Intermediate

Mathematical
Challenge

Past Papers
2012-2016
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 IMC 2012
1. How many of the following four numbers are prime?
3 33 333 3333
A 0 B 1 C 2 D 3 E 4

2. Three positive integers are all different. Their sum is 7. What is their product?
A 12 B 10 C 9 D 8 E 5

3. An equilateral triangle, a square and a pentagon all have the same side length. The
triangle is drawn on and above the top edge of the square and the pentagon is
drawn on and below the bottom edge of the square. What is the sum of the interior
angles of the resulting polygon?
A 10 × 180° B 9 × 180° C 8 × 180° D 7 × 180° E 6 × 180°

4. All four digits of two 2-digit numbers are different. What is the largest possible sum of two
such numbers?
A 169 B 174 C 183 D 190 E 197

5. How many minutes will elapse between 20:12 today and 21:02 tomorrow?
A 50 B 770 C 1250 D 1490 E 2450

6. Triangle QRS is isosceles and right-angled.

Beatrix reflects the P-shape in the side QR to get an image.
She reflects the first image in the side QS to get a second image.
Finally, she reflects the second image in the side RS to get a third
image.
What does the third image look like?

A B C D E

3 3
3

3
3

7. The prime numbers p and q are the smallest primes that differ by 6. What is the sum of p and q?
A 12 B 14 C 16 D 20 E 28

8. Seb has been challenged to place the numbers 1 to 9 inclusive

in the nine regions formed by the Olympic rings so that there is 9 * 8
exactly one number in each region and the sum of the numbers
in each ring is 11. The diagram shows part of his solution. 5

What number goes in the region marked * ?

A 6 B 4 C 3 D 2 E 1

9. Auntie Fi's dog Itchy has a million fleas. His anti-flea shampoo claims to leave no more than
1% of the original number of fleas after use. What is the least number of fleas that will be
eradicated by the treatment?
A 900 000 B 990 000 C 999 000 D 999 990 E 999 999
10. An ‘abundant’ number is a positive integer N , such that the sum of the factors of N (excluding
N itself) is greater than N . What is the smallest abundant number?
A 5 B 6 C 10 D 12 E 15
11. In the diagram, PQRS is a parallelogram; ∠QRS = 50°; Q o R
∠SPT = 62° and PQ = PT . 50

What is the size of ∠TQR? P

62 o S
A 84° B 90° C 96° D 112° E 124°

12. Which one of the following has a different value from the others?
A 18% of £30 B 12% of £50 C 6% of £90 D 4% of £135 E 2% of £270
13. Alex Erlich and Paneth Farcas shared an opening rally of 2 hours and 12 minutes during their
table tennis match at the 1936 World Games. Each player hit around 45 shots per minute.
Which of the following is closest to the total number of shots played in the rally?
A 200 B 2000 C 8000 D 12 000 E 20 000
14. What value of x makes the mean of the first three numbers in this list equal to the mean of the
last four?
15 5 x 7 9 17
A 19 B 21 C 24 D 25 E 27
15. Which of the following has a value that is closest to 0?
A
1 1 1
+ × B
1 1
+ ÷1 C
1 1
× ÷1 D
1 1
í ÷1 E
1 1 1
í ×
2 3 4 2 3 4 2 3 4 2 3 4 2 3 4

16. The diagram shows a large equilateral triangle divided by three straight lines
into seven regions. The three grey regions are equilateral triangles with sides
of length 5 cm and the central black region is an equilateral triangle with sides
of length 2 cm.
What is the side length of the original large triangle?
A 18 cm B 19 cm C 20 cm D 21 cm E 22 cm
17. The first term of a sequence of positive integers is 6. The other terms in the sequence follow
these rules:
if a term is even then divide it by 2 to obtain the next term;
if a term is odd then multiply it by 5 and subtract 1 to obtain the next term.
For which values of n is the n th term equal to n?
A 10 only B 13 only C 16 only D 10 and 13 only E 13 and 16 only
18. Peri the winkle starts at the origin and slithers anticlockwise around a semicircle with centre
(4, 0). Peri then slides anticlockwise around a second semicircle with centre (6, 0), and finally
clockwise around a third semicircle with centre (3, 0).
Where does Peri end this expedition?
A (0, 0) B (1, 0) C (2, 0) D (4, 0) E (6, 0)
19. The shaded region shown in the diagram is bounded by four arcs, each of the
same radius as that of the surrounding circle. What fraction of the surrounding
circle is shaded?
4 π 1 1
A −1 B1− C D E it depends on the radius of the circle
π 4 2 3
20. A rectangle with area 125 cm2 has sides in the ratio 4:5. What is the perimeter of the
rectangle?
A 18 cm B 22.5 cm C 36 cm D 45 cm E 54 cm

21. The parallelogram PQRS is formed by joining together four P Q

equilateral triangles of side 1 unit, as shown.
What is the length of the diagonal SQ?
S R
A 7 B 8 C 3 D 6 E 5

22. What is the maximum possible value of the median number of cups of coffee bought per
customer on a day when Sundollars Coffee Shop sells 477 cups of coffee to 190 customers,
and every customer buys at least one cup of coffee?
A 1.5 B 2 C 2.5 D 3 E 3.5

23. In triangle PQR, PS = 2; SR = 1; ∠PRQ = 45°; T is the foot P

of the perpendicular from P to QS and ∠PST = 60°.
2
What is the size of ∠QPR?
60 o S
A 45° B 60° C 75° D 90° E 105° T 1
45 o
Q R

24. All the positive integers are written in the cells of a

square grid. Starting from 1, the numbers spiral … 32 31
anticlockwise. The first part of the spiral is shown in the
17 16 15 14 13 30
diagram.
18 5 4 3 12 29
19 6 1 2 11 28
What number will be immediately below 2012?
20 7 8 9 10 27
A 1837 B 2011 C 2013 D 2195 E 2210 21 22 23 24 25 26

