Simultaneous equations

1986 FG9.1
7 oranges and 5 apples cost $13. 3 oranges and 4 apples cost $8. 37 oranges and
45 apples cost $C. Find C.
1986 FG10.1
If b + c = 3 (1), c + a = 6 (2), a + b = 7 (3) and P abc, find P.
1989 HI15
If x + y = 4, y + z = 5 and z + x = 7, find the value of xyz.
1990 HI7
If x + y = 9, y + z = 11 and z + x = 10, find the value of xyz.
1990 HG1
1 1
1
1
1
1
If
5 and 2 2 13 , find the value of 5 5 .
a b
a
b
a
b
1990 FG7.1
2 apples and 3 oranges cost 6 dollars.
4 apples and 7 oranges cost 13 dollars.
16 apples and 23 oranges cost C dollars. Find C.
1992 HI2
28 x 15 y 19 xy
and xy 0 , find x.
If
18 x 21y 2 xy
1992 HI6
A fruit merchant divides a large lot of oranges into four classes: A, B, C, D. The
number of oranges in class A and class B doubles that in class C while the
number of oranges in class B and class D doubles that in class A. If 7 oranges
from class B are upgraded to class A, class A will then contain twice as many
oranges as class B. It is known that one of the four classes contains 54 oranges.
Determine which one class it belongs to.
1992 HG1
A, B, C are three men in a team. The age of A is greater than the sum of the ages
of B and C by 16. The square of the age of A is greater than the square of the
sum of the ages of B and C by 1632. Find the sum of the ages of A, B and C.
1993 HG8
x 2 xy y 2 3 x 3 y 1
If x and y are real numbers satisfying
and x > y > 0,
xy 1

find the value of x.

HKMO Classified Questions Page 1

1994 HG8
A student on a vacation of d days observed that:
(i) it rained 7 times, morning or afternoons;
(ii) when it rained in the afternoon, it was clear in the morning;
(iii) there were 5 clear afternoons;
(iv) there were 6 clear mornings.
What is the value of d?
1994 FI3.3
In an urn, there are c balls, 9 of them are either black or red, 11 of them are
either red or white and 12 of them are either black or white. Find c.
1995 FI3.2
x y zx y z
It is given that

and x + y + z = 18.
2
3
4
Find the value of b, if b = x + y.
1997 HI2
1
If the width of a rectangle is increased by m, its area will be increased by
3
5 2
1
9
m . If its length is decreased by m, its area will be decreased by m2. Let
3
2
5
the area of the rectangle be x m2, find the value of x.
1997 FI1.1
2 3
3 1 7
Given that

and
6 are simultaneous equations in a and u.
a u 2
a u
Solve for a.
1997 FI1.2
Three solutions of the equation px + qy + bz = 1 are (0, 2, 1), (6, 1, 2) and
(0, 2, 0). Find the value of the coefficient b.
1999 HI8
A two-digit number is equal to 4 times the sum of the digits, and the number
formed by reversing the digits exceeds 5 times the sum of the digits by 18. What
is the number?
2003 HI4
Given that a quadratic equation a(x+1)(x+ 2) + b(x+ 2)(x+ 3) + c(x+ 3)(x+ 1) = 0
a
has roots 0 and 1, and k = , find the value of k.
b

Simultaneous equations

2003 FI3.1

2008 HG7

wxyz 4
Given that
and w > 0.
w xyz 3
If the solution of w is P, find the value of P.
2005 HG10
In Figure 2, ten people are sitting in a round
table with sitting numbers 1, 2, 3, ... , 10
respectively. Each of them chooses an integer
A, B, C, ..... , J respectively and tells the people
on his left and right about his chosen number.
Then each of them calculates the average
number of the chosen numbers of his two
neighborhoods and announces this average
numbers are the same as the corresponding
sitting numbers, find the value of F.
2005 FI1.1
There are a camels in a zoo. The number of one-hump camels exceeds that of
two-hump camels by 10. If there have 55 humps altogether, find the value of a.
2006 HG8
Given that x and y are real numbers and satisfy the system of the equations
64
100
x y x y 9
. If V = x2 + y2, find the value of V.
80
80

9
x y x y
2006 FG1.2

1
1

x 2008 x 5
3
3

.
Let x and y be real numbers satisfying
3
7
7

y 4 2008 y 4 5

If z = x + y, find the value of z.

2008 FI4.2
In Figure 1, the shaded area is formed by two

Given that x = x0 and y = y0 satisfy the system of equations

1
1

, find the value of B.

x0 y 0
2008 HI5
In Figure 2, the large rectangle is formed by eight
identical small rectangles. Given that the length of
the shorter side of the large rectangle is 40 cm and
the area of the small rectangle is A cm2, find the
value of A.

x y
1
3 5
.
x y
1
5 3

If B =

HKMO Classified Questions Page 2

40 cm

concentric circles and has area 96 cm2. If the two

radii differ by 8 cm and the large circle has area Q
cm2, find the value of Q. (Take = 3)

2008 FG2.4
1
y

1
z

1
x

7
3

Let x, y and z be real numbers that satisfy x + = 4, y + = 1 and z + = .

Find the value of xyz.
2010 FI1.3
Given that p and q are real numbers with pq = 9 and p2q + q2p + p + q = 70.
If c = p2 + q2, find the value of c.
2010 FG2.2
Given that x, y, z are three distinct real numbers.
1
1
1
If x y z
and m = x2y2z2, find the value of m.
y
z
x
2011 FG2.4
x y z
1 2 3
1 6 5
Given that 0 and 0 . If P = , find the value
y z x
x y z
x y z
of P.
2011 FG3.3
Let x and y be positive real numbers with x < y. If
x y 1 and
x

y 10

and x < y, find the value of y x.

x 3

Simultaneous equations

2013 FI4.4
xy 6
Suppose that (x0, y0) is a solution of the system: 2
.
2
x y xy x y 61 2
Find the value of d = x02 y02 .
2014 HI1

ab
2

bc
a
3 . Find the value of
.
Given that a, b, c > 0 and

b
c
bc

ca

5
c a
2015 HI8
Given that a, b, x and y are non-zero integers, where ax + by = 4, ax2 +by2 = 22,
ax3 +by3 = 46 and ax4 + by4 = 178. Find the value of ax5 + by5.

HKMO Classified Questions Page 3

Simultaneous equations

Answers
1986 FG9.1
93
1990 FG7.1
47

1986 FG10.1
10
1992 HI2
3

1989 HI15
24
1992 HI6
C

1990 HI7
120
1992 HG1
102

1994 HG8
9

1994 FI3.3
16

1995 FI3.2
8

1997 HI2
18

1997 FI1.2
0

1999 HI8
36

2003 FI3.1
4

2005 FI1.1
40

2006 HG8
328

2008 FI4.2
300
2011 FG3.3
1
2

2008 FG2.4
1

2003 HI4
6
2006 FG1.2
16
15
2010 FI1.3
31
2014 HI1
19
121

2013 FI4.4
69

HKMO Classified Questions Page 4

2008 HI5
300
2010 FG2.2
1
2015 HI8
454

1990 HG1
275
1993 HG8
2 3
1997 FI1.1
2
3
2005 HG10
1
2008 HG7
25
12
2011 FG2.4
1