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26 views386 pagesCompetition Matih For Middle School
The document is a guide for middle school students and teachers focused on advanced mathematics problem-solving, particularly for competitions like MATHCOUNTS and AMC. It covers various topics including algebra, counting, probability, number theory, and geometry, providing structured lessons and problems to enhance mathematical skills. The author, Jason Batterson, emphasizes the importance of challenging math problems and offers resources for further practice.
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100% found this document useful (1 vote)
26 views386 pagesCompetition Matih For Middle School
The document is a guide for middle school students and teachers focused on advanced mathematics problem-solving, particularly for competitions like MATHCOUNTS and AMC. It covers various topics including algebra, counting, probability, number theory, and geometry, providing structured lessons and problems to enhance mathematical skills. The author, Jason Batterson, emphasizes the importance of challenging math problems and offers resources for further practice.
Uploaded by
Sherry HuangCopyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF or read online on Scribd
/ 386
Art of Problem Solving
yee LL
For Middle School
“I wish I had a book like this when
I starter fed my eo ompet ettion career.”
ur-Time National Champion
MATHCOUNTS sac Je ff Boyd Competition
Math
for Middle School
J. Batterson ArtofProblemSolving.com
Please contact the author, Jason Batterson, at
[email protected] to suggest
additions, corrections, or clarifications.
©2009, 2010, 2011, 2019 Jason Batterson
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form, by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, scanning, or by any informa-
tion storage or retrieval system without the express
permission in writing from the author.
Published by AoPS Inc.
15330 Avenue of Science
San Diego, CA 92128
ISBN: 978-1-934124-20-8
Cover: The 2009 state championship team from Ligon Middle School at
the MATHCOUNTS chapter round: Peter Luo, Jason Liang, Tejas
Sundaresan, and Calvin Deng (who went on to place 4th in the national
MATHCOUNTS written contest.)
Printed in China by Global PSD For
The Beast List Contents
Introduction...
1: Algebra.
1.1: Variables and Equations.
Variables, Consecutive Integers,
Mean, Moles Digging Holes.
1.2: Linear Equations...
Slope, Intercepts, Slope-Intercept Form, Point-
Slope Form, Standard Form, Parallel/Perpendicu-
lar Lines, Horizontal and Vertical Lines.
1.3: Systems of Equations.
Substitution, Elimination, Common Word
Problems, Cheating the System.
1.4: Ratios, Proportions, and Percents.
Ratios, Proportions, Percents, and Percent of
Change.
Review ].] 101.4.
1.5: Distribution.
The Distributive Property, Difference of Squares
and Perfect Squares, Sum of the Reciprocals.
1.6: Quadratics.
Perfect Squares, Difference of Squares, Factoring
By Grouping, Solving Quadratics by Factoring,
The Quadratic Formula, Word Problems, Sum and
Product of the Roots.
1.7: Exponents and Radicals.
Multiplying, Dividing, Raising a Power toa
Power, Fractional Exponents, Square Roots.
1.8: Statistics,
Mean, Median, Mode and Range.
1.9: Sequences and Series...
Arithmetic Sequences and Series,
Geometric Sequences and Series.
1.10: More Substitution.
Nested Square Roots, Continued Fractions.
Chapter Review... Table of Contents
2: Counting.........
2.1: Basics....
Simple Counting Techniques.
2.2: Venn Diagrams...
Two and Three-Set Venn Diagrams.
2.3: Bowling Pins and Handshakes......
Triangular Number Patterns.
2.4: Counting Outcomes...
The Fundamental Counting Principle.
2.5: Casework.
Keeping Organized.
Review2.1 102.
2.6: Factorials and Permutations..
Factorials, Permutations, Permutations with
Restrictions.
2.7: Combination: se
Combinations, Paths on a Grid, Beyond Case-
work, Complementary Counting.
Review 2.1 t0 2.
2.8: Sticks and Ston¢
With and Without Restrictions.
2.9: Pascal’s Triangl
Combinations and Pascal’s Triangle.
3.1: Probability Basics...
Compound Events, Dependent and Independent,
Replacement, Cards.
3.2: Compound Events and Counting...
Combining Counting Techniques and Compound
Probability.
