New York City Interscholastic Mathematics League

Junior Division Spring 2022

PART 1 Spring 2022 Time: 10 Minutes
S22J01 Two coins are placed arbitrarily on a 3 ⇥ 3 grid. In each square where a coin is not placed, the number
of coins which border this square is written. Here, two squares border each other if they share an edge or
a vertex. One example of such an arrangement is shown below, two coins, denoted c, and one 2. Over all
possible placements of these two coins, what is the maximum number of 2s which can appear in this grid?
c 1 0
1 2 1
0 1 c

S22J02 f (x) and g(x) are two monic quadratics such that f (x) g(x) = 4 for all x. If f (x) has only one root
at x = 5, what is the product of the two roots of g(x)?

PART 2 Spring 2022 Time: 10 Minutes

S22J03 At a school, there are 52 students who enjoy math, 14 students who enjoy art and history, 22 students
who enjoy art and math, and 12 students who enjoy history and math. (Note that these categories are not
necessarily mutually exclusive.) What is the minimum number of possible students who could be at this
school?

S22J04 A cow is tied to a post at the center of a square barn with three walls, drawn with thick lines, each 4 units
long, with a rope in the diagram below. The rope cannot stretch or pass through walls, but it can bend.
What is the total area of the region that the cow can access? Assume the wall has no thickness. Express
your answer in simplest form, in terms of ⇡ .

PART 3 Spring 2022 Time: 10 Minutes

S22J05 Triangle ABC is a right triangle with right angle at B , and m\ACB = 30 . Point D is chosen on AC
such that AD = AB . Point E is on BC such that ED is perpendicular to AC . If AB = 2, what is the
length of segment AE ? Express your answer in simplest form.

S22J06 The operation x ? y works as follows on two 2-digit numbers x, y : if the digits of x are ab and the digits
of y are cd, then x ? y = ac + abcd + bd. How many ordered pairs of 2-digit numbers (x, y) are there
such that x ? y is even?
 Junior Contest 1 Solutions
1. Two coins are placed arbitrarily on a 3 ⇥ 3 grid. In each square where a coin is not placed,
the number of coins which border this square is written. Here, two squares border each other
if they share an edge or a vertex. One example of such an arrangement is shown below, two
coins, denoted c, and one 2. Over all possible placements of these two coins, what is the
maximum number of 2s which can appear in this grid?

c 1 0
1 2 1
0 1 c

Solution. 4 We will try to find the optimal placement for coins.

Instead of thinking of the number on a square as the number of coins around it, we can think
of a coin as adding one to each of the 8 squares which surround it, unless there is already a
coin on that square (in which case, no number is written).
Then, the number of 2s is the number of squares which surround both coins. The optimal
placement for coins then is to put them right next to each other, as below, which gives us 4.

2 2 1
c c 1
2 2 1

2. f (x) and g(x) are two monic quadratics such that f (x) g(x) = 4 for all x. If f (x) has only
one root at x = 5, what is the product of the two roots of g(x)?
Solution. 21 Since f (x) and g(x) are two monic quadratics, we can write

f (x) = x2 + ax + b
g(x) = x2 + cx + d

Then, we must have (a c)x + (b d) = 4 for all x. Thus, we must have a c = 0, and
(b d) = 4. If a c 6= 0, then the value of the expression (a c)x would change for di↵erent
x, and since (b d) is not dependent on x, there is no way (a c)x + (b d) could be 4 for
all x.
Note that by Vieta’s formulas, we have that the product of the roots of f (x) is b, and the
product of the roots of g(x) is d. Then, because we have that f (x) has only one root at x = 5,
b = 25. Then, since we have b d = 4, d = 21.
Alternatively, we could graph f (x), since we know its roots and that it is monic, and translate
it down by 4 units, to find that g(x) has roots 3 and 7.
3. At a school, there are 52 students who enjoy math, 14 students who enjoy art and history,
22 students who enjoy art and math, and 12 students who enjoy history and math. (Note
that these categories are not necessarily mutually exclusive.) What is the minimum number
of possible students who could be at this school?

1
 Solution. 54 In order to achieve the minimum number of students at this school, we should
maximize the number of students who enjoy all three subjects. There must be at most 12
who like all 3, since only 12 enjoy both history and math. Then, this gives 2 students who
like art and history, but not math. Since we want to minimize the number of students at this
school, we can assume there are no students who only enjoy art or only enjoy history. This
gives 10 students enjoying art and math only. Then, there are 30 remaining students who
only enjoy math.

Keeping track of all of this information in a Venn Diagram, shown below, we have that there
are a total of 30 + 10 + 12 + 2 = 54 students.