25. The diagram shows a ceramic design by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi.
It is formed by drawing eight lines connecting points which divide the
edges of the outer regular octagon into three equal parts, as shown.
What fraction of the octagon is shaded?
1 2 1 3 5
A B C D E
5 9 4 10 16
 IMC 2013
1. Which of the following is divisible by 6?
A one million minus one B one million minus two C one million minus three
D one million minus four E one million minus five

2. A machine cracks open 180 000 eggs per hour. How many eggs is that per second?
A 5 B 50 C 500 D 5000 E 50 000

3. How many quadrilaterals are there in this diagram, which is

constructed using 6 straight lines ?
A 4 B 5 C 7 D 8 E 9

4. A standard pack of pumpkin seeds contains 40 seeds. A special pack contains 25% more
seeds. Rachel bought a special pack and 70% of the seeds germinated. How many pumpkin
plants did Rachel have?
A 20 B 25 C 28 D 35 E 50

5. The northern wheatear is a small bird weighing less than an ounce. Some northern wheatears
migrate from sub-Saharan Africa to their Arctic breeding grounds, travelling almost 15 000 km.
The journey takes just over 7 weeks. Roughly how far do they travel each day, on average?
A 1 km B 9 km C 30 km D 90 km E 300 km

6. Which of the following has the least value?

A 1 0 − 01 B 21 − 12 C 32 − 23 D 43 − 34 E 54 − 45

7. The faces of a regular octahedron are to be painted so that no two

faces which have an edge in common are painted in the same
colour. What is the smallest number of colours required?
A 2 B 3 C 4 D 6 E 8

8. Jim rolled some dice and was surprised that the sum of the scores on the dice was equal to the
product of the scores on the dice. One of the dice showed a score of 2, one showed 3 and one
showed 5. The rest showed a score of 1. How many dice did Jim roll?
A 10 B 13 C 17 D 23 E 30

9. Jane has 20 identical cards in the shape of an isosceles right-angled triangle. She uses the
cards to make the five shapes below. Which of the shapes has the shortest perimeter?

A B C D E

10. ABCDE is a regular pentagon and BCF is an equilateral triangle such that F is inside ABCDE.
What is the size of ∠FAB?
A 48° B 63° C 66° D 69° E 72°

11. For which of the following numbers is the sum of all its factors not equal to a square number?
A 3 B 22 C 40 D 66 E 70
12. The sum one + four = seventy
becomes correct if we replace each word by the number of letters in it to give 3 + 4 = 7.
Using the same convention, which of these words could be substituted for x to make the sum
three + five = x true?
A eight B nine C twelve D seventeen E eighteen

13. Four congruent isosceles trapeziums are placed so that their longer P X Q
parallel sides form the diagonals of a square PQRS, as shown. The point
X divides PQ in the ratio 3:1. What fraction of the square is shaded?
5 3 7 5 1
A B C D E
16 8 16 12 2 S R

14. Which of the following has the greatest value?

( ) () () () ()
3 3 3 3 3
11 5 7 9 3
A B C D E
7 3 4 5 2
15. I have a bag of coins. In it, one third of the coins are gold, one fifth of them are silver, two
sevenths are bronze and the rest are copper. My bag can hold a maximum of 200 coins. How
many coins are in my bag?
A 101 B 105 C 153 D 195 E more information is needed

16. Which diagram shows the graph of y = x after it has been rotated 90° clockwise about the
point (1, 1)?
A B C D E
y y y y y
2 2 2 2 2

1 1 1 1 1
x x x x x
-1 1 2 -1 1 2 -1 1 2 -1 1 2 -1 1 2
-1 -1 -1 -1 -1

17. The diagram shows four equal discs and a square. Each disc
touches its two neighbouring discs. Each corner of the square is
positioned at the centre of a disc. The side length of the square is
2 / π. What is the length of the perimeter of the figure?
3π
A 3 B 4 C D 6 E 2π
2
18. The triangle T has sides of length 6, 5, 5. The triangle U has sides of length 8, 5, 5.
What is the ratio area T : area U ?
A 9 : 16 B 3:4 C 1:1 D 4:3 E 16 : 9

19. Which of the expressions below is equivalent to (x ÷ (y ÷ z)) ÷ ((x ÷ y) ÷ z) ?

1
A 1 B C x2 D y2 E z2
xyz
20. Jack's teacher asked him to draw a triangle of area 7cm2. Two sides are to be of length 6cm
and 8cm. How many possibilities are there for the length of the third side of the triangle?
A 1 B 2 C 3 D 4 E more than 4

21. The square ABCD has an area of 196. It contains two overlapping A B
squares; the larger of these squares has an area 4 times that of the
smaller and the area of their overlap is 1. What is the total area of
the shaded regions?
A 44 B 72 C 80 D 152
E more information is needed
D C

22. The diagrams show squares placed inside two identical semicircles.
In the lower diagram the two squares are identical.
What is the ratio of the areas of the two shaded regions?
A 1:2 B 2:3 C 3:4 D 4:5 E 5:6

23. Four brothers are discussing the order in which they were born. Two are lying and two are
telling the truth. Which two are telling the truth?

Alfred: “Bernard is the youngest.” Horatio: “Bernard is the oldest and I am the youngest.”
Inigo: “I was born last.” Bernard: “I'm neither the youngest nor the oldest.”
A Bernard and Inigo B Horatio and Bernard C Alfred and Horatio
D Alfred and Bernard E Inigo and Horatio

24. The diagram shows a shaded shape bounded by circular arcs with
the same radius. The centres of three arcs are the vertices of an
equilateral triangle; the other three centres are the midpoints of the
sides of the triangle. The sides of the triangle have length 2.
What is the difference between the area of the shaded shape and
the area of the triangle?
π π π π
A B C D E π
6 4 3 2
25. In 1984 the engineer and prolific prime-finder Harvey Dubner found the biggest known prime
each of whose digits is either a one or a zero. The prime can be expressed as
10641 × (10640 − 1)
+ 1. How many digits does this prime have?
9
A 640 B 641 C 1280 D 1281 E 640 × 641
 IMC 2014
3
1. What is 25 % of 4?