3.3: Casework and Probability...
3.4: Probability and Combinations.
3.5: Complementary Counting and Probability.
Review3.] 10 3.
3,6: Geometric Probability.
3.7: Expected Value.
Finding the average outcome,
Chapter Review...
vi Table of Contents
4; Number Theory........
4.1; Primes and Divisibilit
Sieve of Eratosthenes, Primes, Divisibility Rules.
4.2: Factors...
The Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic, Factor
Counting.
4,3: Factor Tricks..
Product of the Factors, Sum of the Factors, GCF
and LCM, Factorials.
Review4.] to 4.5.
4.4: Different Bases.
Notation, Basic Arithmetic.
45: The Units Digit.
Addition, Multiplication, Perfect Squares,
Exponents.
4.6: Fractions and Decimals.
Repeating/Terminating, Conversions.
4,7: Modular Arithmetic..
Chapter Review...
5: Geometry.
5.1: Geometry Basics...
Lines, Angles, Triangles, Polygons, Trapezoids,
Parallelograms, Kites.
5.2: Circles...
Chords, Secants, Tangents, Arcs, Inscribed
Angles, Properties, Circumference and Are
Length.
5.3: Pythagorean Theorem...
Triples, Special Right Triangles, Distance
Formula, Algebra and the Pythagorean Theorem.
5.4: Area...
Formulas, Heron’s Formula, Altitudes, Working
Backwards.
5.5: Three-Dimensional Geometry....
Polyhedra, Faces, Vertices, and Edges, Volume.
5.6: Similarity.
Right Triangles, Circles, Parallel Lines, Area and
Volume Relationships.
Chapter Review.
226
vii Table of Contents
6: Solutions...
7: Appendix...
Useful Lists and Formulas.
viii Introduction
Introduction
About six years ago] got my first real taste of the math
that is contained in this book. A student asked me how many
different rectangles could be formed by tracing the lines of a
standard chessboard, My first instinct was to start plowing
through the possibilities. After a few fruitless minutes looking for
an organized approach to the problem, the student mercifully
showed me the trick (which is presented on page 87 of this text). I
was instantly hooked.*
In the next fewyyears I joined Mr. Rohan Lewis in coaching
the math team at Ligon Middle School. In addition to being an
extraordinarily gifted math student, Rohan had been exposed to
competition level problem solving in middle and high school. Hes
primarily responsible for my early introduction and education in the
world of hard math at the middle school level.
‘Asa student I was rarely challenged. The competition
that my school took part in was a city wide Math Bowl which we
nearly won during my 6" grade year, and then ran away with for the
next two years. I can recall a specific question that drew cheers
from the crowd when I answered it very quickly, “How many feet
are there in 2 miles?”.
This was the extent of the difficulty in the competitions 1
was exposed to, almost strictly computation and basic algebra.
This book is for students who are like I was, interested in challeng-
ing math that is not typically taught in the standard classroom.
Perhaps even more so, this book is for teachers. It is
teachers who have the greatest opportunity to expose gifted math
students to the kinds of problems that are found in the major
national competitions. MATHCOUNTS, the AMC series, and
various other exams expose students to a level of problem solving
rarely found in today’s classrooms.
For a teacher interested in coaching for these competi-
tions, the biggest hurdle to overcome is usually ego. It is not easy
being outsmarted by 12 and 13-year-olds at every practice for most
“There are (9C2)? = 1,296.
xi Introduction
adults. As you begin, keep in mind that even coaches with years of
experience have a very difficult time keeping up with their best kids.
Tn 2008 1 was fortunate enough to attend a coaching clinic
sponsored by the North Carolina Council for Teachers of Math-
ematics. I quickly discovered that there is a real need for a book
like this. Not every teacher or coach has the opportunity to be
guided into the world of competition mathematics the way] was,
surrounded by experienced and talented individuals. There are
many problems in this text that I would never have been able to
figure out without a willingness to ask, “How did you do that so
fast?”. This book is filled with the answers I received.
As teachers, we owe it to our best students to provide the
kinds of interesting and challenging problems which will help them
continue to see that there is magic in mathematics. This book was
written to provide just enough guidance to allow a teacher, parent,
coach, tutor, or other adult familiar with standard algebra the
opportunity to bring hard math problems to the students who can
solve them.