4. A cow is tied to a post at the center of a square barn with three walls, drawn with thick lines,
each 4 units long, with a rope in the diagram below. The rope cannot stretch or pass through
walls, but it can bend. What is the total area of the region that the cow can access? Assume
the wall has no thickness. Express your answer in simplest form, in terms of ⇡.

p
Solution. 12 + (31 15 2)⇡ We divide the area that the cow can roam into 3 parts, as
shown in this diagram.

2
 p
The first is eachpof the dark gray areas, which are sectors of a circle of radius 5 2 2, since
in both cases, 2 2 units of the rope are used to get to the edge of one of the walls, but the
rest of the rope is free to move around. Since the post is at the center of the square, the angle
of this sector is 135 . Then, since both of these sectors
p have the same radius, combined, they
make up 34 of the area of a circle of radius 5 2 2.
The second is the light gray area, which is a quarter circle of radius 5.
3
The final area is the remaining area inside of the barn, which is 4 of the area of the barn.
We can add all of these up to get:
p
3(5 2 2)2 ⇡ 52 ⇡ 3 p
+ + · 16 = 12 + (31 15 2)⇡
4 4 4

5. Triangle ABC is a right triangle with right angle at B, and m\ACB = 30 . Point D is
chosen on AC such that AD = AB. Point E is on BC such that ED is perpendicular to AC.
If AB = 2, what is the length of segment AE? Express your answer in simplest form.
p
Solution. 4 3 3 Note that AE is actually the angle bisector of \BAD, since ABE ⇠
= ADE
by hypotenuse-leg congruence.
p
4 3
Then, m\BAE = 30 , so we can use special right triangles to determine AE = 3 .

6. The operation x ? y works as follows on two 2-digit numbers x, y: if the digits of x are ab and
the digits of y are cd, then x ? y = ac + abcd + bd. How many ordered pairs of 2-digit numbers
(x, y) are there such that x ? y is even?

3
Solution. 4200 First, note that the product of any set of numbers is odd if and only if all
of them are odd. Then, if bd is even, abcd must be even as well. Similarly, if ac is even, abcd
must be even too. Conversely, if abcd is even, then at least one of bd and ac must be even.
We split cases, term by term. One way to have three terms add to an even number is for two
to be odd, and the other to be even. However, because of the reasons we discussed above,
this cannot be true. This is because, if any term is even, there must be another term which
is even, so we cannot have exactly one even term.
The other way to have three terms add to an even number is for them to all be even. This
occurs if at least one of a and c are even, and one of b and d are even.
We can compute the total number of such pairs by splitting cases. First, this can occur if
a, b, c, d are all even. Then, for a, c, there are 4 choices, and for b, d, there are 5 choices, for a
total of 4 · 4 · 5 · 5 = 400 pairs.
Now, if exactly two of a, b, c, d are even, there are 4 cases:
(a) a and b are even, only. This gives 4 · 5 · 5 · 5 choices.
(b) a and d are even, only. This gives 4 · 5 · 5 · 5 choices.
(c) c and b are even, only. This gives 5 · 5 · 4 · 5 choices.
(d) c and d are even, only. This gives 5 · 5 · 4 · 5 choices.
Now, if exactly three of a, b, c, d are even, there are 4 cases:
(a) a is odd only. This gives 5 · 5 · 4 · 5 choices.
(b) b is odd only. This gives 4 · 5 · 4 · 5 choices.
(c) c is odd only. This gives 4 · 5 · 5 · 5 choices.
(d) d is odd only. This gives 4 · 5 · 4 · 5 choices.
We add all of these up to get 4 · 5 · 5 · 5 · 4 + 4 · 5 · 5 · 5 · 2 + 4 ⇤ ·5 · 5 · 2 + 400 = 4200, as desired.

4
 New York City Interscholastic Mathematics League

Junior Division Spring 2022

PART 1 Spring 2022 Time: 10 Minutes
S22J07 What is the minimum number of colors needed to color each of the points (denoted by a circle) below such
that any two points connected by a segment are colored with di↵erent colors?

S22J08 An ordered triple (a, b, c) is made of three distinct integers a, b, c which are chosen uniformly at random
from the set {1, 2, . . . , 15}. Compute the probability that a2 + b2 = c2 . Express your answer in simplest
form.

PART 2 Spring 2022 Time: 10 Minutes

S22J09 The function f (n) is defined on the positive integers as follows: f (1) = 2 and f (n) = 2f (n 1)
for n > 1.
Compute the minimum n for which f (n) > 106 .

S22J10 Triangle ABC has side-lengths AB = 3, AC = 4, and BC = 5. Altitude AD and angle bisector BE ,
with D, E on BC, AC respectively, intersect at point P . Compute the area of triangle BP D . Express
your answer in simplest form.