3 1 1
A B C D 1 E 3
16 4 3
2. Which is the smallest positive integer for which all these are true?
(i) It is odd.
(ii) It is not prime.
(iii) The next largest odd integer is not prime.
A 9 B 15 C 21 D 25 E 33

3. An equilateral triangle is placed inside a larger equilateral

triangle so that the diagram has three lines of symmetry.
What is the value of x? x°

A 100 B 110 C 120

D 130 E 150

4. You are given that m is an even integer and n is an odd integer. Which of these is an odd
integer ?
A 3m + 4n B 5mn C (m + 3n)2 D m3n3 E 5m + 6n

5. A ship's bell is struck every half hour, starting with one bell at 0030, two bells (meaning the
bell is struck twice) at 0100, three bells at 0130 until the cycle is complete with eight bells at
0400. The cycle then starts again with one bell at 0430, two bells at 0500 and so on. What is
the total number of times the bell is struck between 0015 on one day and 0015 on the
following day?
A 24 B 48 C 108 D 144 E 216

6. The shape shown on the right was assembled from three identical
copies of one of the smaller shapes below, without gaps or overlaps.
Which smaller shape was used?

A B C D E

7. Just one positive integer has exactly 8 factors including 6 and 15.
What is the integer?
A 21 B 30 C 45 D 60 E 90

8. A large cube is made by stacking eight dice. The diagram shows the result,
except that one of the dice is missing. Each die has faces with 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and
6 pips and the total number of pips on each pair of opposite faces is 7. When
two dice are placed face to face, the matching faces must have the same
number of pips. What could the missing die look like?

A B C D E
 9. At the age of twenty-six, Gill has passed her driving test and bought a car. Her car uses p litres of
petrol per 100 km travelled. How many litres of petrol would be required for a journey of d km?
pd 100p 100d 100 p
A B C D E
100 d p pd 100d

10. The diagram shows five touching semicircles, each with radius 2.

What is the length of the perimeter of the shaded shape?

A 5π B 6π C 7π D 8π E 9π

11. Not all characters in the Woodentops series tell the truth. When Mr Plod asked them, “How
many people are there in the Woodentops family?”, four of them replied as follows:
Jenny: “An even number.” Willie: “An odd number.” Sam: “A prime number.”
Mrs Scrubitt: “A number which is the product of two integers greater than one.”
How many of these four were telling the truth?
A 0 B 1 C 2 D 3 E 4

12. The diagram shows an isosceles right-angled triangle divided into

strips of equal width. Four of the strips are shaded.
What fraction of the area of the triangle is shaded?
11 3 13 7 15
A B C D E
32 8 32 16 32

13. How many numbers can be written as a sum of two different positive integers each at most
100?
A 100 B 197 C 198 D 199 E 200

14. This year the Tour de France starts in Leeds on 5 July. Last year, the total length of the Tour
was 3404 km and the winner, Chris Froome, took a total time of 83 hours 56 minutes 40
seconds to cover this distance. Which of these is closest to his average speed over the whole
event?
A 32 km/h B 40 km/h C 48 km/h D 56 km/h E 64 km/h

15. Zac halves a certain number and then adds 8 to the result. He finds that he obtains the same
answer if he doubles his original number and then subtracts 8 from the result.
What is Zac's original number?
A 8 23 B 9 13 C 9 23 D 10 13 E 10 23
16. The base of a triangle is increased by 25% but the area of the triangle is unchanged.
By what percentage is the corresponding perpendicular height decreased?
A 12 12 % B 16% C 20% D 25% E 50%

17. How many weeks are there in 8 × 7 × 6 × 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 minutes?

A 1 B 2 C 3 D 4 E 5

18. Consider looking from the origin (0, 0) towards all the points (m, n), where each of m and n is
an integer. Some points are hidden, because they are directly in line with another nearer point.
For example, (2, 2) is hidden by (1, 1).
How many of the points (6, 2), (6, 3), (6, 4), (6, 5) are not hidden points?
A 0 B 1 C 2 D 3 E 4

19. Suppose that 8m = 27. What is the value of 4m?

A 3 B 4 C 9 D 13.5 E there is no such m

20. The diagram shows a regular pentagon and five circular arcs. The
sides of the pentagon have length 4. The centre of each arc is a
vertex of the pentagon, and the ends of the arc are the midpoints of
the two adjacent edges.
What is the total shaded area?
A 8π B 10π C 12π D 14π E 16π

21. In King Arthur's jousting tournament, each of the several competing knights receives 17 points
for every bout he enters. The winner of each bout receives an extra 3 points. At the end of the
tournament, the Black Knight has exactly one more point than the Red Knight.
What is the smallest number of bouts that the Black Knight could have entered?
A 3 B 4 C 5 D 6 E 7

22. The positive integers a, b and c are all different. None of them is a square but all the products
ab, ac and bc are squares. What is the least value that a + b + c can take?
A 14 B 28 C 42 D 56 E 70

23. A sector of a disc is removed by making two straight cuts from the circumference to the
centre. The perimeter of the sector has the same length as the circumference of the original
disc. What fraction of the area of the disc is removed?
π − 1 1 π 1 1
A B C D E
π π 360 3 2
24. How many 4-digit integers (from 1000 to 9999) have at least one digit repeated?
A 62 × 72 B 52 × 72 C 52 × 82 D 42 × 82 E 42 × 92

25. The diagram shows two concentric circles with radii 1 and 2 units,
together with a shaded octagon, all of whose sides are equal.
What is the length of the perimeter of the octagon?
A 8 2 B 8 3 C 8 3π
D 2 5 + 2 2 E 8 5 − 2 2
 IMC 2015
1. What is the value of 1 í 0.2 + 0.03 − 0.004?
A 0.826 B 0.834 C 0.926 D 1.226 E 1.234