Using This Book
This is my first book, and as such, there were numerous
things that] got wrong. This 2019 revision includes minor updates
and corrections, mostly in the solutions section...
The book was designed to be read from front to back, with
each chapter relying on some of the material from previous chap-
ters. A strong foundation in pre-algebra is necessary before
approaching most of the math in this text. Although it was written
for middle-school level competition, it was written with the very
best students in these competitions in mind, and many of the units
are appropriate for gifted high-schoolers. Ifyou are already familiar
with much of the material, it is less important to begin at the
beginning and end at the end.
You should not get discouraged if you can only solve a
few of the problems in this book on your first try. The problems are
supposed to be difficult, and there are problems and sections that
xii Introduction
may require several careful readings and attempts, even over the
course of several months or even years. You may find it useful to
come back to a section you didn’t understand at first after seeing
similar problems in practices or competitions.
1 always recommend that you read the solutions, even
when you get a problem correct (but please, attempt every problem
first). A lot of the teaching in this text occurs within the solutions.
In reading through a solution, you may find a different method than
the one you used to solve a problem that will be useful on a future
problem (although ] am sure there will be times when a more elegant
solution can be achieved than the one presented).
There are plenty of problems in this book to get you
started, but practice is essential and there are many wonderful
sources for anyone looking to find additional problems and
materials.
Old copies of MATHCOUNTS and AMC contests are
available for sale through their web sites: www.unl.edu/ame and
wwwmathcounts.org. Thousands of wonderful problems can be
purchased for countless hours of enjoyment. If you don’t enjoy
these problems, quick... tear this page out before your parents see
it! 1 made a serious effort to include most of the major topics found
on these major national math competitions so that you can refer-
ence a topic that is giving you difficulty in these problem sets.
After you have ordered lots of supplementary problem
sets from AMC and MATHCOUNTS, there isno greater resource
for gifted middle-school math students than my new employer,
artofproblemsolving.com (AoPS). AoPS proved an invaluable
resource for me long before I began working there. I own all of their
books and they are well worth the money I spent on them. More
importantly, the site provides a community for gifted math students
looking for others who, like themselves, enjoy a good hard math
problem.
xiii Introduction
What is With the Numbering?
1 grew up on Martin Gardner puzzle books and other texts
which provided answers in the back. The answers were always in
the same order as the problems. What this meant was that if]
wanted to sce an answer, J usually ran the risk of seeing the next
answer, or perhaps even the next several answers.
I made an effort to prevent this possibility by numbering
the problems backwards within the text. For example, the following
problems occur in order on page 29:
1.140
1.240
1.340
The 1 at the start of the problem simply means that it is in
Chapter 1. After that, if you reverse the last three digits you can
see that these problems are actually numbered in order... just
backwards: 041, 042, and 043. This allows you to find a problem
in the chapter relatively quickly (once you get used to the system).
For example, I know that problem 1.720 will be near the beginning
of chapter 1 (because it is problem 27 when read backwards), while
1.721 will be much later in the chapter. (It is problem 127... 1 know,
this seems confusing right now, hopefully you will get used to it).
The answer key and solutions are listed in order with the
numbers as shown, for example:
1.140
1141
1.150
I know this could very well be a major complaint about the
book, so] have provided blank answer keys available for printing
on my web site for students who would like to keep their answers
organized and check their answers quickly.
I considered reorganizing and using the standard method,
but I believe that the benefits outweigh the drawbacks of this
numbering system. If tis a little hard to find the solution a student
is looking for, perhaps they will go back to the problem for long
enough to figure it out on their own,
xiv Introduction
Where do the Problems Come From?
I wrote the problems in this book with inspiration from a
variety of sources. Most were inspired by the two major national
middle grades math competitions: the AMC competition series and
MATHCOUNTS. Others were inspired by problems I have seen in
state and local subject area competitions. Some are completely
original, while others that I think are completely original may
inevitably turn up in old contests, perhaps even in contests I have
never seen before.