PART 3 Spring 2022 Time: 10 Minutes

S22J11 For a real number x, let bxc be the greatest positive integer less than x, and let dxe be the least positive
integer greater than x. Compute b199/2c · d199/2e.

S22J12 Compute the minimum m for which 101 is a factor of

1 · 3 + 2 · 4 + 3 · 5 + . . . + m · (m + 2).
 Junior Contest 2 Solutions
1. What is the minimum number of colors needed to color each of the points (denoted by a circle)
below such that any two points connected by a segment are colored with di↵erent colors?

Solution. 4 We first show that its not possible to color the points with 3 colors. Note that
for every set of 3 points connected in a triangle shape, all 3 points need to be di↵erent colors.
Then, the center triangle will have to be colored with 3 di↵erent colors. We consider one of
the triangles sharing a point with it. Its other two vertices must be the two other colors used.
By symmetry, we can assign the colors in any order. We can then perform casework on the
remaining uncolored vertices.
Now, we show that it is possible to color with 4:

2. An ordered triple (a, b, c) is made of three distinct integers a, b, c which are chosen uniformly
at random from the set {1, 2, . . . , 15}. Compute the probability that a2 + b2 = c2 . Express
your answer in simplest form.
4
Solution. 1365 Note that there are 4 distinct pythagorean triples such that all their numbers
are less than or equal to 15. They are: (3, 4, 5), (6, 8, 10), (5, 12, 13), (9, 12, 15). Each of produce
two triples, since we can swap the two legs. This gives 8 out of a total of 15 · 14 · 13 choices.
4
This simplifies to 1365 .

1
3. The function f (n) is defined on the positive integers as follows: f (1) = 2 and f (n) = 2f (n 1)

for n > 1. Compute the minimum n for which f (n) > 106 .
Solution. 5 We have f (2) = 22 = 4, f (3) = 24 = 16, f (4) = 21 6 = 21 0 · 26 = 1024 · 64. Note
that 1024 · 64 ⇡ 6 · 104 < 106 . Now, we consider f (5) = 21 024 · 64, which is equivalent to
21 024 multiplied by itself 64 times. Note that 21 024 > 10, so 21 024 · 64 > 106 4 > 106 .
4. Triangle ABC has side-lengths AB = 3, AC = 4, and BC = 5. Altitude AD and angle
bisector BE, with D, E on BC, AC respectively, intersect at point P . Compute the area of
triangle P DB. Express your answer in simplest form.
81
Solution. 100 Note that if AD is an altitude, AD · BC = BA · AC, since they both equal
half the area of ABC. Thus, AD = BA·AC BC = 12
5 . Then, the pythagorean theorem (or we
could have used similar triangles), we have BD = 95 .
AP AB
The angle bisector theorem states PD = BD . Note that AP = AD P D. This gives us,
12
PD 3 9
after plugging in lengths we know, 5
PD = 9 . We can solve this to get P D = 10 . Then,
5
81
since D is right, the area of P DB = 100 .

5. For a real number x, let bxc be the greatest positive integer less than x, and let dxe be the
least positive integer greater than x. Compute b199/2c · d199/2e.
Solution. 9900 Note that 199/2 = 99.5. Then, b99.5c = 99, and d99.5e = 100. Their
product is then 9900.
6. Compute the minimum m for which 101 is a factor of

1 · 3 + 2 · 4 + 3 · 5 + . . . + m · (m + 2).

Solution. 47 Note that we can✓write m·(m+2) ◆ as (m+1)2 1. Then 1·3+2·4+3·5+. . .+

P
m Pm
m·(m+2) = ((i+1)2 1) = (i + 1)2 m. We have that sum of squares up to n+1 is
i=1 i=1 ✓m ◆
(m+1)(m+2)(2m+3) P
6 . However, we skipped 1 2
, so (i + 1) 2
m = (m+1)(m+2)(2m+3)
6 1
i=1
2
(m+1)(m+2)(2m+3) 6(m+1) (m+1)((m+2)(2m+3) 6)
m= 6 = 6 = (m+1)(2m6
+7m)
+ (m+1)(m)(2m+7)
6 .
Because 101 is prime, in order for the expression to be a multiple of 101, one of the terms in
the numerator must equal 101. Then one giving the smallest m is 2m + 7 = 101, or m = 47.

2
 New York City Interscholastic Mathematics League

Junior Division Spring 2022

PART 1 Spring 2022 Time: 10 Minutes
S22J13 Three vertices A, B, C are chosen from the vertices of a regular hexagon with side-length 1. Compute the
minimum possible area of triangle ABC . Express your answer in simplest form.