2. Last year, Australian Suzy Walsham won the annual women's race up the 1576 steps of the
Empire State Building in New York for a record fifth time. Her winning time was 11 minutes
57 seconds. Approximately how many steps did she climb per minute?
A 13 B 20 C 80 D 100 E 130

3. What is a half of a third, plus a third of a quarter, plus a quarter of a fifth?

1 3 1 1 3
A B C D E
1440 38 30 3 10
4. The diagram shows a regular pentagon inside a square.
x°
What is the value of x ?
A 48 B 51 C 54 D 60 E 72

5. Which of the following numbers is not a square?

A 16 B 25 C 34 D 43 E 52

6. The equilateral triangle and regular hexagon shown have perimeters of

the same length.
What is the ratio of the area of the triangle to the area of the hexagon?
A 5:6 B 4:5 C 3:4 D 2:3 E 1:1

7. A tetrahedron is a solid figure which has four faces, all of which

are triangles.
What is the product of the number of edges and the number of
vertices of the tetrahedron?
A 8 B 10 C 12 D 18 E 24

8. How many two-digit squares differ by 1 from a multiple of 10?

A 1 B 2 C 3 D 4 E 5

9. What is the value of p + q + r + s + t + u + v + w + x + y q° r°

s°
in the diagram? p°
A 540 B 720 C 900 D 1080 E 1440 y° t°

u°
x° v°
w°

10. What is the remainder when 22 × 33 × 55 × 77 is divided by 8?

A 2 B 3 C 4 D 5 E 7
11. Three different positive integers have a mean of 7. What is the largest positive integer that
could be one of them?
A 15 B 16 C 17 D 18 E 19

12. An ant is on the square marked with a black dot.

The ant moves across an edge from one square to
an adjacent square four times and then stops.
How many of the possible finishing squares are
black?
A 0 B 2 C 4 D 6 E 8

13. What is the area of the shaded 3 cm

region in the rectangle?
14 cm
A 21 cm2 B 22 cm2 C 23 cm2 D 24 cm2 E more information needed

14. In a sequence, each term after the first two terms is the mean of all the terms which come
before that term. The first term is 8 and the tenth term is 26. What is the second term?
A 17 B 18 C 44 D 52 E 68

15. A flag is in the shape of a right-angled triangle, 72 cm

as shown, with the horizontal and vertical sides
being of length 72 cm and 24 cm respectively. 24 cm
The flag is divided into 6 vertical stripes of
equal width.
What, in cm2, is the difference between the
areas of any two adjacent stripes?
A 96 B 72 C 48 D 32 E 24

16. You are asked to choose two positive integers, m and n with m > n, so that as many as
possible of the expressions m + n, m − n, m × n and m ÷ n have values that are prime.
When you do this correctly, how many of these four expressions have values that are prime?
A 0 B 1 C 2 D 3 E 4

17. The football shown is made by sewing together 12 black

pentagonal panels and 20 white hexagonal panels. There is a join
wherever two panels meet along an edge.
How many joins are there?
A 20 B 32 C 60 D 90 E 180

18. The total weight of a box, 20 plates and 30 cups is 4.8 kg. The total weight of the box, 40
plates and 50 cups is 8.4 kg. What is the total weight of the box, 10 plates and 20 cups?
A 3 kg B 3.2 kg C 3.6 kg D 4 kg E 4.2 kg
19. The figure shows four smaller squares in the corners of a large
square. The smaller squares have sides of length 1 cm, 2 cm, 3 cm
and 4 cm (in anticlockwise order) and the sides of the large square
have length 11 cm.
What is the area of the shaded quadrilateral?
A 35 cm2 B 36 cm2 C 37 cm2 D 38 cm2 E 39 cm2

20. A voucher code is made up of four characters. The first is a letter: V, X or P. The second and
third are different digits. The fourth is the units digit of the sum of the second and third digits.
How many different voucher codes like this are there?
A 180 B 243 C 270 D 300 E 2700

21. A rectangle is placed obliquely on top of an identical rectangle, as

shown.
The area X of the overlapping region (shaded more darkly) is one
eighth of the total shaded area. X
What fraction of the area of one rectangle is X ?
1 2 1 2 1
A B C D E
3 7 4 9 5
22. The diagram shows a shaded region inside a large square. The
shaded region is divided into small squares.
What fraction of the area of the large square is shaded?
3 1 3 2 3
A B C D E
10 3 8 5 7

23. There are 120 different ways of arranging the letters, U, K, M, I and C. All of these
arrangements are listed in dictionary order, starting with CIKMU. Which position in the list
does UKIMC occupy?
A 110 th B 112 th C 114 th D 116 th E 118 th

24. In square RSTU a quarter-circle arc with centre S is drawn from T U T

1
to R. A point P on this arc is 1 unit from TU and 8 units from RU . 8
P
What is the length of the side of square RSTU ?
A 9 B 10 C 11 D 12 E 13

R S

25. A point is marked one quarter of the way along

each side of a triangle, as shown.
What fraction of the area of the triangle is
shaded?
7 1 9 5 11
A B C D E
16 2 16 8 16
 IMC 2016
1. What is the value of 6102 í 2016?
A 3994 B 4086 C 4096 D 4114 E 4994

2. Which of the following fractions is closest to 1?

7 8 9 10 11
A B C D E
8 7 10 11 10
3. How many of these five expressions give answers which are not prime numbers?
12 + 22 22 + 32 32 + 42 42 + 52 52 + 62
A 0 B 1 C 2 D 3 E 4

4. Amrita is baking a cake today. She bakes a cake every fifth day. How many days will it be
before she next bakes a cake on a Thursday?
A 5 B 7 C 14 D 25 E 35

5. When travelling from London to Edinburgh by train, you pass a sign saying ‘Edinburgh 200
miles’. Then, 3 12 miles later, you pass another sign saying ‘Half way between London and
Edinburgh’.
How many miles is it by train from London to Edinburgh?
A 393 B 396 12 C 400 D 40312 E 407