With about 800 problems and examples in the text, it is
likely that many are very similar or even identical to previously
published competition problems. In most cases this will be because
the problems are obvious: the height of a stack of circles, the sum
ofa number’s factors, the number of paths on a grid, or the
probability ofa dice roll. In some cases, the problem is less
obvious but elegant in a way that lends itself to being written by
several people without collaboration.
Some problems are just classics that can be seen every-
where. In these cases I have usually attempted to modify the
problem (when I first read problem 1.240 it involved watermelons,
and have seen it since in various other forms). In some cases, a
classic is a classic in part because it cannot be significantly altered.
included some of these in the text (problem 1.441 for example). 1
apologize in advance to anyone who has written a similar or
identical problem to one found in this text. Included below are links
to the competitions and resources that ] have read in the past and
whose problems inspired many of the ones included in this text. I
have found these to be great sources of problems for practice and
review and encourage anyone reading this book to frequent the
following sites:
MATHCOUNTS: www:mathcounts.org
AMC: ame.maa.org
Math League: www.themathleague.com
MOEMS: www.moems.org
Purple Comet Math Meet: www:purplecomet.org
Art of Problem Solving: www.artofproblemsolving.com
The North Carolina State High School Math Contest:
courses.ncssm.edu/goebel/STATECON/state.htm
Wake Tech Regional Competition:
mathandphysics.waketech.edu/contest.php
The Alabama State High School Math Contest (great for Geometry):
meis,jsu.edu/mathcontest
xv Tr AIgebPA. sus
1.1: Variables and Equations.
Variables, Consecutive Integers, d:
Mean, Moles Digging Holes.
1.2: Linear Equations......
Slope, Intercepts, Slope-Intercept Form, Point-
Slope Form, Standard Form, Parallel/Perpendicu-
lar Lines, Horizontal and Vertical Lines.
1.3: Systems of Equations...
Substitution, Elimination, Common Word
Problems, Cheating the System.
1.4: Ratios, Proportions, and Percents.
Ratios, Proportions, Percents, and Percent of
Change.
Review 1.] 10 1.
1.5: Distribution.
The Distributive Property, Difference of Squares
and Perfect Squares, Sum of the Reciprocals.
1.6: Quadratics.
Perfect Squares, Difference of Squares, Factoring
By Grouping, Solving Quadratics by Factoring,
The Quadratic Formula, Word Problems, Sum and
Product of the Roots.
1.7: Exponents and Radical:
Multiplying, Dividing, Raising a Power toa
Power, Fractional Exponents, Square Roots.
1.8: Statistics.
Mean, Median, Mode and Range.
1.9: Sequences and Series.
Arithmetic Sequences and Series,
Geometric Sequences and Series.
1.10: More Substitution...
Nested Square Roots, Continued Fractions.
Chapter Review.
el
Key and Solutions, Algebra
Algebra
Chapter I
The ability to write, manipulate, and solve equations is
perhaps the most critical skill for middle-school math
competitions. Assigning and manipulating variables
in equations and expressions is useful and often
necessary for solving problems in each of the other
chapters in this text.
I begin this chapter (and this book) with some assumptions.
Readers should have a strong foundation in pre-
algebra. This includes but is not limited to an under-
standing of the correct order of mathematical
operations, common mathematical symbols and their
use, the commutative, associative, and distributive
properties, and a basic understanding of the coordi-
nate plane. You must also be able to solve multi-step
linear equations for a given variable. Perhaps most
importantly, young students should work hard to
develop strong number sense and computational skills
with integers, fractions, decimals, and percents.
If you do not have all of the skills above, you are probably not
ready to begin with this book. If you are a very
strong math student who simply hasn’t been taught
or exposed to these skills, it is possible that an adult
or older sibling will be able to fill-in the gaps for you
as you progress through this text. Algebra: Variables and Equations
“What are all of these letters doing in my math problems?”
This is the reaction of many students when they are first
exposed to Algebra. A variable is a lower-cased
letter assigned to represent an unknown quantity.
Perhaps the most fundamental skill necessary for
competing in mathematical competitions in the middle
grades is the ability to write and solve equations.
Example: Angela is three years older than twice her
brother Thomas’ age. If Angela is 17, how old is
Thomas?
