AMSP 2014 Test A Solutions Rajiv Movva

First Name: Rajiv

Last Name: Movva

Admission Test: A

Phone Number: Retracted

Email Address: Retracted

Number of Pages (excluding cover page): 10

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AMSP 2014 Test A Solutions Rajiv Movva

Problem #1: Page 1 of 1

Problem 1. Prove that 2014 can be written as (a2 + b2 )(c3 d3 ) for some positive integers a, b, c, d.

Solution. Note that 2014 = 2 19 53. Then, we can see that the unordered pairs (x, y) for
which xy = 2014 are simply (1, 2014), (2, 1007), (19, 106), and (53, 38). Also, it is easy to see by
inspection that 19 = 33 23 . Then, we only need a2 + b2 = 106 for some a, b Z+ . Again by
inspection, a = 9, b = 5 = a2 + b2 = 92 + 52 = 106. Thus, there is a solution that fits the desired
conditions at a = 9, b = 5, c = 3, d = 2 . 

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AMSP 2014 Test A Solutions Rajiv Movva

Problem #2: Page 1 of 1

Problem 2. Find all four-digit numbers n whose sum of digits is equal to 2014 n.

Solution. Define S(n) to be the sum of digits of n. Then, we want n = 2014 S(n). We
can consider each set of numbers {10k, 10k + 1, . . . 10k + 9}, k Z+ separately. Note that k > 197,
since 1979 < (2014 S(1979) = 1988). For k = 198, we want a digit a such that 1980 + a =
2014 S(198a) = 2014 (1 + 9 + 8 + a). Solving yields a = 8, and thus n = 1988. Next, we check
k = 199, but the equation 1990 + b = 2014 (1 + 9 + 9 + b) has no solutions in the integers. The
case k = 200 gives the equation 2000 + c = 2014 (2 + c) = c = 6, so n = 2006. Finally, we can
verify that the case k = 201 gives no integral n values, so the final solution set is n = 1988, 2006 .

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AMSP 2014 Test A Solutions Rajiv Movva

Problem #3: Page 1 of 1

2014
Problem 3. Is there a perfect cube that can be represented as n+ , for some positive integer n?
n
Solution. Note that 2014 = 21953, so it has 23 = 8 factors, namely 1, 2, 19, 53, 38, 106, 1007, 2014.
Thus, it is not hard to check through its factors to see if there is an n that satisfies the conditions.
2014
Checking, we see that n = 19 = = 106, and 19 + 106 = 125 = 53 , so we have a perfect
19
cube. Thus, the answer is yes. 
2014
Remark. Note if there is an n that works, will also work. In this case, n = 106 also gives
n
125 = 53 .

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AMSP 2014 Test A Solutions Rajiv Movva

Problem #4: Page 1 of 1

Problem 4. Given an 11-letter word, a computer is programmed to randomly remove 7 of its

letters. What is the probability that, if the input is AWESOMEMATH, the output is WEST?

Solution. Note that if there is exactly one way to remove 7 letters and return the output WEST.
This would be done
 by removing the letters A, O, M, E, M, A, T, and H in that order. Also, there
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are exactly = 330 total ways to remove 7 letters. Some 4-letter arrangements have multiple
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1
ways to be attained, but there is only one way to attain WEST. Thus, the answer is . 
330

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AMSP 2014 Test A Solutions Rajiv Movva

Problem #5: Page 1 of 1

Problem 5. Let a, b, c be positive real numbers such that

1 1 1 2014
+ + = .
a b c a+b+c
Evaluate  
 a b  c
1+ 1+ 1+ .
b c a
Solution. First, we can expand the desired product to get a better idea of what we are looking
for. Expanding gives
a b b c a c
+ + + + + +2
b a c b c a
Now we can manipulate the given equation. Multiplying through by a + b + c, we have
a+b+c a+b+c a+b+c
+ + = 2014
a b c
Breaking up each of the fractions allows us to arrive at
b c a c a b
1+ + + + 1 + + + + 1 = 2014
a a b b c c
The above expression has each of the terms in our desired expression, except the constant term in
the above expression is 1 more than the constant term in the desired expression. Thus our answer
is 2014 1 = 2013 . 

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AMSP 2014 Test A Solutions Rajiv Movva

Problem #6: Page 1 of 1

Problem 6. Find the largest possible power of 2 that could divide the number 99 . . . 904, contain-
ing n 9s.

Solution. Since 10k 0 (mod 2k ), we know that if the last k digits of a number form a number
that is divisible by 2k , the entire number is divisible by 2k . Since

99 . . . 9} 04 99904 96
| {z (mod 105 ) for n 3,
n 90 s

. . . 9} 04 with n 3 are divisible by 25 . However,

and 25 | 96, we know that all numbers |99 {z
n 90 s
26 - 96, so all numbers |99 {z
. . . 9} 04 are strictly not divisible by 26 . This leaves the numbers 9904, 904
n 90 s
and 04, where n < 3. We see that 9904 96 (mod 104 ) = 24 | 9904, also 904 96
(mod 103 ) = 23 | 904, and then 22 | 4. Finally, to sum it up, we have that the largest powers of
2 that divide |99 {z
. . . 9} 04 for each n are:
n 90 s

n = 0 = 22
n = 1 = 23
n = 2 = 24
n 3 = 25

.

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AMSP 2014 Test A Solutions Rajiv Movva

Problem #7: Page 1 of 1

Problem 7. Let a, b, c, d, e be an arithmetic sequence such that a b + c + d + e = 2014 and

a2 + b2 + c2 = d2 + e2 . Find a.