6. One third of the animals in Jacob's flock are goats, the rest are sheep. There are twelve more
sheep than goats.
How many animals are there altogether in Jacob's flock?
A 12 B 24 C 36 D 48 E 60

7. In the diagram, what is the value of x?

A 23 B 24 C 25 D 26 E 27 27°

75° 24°
x°
26° 23°

8. What is the value of 2.017 × 2016 í 10.16 × 201.7?

A 2.016 B 2.017 C 20.16 D 2016 E 2017

9. The world's fastest tortoise is acknowledged to be a leopard tortoise from County Durham
called Bertie. In July 2014, Bertie sprinted along a 5.5 m long track in an astonishing
19.6 seconds.
What was Bertie's approximate average speed in km per hour?
A 0.1 B 0.5 C 1 D 5 E 10

10. The angles of a quadrilateral taken in order are x°, 5x°, 2x° and 4x°. Which of the following is
the quadrilateral?
A kite B parallelogram C rhombus D arrowhead E trapezium
11. The net shown consists of squares and
equilateral triangles. The net is folded to form a
rhombicuboctahedron, as shown.
When the face marked P is placed face down on
a table, which face will be facing up?
A B C D E

12. The sum of two numbers a and b is 7 and the difference between them is 2.
What is the value of a × b?
A 8 14 B 9 14 C 10 14 D 11 14 E 12 14

13. The diagram shows a heptagon with a line of three circles on each
side. Each circle is to contain exactly one number. The numbers 8
to 14 are distributed as shown and the numbers 1 to 7 are to be
distributed to the remaining circles. The total of the numbers in
each of the lines of three circles is to be the same.
What is this total?
A 18 B 19 C 20 D 21 E 22

14. Tegwen has the same number of brothers as she has sisters. Each one of her brothers has 50%
more sisters than brothers.
How many children are in Tegwen's family?
A 5 B 7 C 9 D 11 E 13

15. The circle has radius 1 cm. Two vertices of the square lie on the
circle. One edge of the square goes through the centre of the circle,
as shown.
What is the area of the square?
4 π π 5
A cm2 B cm2 C 1 cm2 D cm2 E cm2
5 5 4 4

16. How many of the following positive integers are divisible by 24?
22 × 32 × 52 × 73 22 × 32 × 53 × 72 22 × 33 × 52 × 72 23 × 32 × 52 × 72
A 0 B 1 C 2 D 3 E 4

17. The shaded region in the diagram, bounded by two concentric circles, is
called an annulus. The circles have radii 2 cm and 14 cm.
The dashed circle divides the area of this annulus into two equal areas.
What is its radius?
A 9 cm B 10 cm C 11 cm D 12 cm E 13 cm

18. The sum of the areas of the squares on the sides of a right-angled isosceles triangle is 72 cm2.
What is the area of the triangle?
A 6 cm2 B 8 cm2 C 9 cm2 D 12 cm2 E 18 cm2

19. A list of positive integers has a median of 8, a mode of 9 and a mean of 10.
What is the smallest possible number of integers in the list?
A 5 B 6 C 7 D 8 E 9
20. Two semicircles are drawn in a rectangle as shown. 10 cm
What is the width of the overlap of the two semicircles?
A 3 cm B 4 cm C 5 cm D 6 cm E 7 cm ?
8 cm

21. The diagram shows a regular octagon. What is the ratio of the area
of the shaded trapezium to the area of the whole octagon?
A 1:4 B 5 : 16 C 1:3 D 2:2 E 3:8

22. In a particular group of people, some always tell the truth, the rest always lie. There are 2016
in the group. One day, the group is sitting in a circle. Each person in the group says, “Both the
person on my left and the person on my right are liars.”
What is the difference between the largest and smallest number of people who could be telling
the truth?
A 0 B 72 C 126 D 288 E 336

23. A Saxon silver penny, from the reign of Ethelbert II in the eighth
century, was sold in 2014 for £78 000. A design on the coin depicts
a circle surrounded by four equal arcs, each a quarter of a circle, as
shown. The width of the design is 2 cm.
What is the radius of the small circle, in centimetres? 2 cm
A 1
2 B 2− 2 C 1
2 2 D 5−3 2 E 2 2−2

24. Every day, Aimee goes up an escalator on her journey to work. If she stands still, it takes her
60 seconds to travel from the bottom to the top. One day the escalator was broken so she had
to walk up it. This took her 90 seconds.
How many seconds would it take her to travel up the escalator if she walked up at the same
speed as before while it was working?
A 30 B 32 C 36 D 45 E 75

25. The tiling pattern shown uses two types of tile, regular hexagons
and equilateral triangles, with the length of each side of the
equilateral triangles equal to half the length of each side of the
hexagons. A large number of tiles is used to cover a floor.
Which of the following is closest to the fraction of the floor that is
shaded black?
1 1 1 1 1
A B C D E
8 10 12 13 16
 MT
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UK INTERMEDIATE MATHEMATICAL CHALLENGE

THURSDAY 2nd FEBRUARY 2012
Organised by the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust
from the School of Mathematics, University of Leeds
http://www.ukmt.org.uk

SOLUTIONS LEAFLET

This solutions leaflet for the IMC is sent in the hope that it might
provide all concerned with some alternative solutions to the ones
they have obtained. It is not intended to be definitive. The
organisers would be very pleased to receive alternatives created
by candidates.