Reasoning: Many bright young math students with fast
computational skills will quickly be able to find
Thomas’s age (7), but when the problems become
more difficult, simple computational skills are not
enough. Practice writing equations even when
guess-and-check or computational methods are
sufficient:
Angela is three years older than twice Thomas’s age.
a = 3 + 2 t
Translating words into algebra is a skill that comes with
practice. We substitute Angela’s age into the
equation above and solve for to get 7= 7. If you
don’t know how to do this, find a teacher or other
adult to help you solve this equation, and then solve
lots more like it. Here are a few basic equations to
practice with. Solve each for x:
1100 3x-7=8 1.200 2-3x=7
1.300 2x-7=8-x 1.400 3(x-4) =8-2x
1500 22724 1600 25 9-*
2 3 3 Algebra: Writing Equations
Writing Equations:
There are a variety of common categories of problems that
are typically solved by writing an equation and then
solving for a variable.
Consecutive Integer Problems.
Example: The sum of five consecutive integers is 80.
What is the smallest of these integers?
Reasoning: It is often recommended that students label the
integers x,x+1,x+2,x+3,andx+4. The
equation is then:
X+(x41)+(x+2)4(x+3)+ (x44) =80
Combining like terms we get 5x + 10 = 80 or x= 14,
Do you see why it may be easier to label the middle number
x in this case? It is important to remember that you
are solving for the middle number this time:
(x-2)4(x-1)+ x4 (x41) + (x42) =80
Combining like terms we get 5x = 80 or x = 16, so
the smallest number is x-2=14.
Often, problems will involve consecutive even or odd
integers, in which case each number is two bigger
than the one before it: x, x +2,x+4,x +6, etc.
Perimeter Problems.
Example: The height of a rectangle is three centimeters
more than twice its length. If the perimeter of the
rectangle is 60cm, what is its area?
Reasoning: Label the side lengths x and x
2x+3. Solving for x in the perim-
eter equation 2x + 2(2x + 3) = 60 o”
gives us x= 9. Substituting to find +
the height gives us 2] cm. The area a
is therefore 9(21) = 189cm?,
+X Algebra: d=rt
Distance equals rate (speed) times time: d=rt.
Perhaps the most common equation used in middle school
level math competitions is the formula relating
distance, rate, and time. Begin by solving the
equation for rate and time:
Most students just use d =r and solve where necessary
instead of trying to remember all three.
Example: Marlon jogs two miles to the park in 25 minutes,
turns around, and takes another 55 minutes to walk
the same path back to his house. What is his
average speed for the round-trip?
Reasoning: The round-trip is four miles and takes 80
minutes or 4/3 hours:
anf gives us r= 3mph
Example: On a bike ride, Calvin starts at home and goes up
a long hill for 30 minutes at just 6mph. At the top, he
turns around and rides home along the same path at
a speed of 18mph. What is his average speed for
the round-trip?
Reasoning: The common mistake is to assume that Calvin
averages (6 + 18)/2 = 12mph. This is not correct.
Calvin spends much more time riding uphill than he
does riding downhill. In this problem, the hill is 3
miles long (he rides for 30 minutes up the hill at
6mph), so his round-trip distance is 6 miles. He
makes it down the hill three times faster than he
rides up the hill, so it takes one-third as long (10
minutes) for a total time of 40 minutes (2/3 hour).
6-3, gives us » = 9mph. Algebra: Harmonic Mean
Finding a shortcut: Harmonic Mean.
Often you will be given two different rates and asked to find
their average. For example, in the previous bike
riding example, we did not need to know how far
Calvin rode his bicycle. Regardless of how far he
rode up and down the hill, his average speed for the
trip would be the same.
Consider the following:
Example: The water from a swimming pool evaporates at a
rate of 6 gallons per hour in the shade and 19 gallons
per hour in the sun. For several weeks in August,
the amount of water lost to evaporation in the shade
‘was equal to the amount lost in the sun. What was
the average rate of evaporation from the pool?
Reasoning: This is an uphill/downhill bicycle problem in
disguise. The same amount of water is lost in the
sun as is lost in the shade. First, let’s find a number
of gallons evaporated that is easy to work with. The
LCM of 6 and 19 is 6-19 = 114. We will find the
time it takes for 114 gallons to evaporate in the shade
and the time that it takes to evaporate in the sun. In
the shade it takes 114/6 = 19 hours to evaporate and
in the sun it takes 114/19 = 6 hours. This gives us a
total of 25 hours to evaporate 228 gallons. The
average rate of evaporation is 228/25 = 9.12 gallons
per hour.