S22J14 How many paths are there from A back to A which follow the arrows shown below? (Staying at A does not
count as a path.)

PART 2 Spring 2022 Time: 10 Minutes

S22J15 A 4 ⇥ 4 grid of squares is made up of small squares each having side-length 1. The top right square is
colored red. From each of the other fifteen squares, the minimum distance from any point in that square to
any point in the red square is computed. What is the sum of these fifteen distances? Express your answer
in simplest form.

S22J16 In a 10 ⇥ 10 grid of squares with rows and columns numbered from 1 to 10, the square on row i and column
j contains the number i + j . Compute the sum of all the numbers she wrote.

PART 3 Spring 2022 Time: 10 Minutes

S22J17 A regular pentagon ABCDE and a regular triangle XY Z are drawn such that they share the same center
O, and OA = 17 and OX = 12. Triangle XY Z is rotated around O such that AX has maximal
distance d. Compute d.

S22J18 How many triplets of integers (a, b, c) chosen from {2, . . . , 30} satisfy for which a < b < c, a is a factor
b, and b is a factor of c?
 Junior Contest 3 Solutions
1. Three vertices A, B, C are chosen from the vertices of a regular hexagon with side-length 1.
Compute the minimum possible area of triangle ABC. Express your answer in simplest form.
p
3
Solution. 4 Perhaps the fastest way to solve this problem is as follows. The sidelength of
p
the hexagon is 1, the short diagonal has length 3 (for example by looking at inner 30-60-90
triangles), and the long diagonal has length 2. Let x and y be the shortest sidelengths of the
minimal area triangle, and let ✓ be the angle between x and y.
p p p
There are three cases ignoring order: (x, y) = ( 3, 3), ( 3, 1), (1, 1). If we check the angle
between x and y in each case, we see that p
(x, y) = (1, 1) gives the smallest value for the area
1 1 3
2 xy sin ✓. In this case, it is 2 sin 120 = 4 .

2. How many paths are there from A back to A which follow the arrows shown below? (Staying
at A does not count as a path.)

Solution. 32 While traversing the path, we have two choices at each vertex of the pentagon:
follow the inner pentagon or follow the outer two segments of the dodecagon. This gives a
total of 25 = 32 choices for the path.
3. A 4 ⇥ 4 grid of squares is made up of small squares each having side-length 1. The top right
square is colored red. From each of the other fifteen squares, the minimum distance from any
point in that square to any point in the red square is computed. What is the sum of these
fifteen distances? Express your answer in simplest form.
p p
Solution. 12 + 2 5 + 3 2 The closest distance between two squares is always between
their vertices (why?). If we write each distance to the red square inside the appropriate
p p grid
square, from leftpto p
right, we have the numbers 2, 1, 0 in row 1; 2, 1, 0, 0 in row 2; 5, 2, 1, 1
in row 3; and 2 2, 5, 2, 2 in row 4,pwhere p the rows are ordered from top to bottom. The
sum of the numbers written is 12 + 2 5 + 3 2.

4. In a 10 ⇥ 10 grid of squares with rows and columns numbered from 1 to 10, the square on row
i and column j contains the number i + j. Compute the sum of all the numbers she wrote.
Solution. 1100 We compute the sum by considering the number of times each number from
1 to 10 appears. Each number i appears 20 times, once for each row and each column (the

1
 diagonal entry i + i is counted once for the row and once for the column). Therefore, our total
sum is
10 · 11
20 · 1 + 20 · 2 + . . . + 20 · 10 = 20(1 + 2 + . . . + 10) = 20 · = 1100.
2

5. A regular pentagon ABCDE and a regular triangle XY Z are drawn such that they share the
same center O, and OA = 17 and OX = 12. Triangle XY Z is rotated around O such that
AX has maximal distance d. Compute d.
Solution. 29 By the triangle inequality on triangle AOX, AX  OA + OX = 17 + 12 = 29.
We note that AX = 29 when A, O, X lie on the same line, with O between A and X.
6. How many triplets of integers (a, b, c) chosen from {2, . . . , 30} satisfy for which a < b < c, a
is a factor b, and b is a factor of c?
Solution. 32 This is a problem testing your ability to do organized casework. The condition
a < b < c means that we can write a = x, b = xy, c = xyz, where x, y, z are all integers
greater than 1. An efficient way is to list the cases is by counting the number of z that satisfy
2  xyz  30 for a fixed x and y.

x y # of z
2 2 6
2 3 4
2 4 2
2 5 1
2 6 1
2 7 1
3 2 4
3 3 2
3 4 1
3 5 1
4 2 2
4 3 1
5 2 2
5 3 1
6 2 1
7 2 1

Summing the rightmost column gives 32.