2022 AIME I Solutions
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All problems are used with official legal permission of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA).
1.
Quadratic polynomials and have leading coefficients of and respectively. The graphs of both polynomials pass through the two points and Find
Small Hint:
Consider the quadratic terms cancel, so is linear
Big Hint:
passes through and extend that line back to
Solution:
Let The leading coefficients and cancel, so is a linear function. Since both graphs pass through and we get and
The slope of is so
2.
Find the three-digit positive integer whose representation in base nine is where and are (not necessarily distinct) digits.
Small Hint:
Write the condition as and simplify
Big Hint:
From reduce modulo to pin down in terms of then test small values of
Solution:
The condition says which simplifies to Since the digits also appear in a base-nine numeral, each is at most Reducing modulo gives so
For makes exceed for gives so For each the required forces outside the range so there is no other solution.
The number is and indeed
3.
In isosceles trapezoid parallel bases and have lengths and respectively, and The angle bisectors of and meet at and the angle bisectors of and meet at Find
Small Hint:
Let the bisector of meet at alternate interior angles make triangle isosceles with
Big Hint:
In isosceles triangle the bisector from is also the median, so is the midpoint of Do the same for and use coordinates.
Solution:
Let the bisector of meet at Since we have so triangle is isosceles with The bisector of is then the median from in this triangle, so which lies on both bisectors, is the midpoint of Symmetrically, is the midpoint of where is on with
Place and so and for the appropriate height Then and so
Therefore
4.
Let and where Find the number of ordered pairs of positive integers not exceeding that satisfy the equation
Small Hint:
Both numbers lie on the unit circle: has argument and has argument while has argument
Big Hint:
Matching arguments gives i.e. count how many hit each residue
Solution:
Both and have modulus in polar form and while The equation is therefore a statement about arguments: i.e.
For each this determines the residue is or modulo according as or Among there are values with and values each with or Among there are values with and values in each of the other two classes.
The count is
5.
A straight river that is meters wide flows from west to east at a rate of meters per minute. Melanie and Sherry sit on the south bank of the river with Melanie a distance of meters downstream from Sherry. Relative to the water, Melanie swims at meters per minute, and Sherry swims at meters per minute. At the same time, Melanie and Sherry begin swimming in straight lines to a point on the north bank of the river that is equidistant from their starting positions. The two women arrive at this point simultaneously. Find
Small Hint:
The meeting point is due north of the midpoint between them. Each swimmer’s velocity relative to the water is her ground velocity minus the current
Big Hint:
With subtracting the two speed equations gives
Solution:
Put Sherry at the origin and Melanie at on the south bank. A point on the north bank equidistant from both is If both arrive at time then each swimmer’s velocity relative to the water is her ground velocity minus the current so
Subtracting, with so Substituting back, gives so
Therefore
6.
Find the number of ordered pairs of integers such that the sequence is strictly increasing and no set of four (not necessarily consecutive) terms forms an arithmetic progression.
Small Hint:
Count the bad pairs among the choices with every four-term progression must use or
Big Hint:
Beyond and exactly three pairs complete a progression with two of the fixed terms. Watch for double counting.
Solution:
The sequence is increasing exactly when giving pairs. The six fixed terms contain no four-term arithmetic progression, so every progression must involve or If only one of them is involved, three fixed terms must already be in progression: extends only by and extends only by So the single-variable violations are ( pairs) and ( pairs), which overlap in the pair
If both and are involved, two fixed terms complete the progression. Checking the possible positions: gives gives gives gives gives out of range; and gives Of these, and are already counted, so and are the only new bad pairs.
The number of valid pairs is
7.
Let be distinct integers from to The minimum possible positive value of can be written as where and are relatively prime positive integers. Find
Small Hint:
Aim for a numerator of look for two triples of distinct digits whose products differ by exactly
Big Hint:
Save the three largest leftover digits for the denominator, then rule out bigger denominators by showing they force a numerator difference of at least
Solution:
Try to make the numerator equal to while keeping large digits in the denominator. The products and differ by and leave for the denominator, giving the value
To beat this, a fraction would need numerator with denominator greater than The denominators exceeding are and coming respectively from and Splitting the remaining six digits into two triples, the smallest positive numerator differences are respectively and The resulting lower bounds all exceed
So the minimum positive value is and
8.
Equilateral triangle is inscribed in circle with radius Circle is tangent to sides and and is internally tangent to Circles and are defined analogously. Circles and meet in six points — two points for each pair of circles. The three intersection points closest to the vertices of are the vertices of a large equilateral triangle in the interior of and the other three intersection points are the vertices of a smaller equilateral triangle in the interior of The side length of the smaller equilateral triangle can be written as where and are positive integers. Find
Small Hint:
Find first: its center lies on line its radius is half its distance from and internal tangency to fixes everything
Big Hint:
The two intersection points of and lie on line and each triangle’s circumradius is the distance from that point to the center
Solution:
Let be the center of The center of lies on line (the bisector of ) at some distance from since makes a angle with the radius is Internal tangency to requires the center to be from which forces the center past so and the center is beyond
Place at the origin with Then the three centers are and all with radius The intersections of and lie on the -axis: gives The point is closer to and belongs to the larger triangle, so the smaller triangle has vertex at distance from
By symmetry the smaller triangle is equilateral with circumradius so its side is Thus
9.