Example: Calvin rides his bicycle again up a hill and then
back home. On the way up he averages a miles per
hour, and on the way home he averages b miles per
hour. What is his average speed for the entire trip in
terms of a and b?
Use ab as the length of the hill and a process similar
to the previous example before reading ahead. Algebra: Harmonic Mean
Reasoning: If we use ab as the length of the hill, it will
take Calvin ab/a = b hours to ride up the hill and it
will take ab/b = a hours to ride back down the hill.
The total distance traveled will be 2ab miles and the
total time will be a+ b hours. This gives us his
average speed for the entire trip, called the har-
monic mean of a and b:
2ab
Harmonic mean of a and b: =“?
a+b
Remember that this formula will only work when the distance
traveled (or water evaporated, as in the previous
example) is equal for both rates.
This can be a very powerful tool in problem solving.
Example: What is Alicia’s average speed on her walk to
school if she walks halfway at 2mph and runs the
rest of the way at 7mph?
2-2-7 28
24+7
=3.1mph.
Reasoning: The harmonic mean is:
Example: The battery in a portable music player is guaran-
teed to last 17 hours without charging if it is used
with headphones and 3 hours if it is used with
speakers. If you use headphones and speakers for
equal amounts of time, how many minutes will a fully
charged battery last?
Reasoning: You get 3 hours per battery with speakers and
17 hours per battery with headphones. The har-
monic mean is 2(3)(17)/20 = 5.1 hours or 306
minutes. We can check this to see that 5.1/2 = 2.
hours of listening on speakers will use 2.55/3 =
of the battery’s life. 2.55 hours with headphones will
use 2.55/17 = 15% of the life of the battery. Algebra: Moles Digging Holes
Moles Digging Holes: A variation of d=rt,
Example: It takes 7 minutes for 7 moles to dig 7 holes.
How long will it take 8 moles to dig 8 holes?
Reasoning: Of course, the problem is stated to encourage
the immediate response of 8 minutes. Begin by
approaching this problem with some basic reasoning.
Imagine one mole working on one hole at a time.
Each mole takes 7 minutes to dig 1 hole. Now
imagine all the moles working together on | hole. It
takes 7 moles 1 minute to complete each hole.
Either scenario leads us to reason that 1 mole can
complete 1/7 of a hole in a minute.
With 8 moles working on 8 holes, it is easiest to
assign 1 mole to each hole. Each mole takes 7
minutes to finish, so it takes 8 moles 7 minutes to dig
8 holes.
It is often useful to find a formula for use on problems that
are more complicated. This is not necessary for all
problems, but more complicated situations are often
more easily approached with a formula.
Example: 5 moles can dig 4 holes in 3 minutes. How many
minutes will it take for 9 moles to dig 6 holes?
Reasoning: The work w (holes dug) done by m moles in
time / (in minutes) at a constant rate r (holes per
minute) is similar to the d = r1 formula: w=ri(m).
We can plug-in the values we know and solve for r:
4=r-3-5 gives us r= * thotesimin/moe)
Plug this value in for r along with m= 9 and w= 6 to
solve for the time it takes 9 moles to dig 6 holes.
15
4 s 15
6=— 1-9 gives us f= —-6 =— = 2.5 minutes.
5 gi 36 6 S minutes. Algebra: Moles Digging Holes.
Moles Digging Holes: Using a formula: w=rt(m)
Example: 5 hoses can fill 10 small tanks in 80 minutes or 6
large tanks in 90 minutes. What is the least amount
of time it will take for 10 hoses to fill 8 small tanks
and 8 large tanks?
Reasoning: We use the formula w=rt(h) to figure out
how long it takes for one hose (/) to fill one of each
type of tank.
Small tanks: 10 =r-80-5 gives us r= 1/40. One
small tank can be filled with one hose in 40 min.
Large tanks: 6 =r-90-5 gives us r= 1/75: One
large tank can be filled with one hose in 75 minutes.