The UKMT is a registered charity

1. B 3 is the only one of the four numbers which is prime. The sums of the digits of
the other three numbers are 6, 9, 12 respectively. These are all multiples of 3, so
33, 333, 3333 are all multiples of 3.
2. D The following triples of positive integers all sum to 7:
(1, 1, 5), (1, 2, 4), (1, 3, 3); (2, 2, 3).
In only one of these are the three integers all different, so the required integers
are 1, 2, 4 and their product is 8.
3. E The diagram shows that the interior angles of the
polygon may be divided up to form the interior angles
of six triangles. So their sum is 6 × 180°.
4. C The digits to be used must be 9, 8, 7, 6. If any of these were to be replaced by a
smaller digit, then the sum of the two two-digit numbers would be reduced. For
this sum to be as large as possible, 9 and 8 must appear in the ‘tens’ column
rather than the ‘units’ column. So the largest possible sum is 97 + 86 or 96 + 87.
In both cases the sum is 183.
5. D The difference between the two given times is 24 hours 50 minutes
= ( 24 × 60 + 50) minutes = (1440 + 50) minutes = 1490 minutes.
6. A The diagram shows the result of the successive reflections.

3P
S S S

P1 P2 P1 P2
Q R Q R Q R
P
7. C The primes in question are 5 and 11. The only primes smaller than 5 are 2 and 3.
However neither 8 nor 9 is prime so p and q cannot be 2 and 8, nor 3 and 9.
8. A Referring to the diagram, a = 11 − 9 = 2;
b = 11 − 5 − a = 4; f = 11 − 8 = 3. So the 9 c 8
values of c, d and e are 1, 6, 7 in some order. a b d f
5 e
If c = 1 then d = 6, but then e would need
to be 2, not 7.
If c = 6, then d = 1 and e = 7 and this is a valid solution. Finally, if c = 7
then d would need to equal 0, which is not possible. So in the only possible
solution, * is replaced by 6.
9. B 1% of 1 000 000 = 1 000 000 ÷ 100 = 10 000. So the least number of fleas which
will be eradicated is 1 000 000 í 10 000 = 990 000.
10. D The table shows the first 12 positive integers, N , and the sum, S, of the factors of
N excluding N itself. As can be seen, 12 is the first value of N for which this sum
exceeds N , so 12 is the smallest abundant number.
N 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
S 0 1 1 3 1 6 1 7 4 8 1 16
(Note that for N = 6 the sum also equals 6. For this reason, 6 is known as a
‘perfect number’. After 6, the next two perfect numbers are 28 and 496.)
11. C Opposite angles of a parallelogram are equal so ∠QPS = 50°.
Therefore ∠QPT = 112° and, as triangle QPT is isosceles,
∠PQT = (180° − 112°) ÷ 2 = 34°.
As PQRS is a parallelogram, ∠PQR = 180° − 50° = 130°.
So ∠TQR = 130° − 34° = 96°.
12. B The values of the expressions are £5.40, £6.00, £5.40, £5.40, £5.40 respectively.
13. D In the rally, approximately 90 shots were hit per minute for a total of 132 minutes.
As 90 × 130 = 11 700, D is the best alternative.
14. A The mean of the first three numbers is 13 (20 + x); the mean of the last four
numbers is 14 (33 + x). Therefore 4 (20 + x) = 3 (33 + x), that is
80 + 4x = 99 + 3x, so x = 99 − 80 = 19.
15. E 1 + 1 × 1 = 1 + 1 = 7 ; 1 + 1 ÷ 1 = 1 + 1 × 4 = 1 + 4 = 11 ; 1 × 1 ÷ 1 =
2 3 4 2 12 12 2 3 4 2 3 1 2 3 6 2 3 4
1 1 4 2 1 1 1 1 1 4 1 4 5 1 1 1 1 1 5
× × = ; í ÷ = í × = − =− ; í × = − = .
2 3 1 3 2 3 4 2 3 1 2 3 6 2 3 4 2 12 12
7 11 2 5 5 5
Of the fractions , , ,− , , the closest to 0 is .
12 6 3 6 12 12
16. B As triangle ABC is equilateral, ∠BAC = 60°. From the A
symmetry of the figure, we may deduce that AD = DE so F
triangle ADE is equilateral. The length of the side of this D E
equilateral triangle = length of DE = (5 + 2 + 5) cm =12 cm.
So AF = AD − AF = (12 − 5) cm = 7 cm. By a similar B C
argument, we deduce that BD = 7 cm, so the length of the
side of triangle ABC = (7 + 5 + 7) cm = 19 cm.
17. E The terms of the sequence are 6, 3, 14, 7, 34, 17, 84, 42, 21, 104, 52, 26, 13, 64,
32, 16, 8, 4, 2, 1, 4, 2, 1, … . As can be seen, there will now be no other terms in
the sequence other than 4, 2 and 1. It can also be seen that the only values of n
for which the n th term = n are 13 and 16.
18. C After traversing the first semicircle, Peri will be at the point (8, 0); after the second
semicircle Peri will be at (4, 0) and after the third semicircle, Peri will be at the
point (2, 0).
19. A The diagram shows the original diagram enclosed within a
square of side 2r, where r is the radius of the original circle.
The unshaded area of the square consists of four quadrants
(quarter circles) of radius r . So the shaded area is 4r 2 − πr 2
= r 2 (4 − π). Therefore the required fraction is
r 2 (4 − π) 4 − π 4
= = − 1.
πr 2 π π
20. D Let the sides of the rectangle, in cm, be 4x and 5x respectively.
Then the area of the square is 4x × 5x cm2 = 20x2 cm2. So 20x2 = 125, that is x2 = 254 .
Therefore x = ± 25 , but x cannot be negative so the sides of the rectangle are 10
cm and 12.5 cm. Hence the rectangle has perimeter 45 cm.
21. A In the diagram, T is the foot of the perpendicular P Q
from Q to SR produced. Angles PQR and QRT
are alternate angles between parallel lines so
S
∠QRT = 60°. Triangle QRT has interior angles R T
of 90°, 60°, 30° so it may be thought of as being half of an equilateral triangle of
3
side 1 unit, since the length of QR is 1 unit. So the lengths of RT and QT are 12 and 2
units respectively.
Applying Pythagoras' Theorem to QST , SQ2 = ST 2 + QT 2 = ( 25 ) + ( 23 ) =
2 2
25
4 + 34 = 7.
So the length of SQ is 7 units.
22. E The median number of cups of coffee is the median of a sequence of 190 positive
integers (t 1, t 2, … , t 190). Let the sum of these terms be S.
The median of the 190 numbers is 12 (t 95 + t 96). The alternatives imply that the
median cannot be greater than 3.5. The next lowest possible value for the median
would be 4. For this to be possible, t 95 + t 96 = 8.
If t 95 = t 96 = 4 then the minimum value for S would occur if all other values of t
were as small as possible, that is the first 94 values would all equal 1 and the last 94
values would all equal 4. In this case, S = 94 × 1 + 2 × 4 + 94 × 4 = 478, whereas we
are told that 477 cups of coffee were sold. Any other values of t 95 and t 96 such that
t 95 + t 96 = 8 would produce a larger minimum value of S. For example, if t 95 = 3
and t 96 = 5 then the minimum value of S would be 94 × 1 + 3 + 5 + 94 × 5, that is
572. So the median of the 190 terms cannot be 4, but it is possible for it to be 3.5. If
the first 94 terms all equal 1, t 95 = 3 and t 96 = 4 and the last 94 terms all equal 4
then S = 477 as required and the median is 12 (3 + 4) = 3.5.
So the maximum possible value of the median number of cups of coffee bought
per customer is 3.5.
23. C As in the solution for Q21, PTS may be thought of as half an equilateral
triangle, so T S has length 1 unit. Therefore SRT is isosceles and, as
∠TSR = 120°, ∠SRT = ∠STR = 30°. So ∠TRQ = 45° − 30° = 15°. Using the
exterior angle theorem in TQR, ∠TQR = ∠STR − ∠TRQ = 30° − 15° = 15°.
So TQR is isosceles with TQ = TR. However, PRT is also isosceles with
PT = TR since ∠PRT = ∠TPR = 30°. Therefore TQ = TP, from which we
deduce that PQT is an isosceles right-angled triangle in which
∠PQT = ∠QPT = 45°. So ∠QPR = ∠QPT + ∠TPS = 45° + 30° = 75°.
24. D The nature of the spiral means that 4 is in the top left-hand corner of a 2 × 2
square of cells, 9 is in the bottom right-hand corner of a 3 × 3 square of cells, 16
is in the top left-hand corner of a 4 × 4 square of cells and so on. To find the
position of 2012 in the grid, we note that 452 = 2025 so 2025 is in the bottom
right-hand corner of a 45 × 45 square of cells and note also that 472 = 2209. The
table below shows the part of the grid in which 2012 lies. The top row shows the
last 15 cells in the bottom row of a 45 × 45 square of cells, whilst below it are the
last 16 cells in the bottom row of a 47 × 47 square of cells.
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
2194 2195 2196 2197 2198 2199 2200 2201 2202 2203 2204 2205 2206 2207 2208 2209
So 2195 lies below 2012.
25. B The diagram shows part of the ceramic. A B