Solution. First, let c = x and r be the common difference. Then

a = x 2r
b=xr
c=x
d=x+r
e = x + 2r

And from the first equation,

(x 2r) (x r) + (x) + (x + r) + (x + 2r) = 3x + 2r = 2014

Now from the second equation,

(x 2r)2 + (x r)2 + x2 = (x + r)2 + (x + 2r)2

x2 = (x + r)2 (x r)2 + (x + 2r)2 (x 2r)2

x2 = (2x)(2r) + (2x)(4r) = 12rx = x = 12r with x 6= 0
We will consider the x = 0 case after. Substituting back in our value for x in terms of r to the first
equation, we have that
3(12r) + 2r = 38r = 2014 = r = 53.
Then x = 12(53), and a = x 2r = 12(53) 2(53) = 10(53) = 530. Now we must consider the
x = 0 case. We have
x = 0 = 3(0) + 2r = 2014 = r = 1007,
so in this case a = x 2r = 2014. So our two possible answers are a = 530, 2014 . 

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AMSP 2014 Test A Solutions Rajiv Movva

Problem #8: Page 1 of 1

Problem 8. Find all pairs (m, n) of integers such that

m2 + mn + n2 = 13.

Solution. First, we can move 13 over to the left side. Since we are solving the equation in the
integers, it should be helpful to apply the quadratic formula as solutions can be identified easily
with the discriminant. Treating the equation m2 + nm + (n2 13) = 0 as a quadratic in m, the
quadratic formula gives p
n n2 4 1 (n2 13)
m=
2
n n2 4n2 + 52
=
2
n 52 3n2
=
2

We need m to be an integer, which means n 52 3n2 must be an even integer. Butsince n
and 52 3n2 will always have the same parity, the above condition simply reduces
to 52 3n2
being an integer. From here, checking each n is not too strenuous. Letting 52 3n2 = K, we
have:
n = 0 = K = 52
n = 1 = K = 7

n = 2 = K = 40
n = 3 = K = 5
n = 4 = K = 2

n 5, n 5 = K = a, a Z+
Thus, the only desirable pairs for n and K are (n, K) = (1, 7), (3, 5), (4, 2). Finally, for m and
n, the first case gives the pairs

(m, n) = (3, 1), (4, 1), (4, 1), (3, 1) ,

the second gives

(m, n) = (1, 3), (4, 3), (4, 3), (1, 3) ,
and the third gives
(m, n) = (1, 4), (3, 4), (1, 4), (3, 4) ,
for a total of 12 integer solutions. 

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AMSP 2014 Test A Solutions Rajiv Movva

Problem #9: Page 1 of 1

Problem 9. Solve in real numbers the equation

x3 + bxc3 + {x}3 = 6xbxc{x},

where bxc and {x} denote the greatest integer less than or equal to x and the fractional part of x,
respectively.

Solution. First, we can check the case x = 0, so that later we will be able to divide through
by x. Sure enough, x = 0 works. Now, we can use the sum of cubes identity for bxc3 + {x}3 on the
LHS. This gives
x3 + (bxc + {x}) bxc2 bxc{x} + {x}2 = 6xbxc{x}

By definition bxc + {x} = x. Making this substitution, dividing by x, and moving things around,
we have
x3 + x bxc2 bxc{x} + {x}2 = 6xbxc{x}

x2 + bxc2 bxc{x} + {x}2 = 6bxc{x}

x2 + bxc2 + {x}2 = 7bxc{x}
With basic algebra, we can see that bxc2 + {x}2 = (bxc + {x})2 2bxc{x} = x2 2bxc{x}.

Now making this substitution and moving things around, we are left with

2x2 = 9bxc{x}

Note that the LHS is always positive (since we already considered the x = 0 case), so we must have
x > 0 for the RHS to have the same sign as the LHS. Also note that if bxc 5, then 2x2 50.
Since 50 > (9 5 = 45) and 0 {x} < 1, the RHS will always be smaller than the LHS for x 5.
Thus, we must only consider the cases of bxc = 1, 2, 3, 4 (we already considered bxc = 0 at the
beginning). As {x} = x bxc, the bxc = 1 case gives
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2x2 = 9(x 1) = 2x2 9x + 9 = 0 = x = , 3
2
but clearly x 6= 3 since bxc = 1. Similarly bxc = 2 gives

2x2 = 18(x 2) = x2 9x + 18 = 0 = x = 3, 6

both of these solutions as invalid as bxc = 2. Next bxc = 3 gives

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2x2 = 27(x 3) = 2x2 27x + 81 = 0 = x = , 9
2
but again both of the solutions are not valid. Finally, bxc = 4 gives

2x2 = 36(x 4) = x2 18x + 72 = x = 12, 6

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for two more invalid solutions, making the final solution set x = 0, . 
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AMSP 2014 Test A Solutions Rajiv Movva

Problem #10: Page 1 of 1

Problem 10. Let ABCD be a convex quadrilateral inscribed in a semicircle of diameter AD = 2.

Prove that
AB 2 + BC 2 + CD2 + AB BC CD = 4.

Solution. Define O to be the center of the semicircle. My first idea was to draw radii OB, OC,
then use the Law of Cosines on triangles AOB, BOC, COD. However, this does not exactly take
us anywhere as there doesnt seem to be a simple way to simplify the cosine terms. My second
approach was to use Ptolemys theorem, but that also seems to be of no help. Thus, I am not quite
sure what step to take at this point.

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