The tanks will take 8-40+8-75 =920 minutes to
fill. If all 10 hoses are used efficiently, it will take 92
minutes to fill all 16 tanks.
Practice: Moles Digging Holes.
1.900 If 3 men can paint 4 rooms in 9 hours, how many hours
and minutes will it take for one man to paint one
room, assuming he can work at the same rate alone?
1.010 Nine beavers can build 1 dam in 5 hours. How long
will it take for 15 beavers working together to build 2
dams?
1.110 A team of 4 students participating in a math competition
can solve 9 problems correctly in 30 minutes. How
many problems should a team of 5 students be able
to solve correctly in 40 minutes?
1.210 Jeremy can solve a Rubik’s cube in 4 minutes.
Michael is very fast and can solve 5 cubes in 12
minutes. Working together, what is the fewest
number of minutes it will take for them to solve 10
cubes? Algebra: Variables and Equations
Practice: Variables and Equations.
1.310 Molly's father James is three years less than three
times her age. How many years from now will
Molly’s father be twice her age if James is 33 today?
1.410 The sum of four consecutive even integers is equal to
three times the smallest number. What is the sum of
the four integers?
1.510 The length of a rectangle is three times its width. If
the perimeter of the rectangle is 32cm, what is its
area?
1.610 When Anil drives to work on the highway he averages
45 miles per hour for the trip. When Anil uses the
back roads, he can only average 36 miles per hour.
The trip on the back roads is 3 miles shorter and
takes 5 more minutes than the highway route. How
many miles long is the highway route?
1.710 A hexagon and pentagon share the property that the
side lengths of each are consecutive integers, and the
perimeter of each is 45cm. What is the difference in
Jength between the short side of the pentagon and
the short side of the hexagon?
1.810 Kris runs half of the distance to school averaging
6mph. He jogs the rest of the way to school averag-
ing 4mph, and the whole trip takes him 25 minutes.
How many minutes will it take him to run the same
way home if he averages 8mph the whole way?
1.910 Tobey can mow a lawn in 50 minutes. Working
together, Tobey and Nick take only 30 minutes to
mow the same lawn. How long would it take Nick
to mow the lawn alone? Algebra: Linear Equations
The length of this text is not sufficient to provide a complete
or even a thorough discussion of linear equations.
The following information is only intended to cover
the basics of writing and graphing linear equations.
Sometimes an equation contains two unknowns. The sim-
plest of these are called linear equations, and usually
relate variables x and y in the form:
y=mx+b
In the equation above which is called the slope-intercept
form of a linear equation, m is called the slope of the
equation, and 6 is called the y-intercept.
‘The graph of a linear equation is a straight line. The first
time you graph a linear equation, it is useful to first
create a list of coordinate pairs (x,y) as shown to
develop an understanding of the relationship between
the graph and the equation.
yapred
(y) ‘a
(611) a ba
(-42) oe
(-23)
(04) f
25) : rt
(4,6) eet elle Tas es
(67) i! rH
c I
1
F ao
i Coo
EC 4a Co
10 Algebra: Slope
Slope:
The slope of the graph of a linear equation is its rise over its
run. It is the ratio of the change in the value of y to
the change in x. For example, in the graph of the
equation on the previous page, y increases by 1 when
x is increased by 2, giving a slope of 1/2. The slope
of an equation written in slope-intercept form is the
coefficient of x.
On the graph of an equation, the easiest way to determine
the slope of a line is to find two points on the line.
Working from left to right, count how far you must
go up and over to get from one point to the next. If
you go down and over, the slope is negative. Below
are some examples of slopes graphed on the coordi-
nate plane:
ff
1 wy
7 T a ¥
m=) m= m=-2 # 3
Of course, you can also determine the slope of a line without
a graph. To find the rise, subtract the y-coordinates.
To find the run, subtract the x-coordinates. Given a
pair of coordinates (x,, y,) and (x,, y,):
Slope = m= "SE == %
run x,-X,
Example: Find the slope of the line passing through the
following coordinates: (7,-2) and (—4,-1).
