Problems

Balls numbered 1, 2, 3, ... are deposited in 5 bins, labeled A, B, C, D, and E, using the following procedure. Ball 1 is deposited in bin A, and balls 2 and 3 are deposited in bin B. The next 3 balls are deposited in bin C, the next 4 in bin D, and so on, cycling back to bin A after balls are deposited in bin E. (For …

In the following expression, Melanie changed some of the plus signs to minus signs: $$1+3+5+7+...+97+99$$ When the new expression was evaluated, it was negative. What is the least number of plus signs that Melanie could have changed to minus signs?

Real numbers $a, b,$ and $c$ have arithmetic mean $0$ . The arithmetic mean of $a^2, b^2,$ and $c^2$ is $10$ . What is the arithmetic mean of $ab, ac,$ and $bc$ ?

Positive integers $x$ and $y$ satisfy the equation $\sqrt{x} + \sqrt{y} = \sqrt{1183}$ . What is the minimum possible value of $x+y$ ?

The Fibonacci numbers are defined by $F_1 = 1, F_2 = 1,$ and $F_n = F_{n-1} + F_{n-2}$ for $n \geq 3.$ What is $${\frac{F_2}{F_1}} + {\frac{F_4}{F_2}} + {\frac{F_6}{F_3}} + ... + {\frac{F_{20}}{F_{10}}}?$$

Each of $27$ bricks (right rectangular prisms) has dimensions $a \times b \times c$ , where $a$ , $b$ , and $c$ are pairwise relatively prime positive integers. These bricks are arranged to form a $3 \times 3 \times 3$ block, as shown on the left below. A $28$ th brick with the same dimensions is introduced, and these …

Cities $A$ and $B$ are $45$ miles apart. Alicia lives in $A$ and Beth lives in $B$ . Alicia bikes towards $B$ at $18$ miles per hour. Leaving at the same time, Beth bikes toward $A$ at $12$ miles per hour. How many miles from City $A$ will they be when they meet?

The weight of $\frac{1}{3}$ of a large pizza together with $3 \frac{1}{2}$ cups of orange slices is the same weight of $\frac{3}{4}$ of a large pizza together with $\frac{1}{2}$ cups of orange slices. A cup of orange slices weigh $\frac{1}{4}$ of a pound. What is the weight, in pounds, of a large pizza?

How many digits are in the base-ten representation of $8^5 \cdot 5^{10} \cdot 15^5$ ?

Barb the baker has developed a new temperature scale for her bakery called the Breadus scale, which is a linear function of the Fahrenheit scale. Bread rises at $110$ degrees Fahrenheit, which is $0$ degrees on the Breadus scale. Bread is baked at $350$ degrees Fahrenheit, which is $100$ degrees on the Breadus scale. …

Maureen is keeping track of the mean of her quiz scores this semester. If Maureen scores an $11$ on the next quiz, her mean will increase by $1$ . If she scores an $11$ on each of the next three quizzes, her mean will increase by $2$ . What is the mean of her quiz scores currently?

An even number of circles are nested, starting with a radius of $1$ and increasing by $1$ each time, all sharing a common point. The region between every other circle is shaded, starting with the region inside the circle of radius $2$ but outside the circle of radius $1.$ An example showing $8$ circles is displayed …

Let $P(x)$ be the unique polynomial of minimal degree with the following properties: - $P(x)$ has a leading coefficient $1$ , - $1$ is a root of $P(x)-1$ , - $2$ is a root of $P(x-2)$ , - $3$ is a root of $P(3x)$ , and - $4$ is a root of $4P(x)$ . The roots of $P(x)$ are integers, with one exception. The root that …

Mrs. Jones is pouring orange juice into four identical glasses for her four sons. She fills the first three glasses completely but runs out of juice when the fourth glass is only $\frac{1}{3}$ full. What fraction of a glass must Mrs. Jones pour from each of the first three glasses into the fourth glass so that all four …

Carlos went to a sports store to buy running shoes. Running shoes were on sale, with prices reduced by $20\%$ on every pair of shoes. Carlos also knew that he had to pay a $7.5\%$ sales tax on the discounted price. He had $43$ dollars. What is the original (before discount) price of the most expensive shoes he could …

Maddy and Lara see a list of numbers written on a blackboard. Maddy adds $3$ to each number in the list and finds that the sum of her new numbers is $45$ . Lara multiplies each number in the list by $3$ and finds that the sum of her new numbers is also $45$ . How many numbers are written on the blackboard?

When the roots of the polynomial $$P(x) = (x-1)^1 (x-2)^2 (x-3)^3 \cdot \cdot \cdot (x-10)^{10}$$ are removed from the number line, what remains is the union of $11$ disjoint open intervals. On how many of these intervals is $P(x)$ positive?

What is the area of the region in the coordinate plane defined by $$| | x | - 1 | + | | y | - 1 | \le 1?$$

A rectangular box $P$ has distinct edge lengths $a$ , $b$ , and $c$ . The sum of the lengths of all $12$ edges of $P$ is $13$ , the sum of the areas of all $6$ faces of $P$ is $\dfrac{11}{2}$ , and the volume of $P$ is $\dfrac{1}{2}$ . What is the length of the longest interior diagonal connecting two vertices of $P$ ?

An arithmetic sequence of positive integers has $n\ge3$ terms, initial term $a$ , and common difference $d>1$ . Carl wrote down all the terms in this sequence correctly except for one term, which was off by $1$ . The sum of the terms he wrote down was $222$ . What is $a+d+n$ ?

Mike cycled $15$ laps in $57$ minutes. Assume he cycled at a constant speed throughout. Approximately how many laps did he complete in the first $27$ minutes?

The sum of three numbers is $96.$ The first number is $6$ times the third number, and the third number is $40$ less than the second number. What is the absolute value of the difference between the first and second numbers?

In some countries, automobile fuel efficiency is measured in liters per $100$ kilometers while other countries use miles per gallon. Suppose that 1 kilometer equals $m$ miles, and $1$ gallon equals $l$ liters. Which of the following gives the fuel efficiency in liters per $100$ kilometers for a car that gets $x$ miles …

Which expression is equal to $$\left|a-2-\sqrt{(a-1)^2}\right|$$ for $a<0?$

Ted mistakenly wrote $2^m\cdot\sqrt{\frac{1}{4096}}$ as $2\cdot\sqrt[m]{\frac{1}{4096}}.$ What is the sum of all real numbers $m$ for which these two expressions have the same value?