1983 AIME Problems/Problem 1

Problem #1
Let

, and

all exceed , and let

and

. Find

be a positive number such that

Solutions
Solution 1
The logarithmic notation doesn't tell us much, so we'll first convert everything to the equivalent exponential expressions.
,
isolate

, and

and
,

. If we now convert everything to a power of

, it will be easy to

.
, and

With some substitution, we get

and

Solution 2
Applying the change of base formula,

Therefore,
Hence,

.
.

Problem #2
Let
by

, where
for

in the interval

. Determine the minimum value taken

Solution
It is best to get rid of the absolute value first.
Under the given circumstances, we notice that
and

Adding these together, we find that the sum is equal to

, of which the minimum value is attained when

Edit:

can equal

(for example, if

). Thus, our two "cases" are

both of these cases give us

or
(if

as the minimum value for

) and

and
(if

). However,

, which indeed is the answer posted above.

Problem #3
What is the product of the real roots of the equation

Solution
If we expand by squaring, we get a quartic polynomial, which isn't very helpful.
Instead, we substitute

for

and our equation becomes

Now we can square; solving for , we get

or

since
Substituting

as the only solution for .

is positive. So, we have

back in for ,

By Vieta's formulas, the product of the roots is

. The second solution is extraneous

Problem #4
A machine shop cutting tool is in the shape of a notched circle, as shown. The radius of the circle
is
cm, the length of
is 6 cm, and that of
is 2 cm. The angle
is a right angle. Find
the square of the distance (in centimeters) from to the center of the circle.

Solution
Solution 1
Because we are given a right angle, we look for ways to apply the Pythagorean Theorem. Let the foot of
the perpendicular from to
be
and let the foot of the perpendicular from to the line
be .
Let
and
. We're trying to find
.

Applying the Pythagorean Theorem,

Thus,
get

and

, and
and

.
. We solve this system to

, resulting in

Solution 2
Drop perpendiculars from
midpoint
of
.

to

),

to

), and

to

). Also, draw the

Then the problem is trivialized. Why?

First notice that by computation,

Then, notice that
So,

is a

isosceles triangle; thus

. Thus the two blue triangles are congruent.

. As

Pythagorean Theorem shows

, we subtract and get

.

. Then the

Problem #5
Suppose that the sum of the squares of two complex numbers
is . What is the largest real value that
can have?

and

is

and the sum of the cubes

Solution
Solution 1
One way to solve this problem seems to be by substitution.
and
Because we are only left with
We get

and

, substitution won't be too bad. Let

and

and

Because we want the largest possible

, let's find an expression for

in terms of

.
Substituting,
. Factored,
may be used here, along with synthetic division)
The largest possible solution is therefore

(the Rational Root Theorem

Problem #6
Let

equal

. Determine the remainder upon dividing

by

Solution
Solution 1
First, we try to find a relationship between the numbers we're provided with and
that
and both and are greater or less than by .
Expressing the numbers in terms of , we get

. We realize

Applying the Binomial Theorem, half of our terms cancel out and we are left
with
final term.
After some quick division, our answer is

. We realize that all of these terms are divisible by

except the

Problem #7
Twenty five of King Arthur's knights are seated at their customary round table. Three of them are chosen all choices being equally likely - and are sent of to slay a troublesome dragon. Let be
the probability that at least two of the three had been sitting next to each other. If is written as a fraction
in lowest terms, what is the sum of the numerator and the denominator?

Solution 1
We can use Complementary counting by finding the probability that none are sitting next to each other
and subtracting it from .
Imagine the

other (indistinguishable) people are already seated, and fixed into place.

We will place

, and

with and without the restriction.

There are
places to place , followed by
place after and . Hence, there are
with restrictions.

places to place , and

ways to place

Without restrictions, there are

places to place
place after and . Hence, there are
without restrictions.

, followed by
places to place , and
places to
ways to place
in between these people

Thus, the desired amount is

is

places to
in between these people

, and the answer

Problem #8

What is the largest 2-digit prime factor of the integer

Solution

Expanding the binomial coefficient, we get

. Let the prime be ; then
.
If
, then the factor of appears twice in the denominator. Thus, we need to appear as a factor
three times in the numerator, or

. The largest such prime is

, which is our answer.