Ellina has twelve blocks, two each of red (), blue (), yellow (), green (), orange (), and purple (). Call an arrangement of blocks even if there is an even number of blocks between each pair of blocks of the same color. For example, the arrangement is even. Ellina arranges her blocks in a row in random order. The probability that her arrangement is even is where and are relatively prime positive integers. Find
Small Hint:
There is an even number of blocks between positions and exactly when and have opposite parity
Big Hint:
So each color must occupy one odd and one even position: the six odd slots hold all six colors once, as do the six even slots
Solution:
If a color occupies positions the number of blocks between them is which is even exactly when and have opposite parity. So an arrangement is even precisely when every color occupies one odd position and one even position — that is, the six odd slots contain each color exactly once, and so do the six even slots.
Counting arrangements of the twelve blocks (blocks of the same color identical), there are in total, and even ones (a permutation of the six colors in the odd slots and another in the even slots). The probability is
Since the answer is
10.
Three spheres with radii and are mutually externally tangent. A plane intersects the spheres in three congruent circles centered at and respectively, and the centers of the spheres all lie on the same side of this plane. Suppose that Find
Small Hint:
If a sphere’s center sits at height above the plane, its circle has radius squared congruence ties the three heights together
Big Hint:
and are the feet of the centers, so combine with
Solution:
Let the sphere centers be at heights above the plane. Each circle’s center is the foot of the perpendicular from the sphere’s center, and the common circle radius satisfies
The first two spheres are tangent, so their centers are apart, and projecting onto the plane, Thus Congruence gives so and (the other sign gives a negative sum), yielding and Then so
The first and third centers are apart, so
11.
Let be a parallelogram with A circle tangent to sides and intersects diagonal at points and with as shown. Suppose that and Then the area of can be expressed in the form where and are positive integers, and is not divisible by the square of any prime. Find
Small Hint:
Power of a point: and give tangent lengths from and from
Big Hint:
Equal tangents force and tangency to both parallel lines and gives finish with the law of cosines on
Solution:
By power of a point, and so the tangent lengths from and are and The tangent point on is from hence from equal tangents from put the tangent point on at that same distance from so its distance from is giving
Let The center lies on the bisector of with the tangent length from equal to so the radius is The circle is tangent to both parallel lines and whose distance apart is so which simplifies to In triangle and so the law of cosines gives Substituting and the terms cancel and, using the equation collapses to so and
Then and the area is so
12.
For any finite set let denote the number of elements in Define where the sum is taken over all ordered pairs such that and are subsets of with For example, because the sum is taken over the pairs of subsets giving Let where and are relatively prime positive integers. Find the remainder when is divided by
Small Hint:
Swap the order of summation: for each element, count the pairs with that contain it in both sets
Big Hint:
so then simplify the ratio of consecutive terms
Solution:
Count element by element: equals the number of triples with and For a fixed and size there are choices for each of and containing so by the Vandermonde identity
Therefore Since divides neither nor this fraction is in lowest terms: and
Then whose remainder modulo is
13.
Let be the set of all rational numbers that can be expressed as a repeating decimal in the form where at least one of the digits or is nonzero. Let be the number of distinct numerators obtained when numbers in are written as fractions in lowest terms. For example, both and are counted among the distinct numerators for numbers in because and Find the remainder when is divided by
Small Hint:
Every element of is with and
Big Hint:
is a numerator exactly when and for some divisor of Classify by which of or divide it.
Solution:
Every element of equals for some where In lowest terms this is where divides and conversely any such arises from So counts the integers that are at most, and coprime to, some divisor of
Classify by which of the primes or divide it, always using the largest divisor coprime to If take there are such If only divides take multiples of up to avoiding and number If only divides take that gives If only divides then admits none. If is divisible by but not by take the values and give more, and any divisible by or would need which is impossible.
Therefore and the remainder modulo is
14.
Given and a point on one of its sides, call line the splitting line of through if passes through and divides into two polygons of equal perimeter. Let be a triangle where and and are positive integers. Let and be the midpoints of and respectively, and suppose that the splitting lines of through and intersect at Find the perimeter of
Small Hint:
Show the splitting line through is parallel to the angle bisector from it meets at with and
Big Hint:
The bisectors from and cross at so the condition forces then make a perfect square
Solution:
Write and for the semiperimeter. The splitting line through meets at the point Equating the two piece perimeters and cancelling their common segment gives so In triangle the law of sines shows this needs which reduces via and to true because those angles are complementary. Hence the splitting line through is parallel to the angle bisector from and likewise the one through is parallel to the bisector from
The internal bisectors from and meet at so the acute angle between the two splitting lines is forcing The law of cosines gives Set so and and are roots of requiring to be a perfect square Then divides and divides writing and turns the condition into The triangle inequality and restrict and checking these, only works, with
So and giving — a valid triangle. The perimeter is
15.
Let and be positive real numbers satisfying the system of equations Then can be written as where and are relatively prime positive integers. Find
Small Hint:
Factor each radical as and substitute
Big Hint:
Each equation collapses by the addition formula to etc.; solve the little linear system for the angles and use
Solution:
Each radicand factors: and so on, so Substitute with Then and each equation collapses by the sine addition formula:
One admissible choice is which gives The only other branch consistent with uses pairwise sums giving its product below is the negative of the first branch’s product, so the requested square is identical. For the first branch, the double-angle identity gives and
Therefore whose square is Thus