-1-(2)_ 1 1
-4-7 -11 IL
Solution: The slope is m=
dl Algebra: Intercepts
12
Intercepts:
The intercepts of a graph are the points where the line of the
equation crosses the x and y-axis. The x-intercept
occurs where the line crosses the x-axis. It is the
point where y equals zero. The y-intercept occurs
where the line crosses the y-axis. It is the point
where x equals zero. These are easiest to see on a
graph.
The x-intercept is at (6,0).
The y-intercept is at (0, 5).
The intercepts are often
given asa single
coordinate. It is
assumed that the
intercepts occur
where the opposite
coordinate is zero.
To find the intercepts of an equation without graphing, set the
opposite coordinate to zero and solve the resulting
equation.
Slope-Intercept Form:
As noted earlier, the most common form of a linear equation
is called slope-intercept form. In the equation
y=mx+b, m represents the slope of the graph of
the line and b represents the y-intercept.
Slope-intercept form is easy to relate to real-world relation-
ships, where b represents a starting value and m
represents a rate of change. For example, the cost
(c) of a phone call that costs $0.49 to connect and
$0.09 per minute (m) could be represented by the
equation c=.09m+.49. Algebra: Point-Slope Form
Examples: Write an equation in slope-intercept form for
each line graphed on the coordinate plane below.
Solutions:
2
1 P38 on,
Point-Slope Form:
Given two points on the graph of an equation or a point and
the slope of an equation, the equation of a line
graphed on the coordinate plane can be written in
point-slope form. The equation of a line which
passes through (x,, y,) and has slope m can be
written:
y- y= m(x-%,)
Example: Write an equation in slope-intercept form for the
line passing through (10, 3) and (—5,9).
Reasoning: First we find the slope. Use the slope formula:
6 2
5-19-15 5°
Use (10, 3) to write an equation in point-slope form:
247.
5
y-3=-2(x-10), Solving for y we get y =
Alternatively, you can also use the same point and slope in
the equation y = mx +b to solve for b.
13 Algebra: Standard Form
Standard Form:
The standard form of a linear equation is Ax + By = C. In
correct standard form, A > 0, and there is no com-
mon divisor of A, B, and C. There are some nice
properties of an equation written in standard form.
For example, you can simply set x to zero and solve
for y to get the p-intercept: (C/B), and vice-versa to
get the x-intercept: (C/A).
The slope is easy to recognize as well. Prove to yourself that
—(A/B) will always give the slope of an equation
written in standard form by solving the standard form
equation for y (convert it into slope-intercept form).
Perhaps most importantly, standard form is how most
linear equations are written on competition questions
and answer choices.
Parallel and Perpendicular Lines:
Two lines with the same slope are parallel.
Two lines are perpendicular if the products of their slopes is
equal to -1. In other words, perpendicular slopes
are negative reciprocals of each other.
Horizontal and Vertical Lines:
The slope of a horizontal line is zero. The slope of a vertical
line is undefined (because the denominator of the
slope is zero and division by zero is undefined).
A horizontal line will be of the form y = k (where k is some
constant), for example, y=3. The equation y=3
is a horizontal line which passes through the y-axis at
the point (0, 3).
A vertical line will be of the form x = k, for example, x= 4 is
a vertical line passing through the x-axis at (4, 0).
d4 Algebra: Linear Equations
Practice: Linear Equations.
1.020 What is the slope of the line that passes through (—9,9)
and the origin (0,0)?
1.120 Find the sum of the x and y intercepts of the equation
3x—5y=8. Express your answer as a common
fraction in simplest terms.
1.220 Write the standard form equation for the line which
passes through (1,~1) and (—5,-5).
1.320 What is the slope of the line perpendicular to the graph
of the equation 4x-2y =3?
1.420 The graph of the equation y= 2x+b passes through
the point (b,-3). Find b.
1.520 What is the area of the right triangle bounded by the
graph of the equation y = 2: +12 and both
coordinate axis?
1.620 If the graphs of the lines 2x-5Sy =7 and 10x+by=7
are perpendicular, what is the value of b?
1.720 Write the standard form of the equation which has the
x and y-intercepts of the equation y= se -8
switched.
1.820 What length of the graph of y = sx —8 is within the 4"
quadrant? (See section 5.3).
1.920 Integral coordinates x and y are selected such that
0
