 23 such pairs.

Solution 13 (Answer to (d): 171): We use a similar technique as in the previous section. We are
given that
r j w
+ + =5
12 8 4
2r + 3j + 6w = 120

Observe that 2 must divide j and 3 must divide r. Let r = 3x and j = 2y.

6x + 6y + 6w = 120
x + y + w = 20

(x, y, w) are all positive integers so by Stars & Bars, there are 20−1 19



3−1 = 2 = 171 triplets (x, y, w)
that satisfy this condition. Each of these triplets (x, y, w) uniquely corresponds to a triplet (r, j, w)
so there are 171 such triplets.

2.3 Problem 3

B3
Given an increasing list of consecutive integers, the 3-sign sum of the list is the sum of the integers
in the list, in order, except that every third integer is subtracted instead of added. For example, the
3-sign sum of the list 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 is 3 + 4 − 5 + 6 + 7 − 8 + 9 = 16.
(a) Determine the 3-sign sum of 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15.
For a positive integer n, a slice of the list 1, 2, 3, . . . , n − 1, n is an increasing list of at least 1 and
at most n consecutive integers, each of which is between 1 and n. For example, 1, 2 and 2, 3, 4 are
both slices of the list 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. As another example, the list 1, 2, 3 has a total of six slices. They
are given in the left column of the table below with their 3-sign sums in the right column.

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Slice 3-sign sum

1, 2, 3 1+2−3=0
1, 2 1+2=3
2, 3 2+3=5
1 1
2 2
3 3
For a positive integer n, the Ghimire number of n, denoted Gn , is the sum of the 3-sign sums of all slices
of 1, 2, 3, . . . , n−1, n. For example, using the information from the table above, G3 = 0+3+5+1+2+3.

(b) For each integer n ≥ 1, show that 13 (G3n − 2G3n−1 + G3n−2 ) is a perfect square.
(c) Determine the remainder when G2025 − G2024 is divided by 27.

Solution 14 (Answer to (a): 46):

We compute that 8 + 9 − 10 + 11 + 12 − 13 + 14 + 15 = 46 .

Solution 15 (Answer to (b): 13 (G3n − 2G3n−1 + G3n−2 ) = n2 ):

The notation ⌊n⌋ denotes the greatest integer that is less than or equal to n. For example, ⌊5⌋ = 5
and ⌊π⌋ = 3.

Over the course

Pn of the following two solutions, we will use summation notation for brevity.
The notation
Pn k=1 . . . means that we sum a certain expression in terms of k from 1 to n. For
example, k=1 k 2 = 12 + 22 + · · · + n2 is the sum of the first n perfect squares.

We derive a formula for Gn − Gn−1 in terms of n. We will first derive a formula for Gn .

Fix an integer k between 1 and n inclusive and consider the number of slices that k appears
in. The least element in the slice is at most k so there are k choices for it. Similarly, the greatest
element element in the slice is at least k so there are n + 1 − k choices for it. Thus there are a total
of k(n + 1 − k) slices containing k.

Now consider among these slices containing k, the number which have a negative sign in
front of k in their 3-sign sum. This requires the least element of the slice to be k − 2 mod 3, which
has k3 positive solutions less than k. There are still (n + 1 − k) choices for the greatest element, so
the total number of such slices is k3 (n + 1 − k).
 

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CIMC 2024 Solutions Bayview S.S. Math Club 10

 k 

Each k contributes a net of k − 2 3 (n + 1 − k) times to Gn , so
n   
X k
Gn = k k−2 (n + 1 − k)
3
k=1
n−1
X   
k
Gn−1 = k k−2 (n − k)
3
k=1
 j n k n−1X   
k
Gn − Gn−1 = n n − 2 + k k−2
3 3
k=1
n   
X k
Gn − Gn−1 = k k−2
3
k=1

Note that the given expression equals 13 (G3n − G3n−1 ) − 31 (G3n−1 − G3n−2 ).
3n    3n−1
X   !
1 1 1 X k k
(G3n − G3n−1 ) − (G3n−1 − G3n−2 ) = k k−2 − k k−2
3 3 3 3 3
k=1 k=1
1
= (3n(3n − 2n))
3
= n2

Clearly this is a perfect square.

Solution 16 (Answer to (c): 0):

Using the formula derived in the previous section, we obtain
2025   
X k
G2025 − G2024 = k k−2
3
k=1

We swap indices by grouping the expressions for 3j − 2, 3j − 1, 3j together and summing from j = 1
to j = 2025
3 = 675.

675
X 675
X 675
X
G2025 − G2024 = (3j − 2)(j) + (3j − 1)(j + 1) + (3j)(j)
j=1 j=1 j=1
675
X
= 9j 2 − 1
j=1
(675)(676)(1351)
=9 − 675
6
= 924691275

This leaves a remainder of 0 when divided by 27.

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