Problem #9
Find the minimum value of

for

Solution 3

Let
minimize

and rewrite the expression as

, similar to the previous solution. To
, take the derivative of
and set it equal to zero.

The derivative of

, using the Power Rule, is

=
is zero only when
or
. It can further be verified that and
by finding the derivatives of other points near the critical points. However, since
in the given domain,

. Therefore,

are relative minima

is always positive

, and the answer is

Problem #10
The numbers
,
, and
have something in common. Each is a four-digit number beginning
with that has exactly two identical digits. How many such numbers are there?

Solution
Suppose the two identical digits are both one. Since the thousands digits must be one, the other one can
be in only one of three digits,

Because the number must have exactly two identical digits,

are
numbers of this form.

, and

. Hence, there

Suppose the two identical digits are not one. Therefore, consider the following possibilities,

Again,

, and

Thus, the desired answer is

. There are

numbers of this form as well.

.

Problem #11
The solid shown has a square base of side length . The upper edge is parallel to the base and has
length . All other edges have length . Given that
, what is the volume of the solid?

Solution
Solution 1
First, we find the height of the figure by drawing a perpendicular from the midpoint of
to
.
The hypotenuse of the triangle is the median ofequilateral triangle
, and one of the legs is
apply the Pythagorean Theorem to find that the height is equal to .

Next, we complete the figure into a triangular prism, and find the volume, which
is

Now, we subtract off the two extra pyramids that we included, whose combined volume

is
Thus, our answer is

.
.

. We

Problem #12
The length of diameter
is a two digit integer. Reversing the digits gives the length of a perpendicular
chord
. The distance from their intersection point
to the center is a positive rational number.
Determine the length of
.

Solution
Let

and

that
Theorem on

. It follows
and

. Applying the Pythagorean

and

Because
roots. Either
Therefore,
only pair

is a positive rational number, the quantity

cannot contain any square
or
must be 11. However,
cannot be 11, because both must be digits.
must equal eleven and
must be a perfect square (since
). The
that satisfies this condition is

, so our answer is

Problem #13
For
and each of its non-empty subsets, an alternating sum is defined as follows. Arrange
the number in the subset in decreasing order and then, beginning with the largest, alternately add and
subtract succesive numbers. For example, the alternating sum
for
is
and for
it is simply . Find the sum of all such
alternating sums for
.

Solution 1
Let

be a non- empty subset of

Then the alternating sum of plus the alternating sum of with 7 included is 7. In mathematical
terms,
. This is true because when we take an alternating sum, each term of has the
opposite sign of each corresponding term of
.
Because there are

of these pairs, the sum of all possible subsets of our given set is

we forgot to include the subset that only contains , so our answer is

. However,

Problem #14
In the adjoining figure, two circles with radii and are drawn with their centers
units apart. At , one
of the points of intersection, a line is drawn in such a way that the chords
and
have equal length.
( is the midpoint of
) Find the area of the square with a side length of
.

Solution 2

Draw additional lines as indicated. Note that since triangles

are also bisectors, so let
.
Since
have

triangles
.

and

Applying the Pythagorean Theorem on triangle

triangle
, we have
.
Subtracting,

and

are isosceles, the altitudes

are similar. If we let

, we

, we have

. Similarly, for

Problem #15
The adjoining figure shows two intersecting chords in a circle, with on minor arc
. Suppose that the
radius of the circle is , that
, and that
is bisected by
. Suppose further that
is the
only chord starting at which is bisected by
. It follows that the sine of the minor arc
is a rational
number. If this fraction is expressed as a fraction

in lowest terms, what is the product

Solution
Let be any fixed point on circle and let
be a chord of circle . The locus of midpoints
of the
chord
is a circle , with diameter
. Generally, the circle can intersect the chord
at two
points, one point, or they may not have a point of intersection. By the problem condition, however, the
circle is tangent to BC at point N.
Let M be the midpoint of the chord
Thus,
Notice that the distance

. From right triangle

.
equals

of circle P). Evaluating this,

(Where

is the radius

. From

we see that
Next, notice that

. We can therefore apply the tangent subtraction

formula to obtain ,
that

. It follows
, resulting in an answer of