A and B are vertices of the outer octagon, which has O at its centre.
The solid lines are part of the original figure, whilst the broken lines
OA, OB, two broken lines which are parallel to AB and broken lines
parallel to OA and OB respectively have been added. As can be seen,
these lines divide OAB into nine congruent triangles. The shaded O
2
portion of triangle has area equal to that of two of the triangles. So 9 of the area of
OAB has been shaded. Now the area of the outer octagon is eight times the area
of OAB and the area of shaded portion of the design is eight times the area of the
shaded portion of OAB so the fraction of the octagon which is shaded is also 29 .
 MT
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UK INTERMEDIATE MATHEMATICAL CHALLENGE

THURSDAY 7TH FEBRUARY 2013

Organised by the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust

from the School of Mathematics, University of Leeds
http://www.ukmt.org.uk
SOLUTIONS LEAFLET
This solutions leaflet for the IMC is sent in the hope that it might provide all
concerned with some alternative solutions to the ones they have obtained.
It is not intended to be definitive. The organisers would be very pleased to
receive alternatives created by candidates. More comprehensive solutions
are on the website.

The UKMT is a registered charity

1. D In order to be a multiple of 6, a number must be both even and a multiple of 3.

Of the numbers given, only B 999 998 and D 999 996 are even. Using the rule
for division by 3, we see that, of these two, only 999 996 is a multiple of 3.
2. B 180 000 eggs per hour is equivalent to 3000 eggs per minute, i.e. to 50 eggs per
second.
3. E The figure is itself a quadrilateral. It can be divided into four
A
small quadrilaterals labelled A, B, C, D. There are also four
D B
quadrilaterals formed in each case by joining together two of the
C
smaller quadrilaterals: A and B; B and C; C and D; D and A.

4. D The number of seeds in a special packet is 1.25 × 40 = 50. So the number of

seeds which germinate is 0.7 × 50 = 35.
5. E A wheatear travels the distance of almost 15 000 km in approximately 50 days.
This is on average roughly 300 km per day.
6. E In order, the values of the expressions given are: 1 − 0 = 1; 2 − 1 = 1; 9 − 8 = 1;
64 − 81 = −17; 625 − 1024 = −399.
7. A Only two colours are needed for the upper four faces of the octahedron. If, for
example, blue and red are used then these four faces may be painted alternately
red and blue. Consider now the lower four faces: every face adjacent to an upper
blue face may be painted red and every face adjacent to an upper red face may be
painted blue. So only two colours are required for the whole octahedron.
8. D Let the number of scores of 1 be n. Then the product of the scores is
1n × 2 × 3 × 5 = 30. Therefore 1 × n + 2 + 3 + 5 = 30, i.e. n = 20. So Jim threw
23 dice.
9. A Let the length of the shorter sides of the cards be 1 unit. Then, 2
by Pythagoras' Theorem, the length of the hypotenuse of each 1
card is 12 + 12 = 2.
So the lengths of the perimeters of the five figures in order are: 1
4 2; 4 + 2 2; 4 + 2 2; 6; 4 + 2 2. Also, as ( 23 ) = 94 = 2 14 > 2
2

we see that 23 > 2. Therefore, 4 2 < 6 < 4 + 2 2. So

figure A has the shortest perimeter.
10. C The sum of the interior angles of a pentagon is 540° so E
∠ABC = 540° ÷ 5 = 108°. Each interior angle of an
equilateral triangle is 60°, so ∠FBC = 60°. A F D
Therefore ∠ABF = 108° − 60° = 48°. As ABCDE is a regular
pentagon, BC = AB. However, BC = FB since triangle BFC
is equilateral. B C
So triangle ABF is isosceles with FB = AB.
Therefore ∠FAB = ∠AFB = (180° − 48°) ÷ 2 = 66°.
11. C We first look at 66 = 2 × 3 × 11. Its factors involve none, one, two or all
three of these primes. So the factors are 1, 2, 3, 11, 6, 22, 33, 66; and their sum is
144 = 122. Similarly, we can check that the sum of the factors of 3, 22, 40 and
70 is, respectively, 4 = 22, 36 = 62, 90 and 144 = 122. So 40 is the only
alternative for which the sum of the factors is not a square number.
12. D As the words ‘three’ and ‘five’ contain 5 and 4 letters respectively, their ‘sum’ will
be a 9-letter word. Of the alternatives given, only ‘seventeen’ contains 9 letters.
13. B The diagram shows the top-right-hand portion of the square. P W X Q
The shaded trapezium is labelled QXYZ and W is the point at Y
which ZY produced meets PQ. Z
As QXYZ is an isosceles trapezium, ∠QZY = ∠ZQX = 45°.
Also, as YX is parallel to ZQ, ∠XYW = ∠WXY = 45°. So WYX and WZQ are
both isosceles right-angled triangles. As ∠ZWQ = 90° and Z is at the centre of
square PQRS, we deduce that W is the midpoint of PQ. Hence WX = XQ = 14 PQ.
So the ratio of the side-lengths of similar triangles WYX and WZQ is 1 : 2 and
hence the ratio of their areas is 1 : 4.
Therefore the area of trapezium QXYZ = 34 × area of triangle ZWQ = 323 ×
area PQRS since triangle ZWQ is one-eighth of PQRS. So the fraction of the
square which is shaded is 4 × 323 = 38 .
14. D As all the fractions are raised to the power 3, the expression which has the
largest value is that with the largest fraction in the brackets.
Each of these fractions is a little larger than 1 12 . Subtracting 1 12 from each in turn,
1 1 1 3 3
we get the fractions 14 , 6 , 4 , 10 , 0, the largest of which is 10 (because
). Hence ( 95 ) is the largest.
2 1 3
0 < 141
< 16 < 14 = 102 < 10 3

15. B From the information given, we may deduce that the number of coins is a
multiple of each of 3, 5, 7. Since these are distinct primes, their lowest common
multiple is 3 × 5 × 7 = 105. So the number of coins in the bag is a multiple of
105. So there are 105 coins in the bag since 105 is the only positive multiple of
105 less than or equal to 200.
16. A The image of a straight line under a rotation is also a straight line. The centre of
rotation, the point (1, 1), lies on the given line and so also lies on the image. The
given line has slope 1 and so its image will have slope −1. Hence graph A shows
the image.
17. D The radius of each disc in the figure is equal to half the side-length
of the square, i.e. π1 . Because the corners of a square are right-
angled, the square hides exactly one quarter of each disc.
So three-quarters of the perimeter of each disc lies on the
perimeter of the figure. Therefore the length of the perimeter is
4 × 34 × 2π × π1 = 6.
18. C The diagrams show isosceles triangles T and U . T U
The perpendicular from the top vertex to the base 5 5 5 5
divides an isosceles triangle into two congruent h1 h2
right-angled triangles as shown in both T and U .
3 3 4 4
Evidently, by Pythagoras’ Theorem, h1 = 4 and
h2 = 3. So both triangles T and U consist of two ‘3, 4, 5’ triangles and
therefore have equal areas.
19. E (x ÷ (y ÷ z)) ÷ ((x ÷ y) ÷ z) = (x ÷ y
z ) ÷ (( xy ) ÷ z) = (x × z
y ) ÷ ( xy × 1
z )
= xz
y ÷ yzx = xzy × yzx = z2.
20. B Let the base AB of the triangle be the side of
length 8 cm and let AC be the side of length 6 C1 C2
cm. So C must lie on the circle with centre A
and radius 6 cm as shown. The area of the 6 cm 7
4 cm 8 cm
2 A B
triangle is to be 7 cm , so the perpendicular 7
4 cm
from C to AB (or to BA produced) must be of
C3 C4
length 74 cm.
The diagram shows the four possible positions
of C. However, since∠BAC1 = ∠BAC3
and ∠BAC2 = ∠BAC4, these correspond to exactly two possibilities for the
length of the third side AC. The diagrams below show the two possibilities.
C C

A B A B
 x
21. B The large square has area 196 = 142. So it has side- A B
length 14. The ratio of the areas of the inner squares is x
4 : 1, so the ratio of their side-lengths is 2 : 1. Let the
side-length of the larger inner square be 2x, so that of
the smaller is x. The figure is symmetric about the 2x
diagonal AC and so the overlap of the two inner squares
is also a square which therefore has side-length 1. Thus D 2x C
the vertical height can be written as x + 2x − 1. Hence
3x − 1 = 14 and so x = 5. Also, the two shaded rectangles both have side-
lengths 2x − 1 and x − 1; that is 9 and 4. So the total shaded area is 72.
22. D Let the radius of each semicircle be r. In the left-hand diagram, let the side-length
of the square be 2x. By Pythagoras' Theorem,
r r
x2 + (2x)2 = r 2 and so 5x2 = r 2. So this shaded 2x y r r y
area is 4x = 5 . In the right-hand diagram, let
2 4r2
x x y y
the side-length of each square be y. Then by
Pythagoras' Theorem, y2 + y2 = r 2 and so this shaded area is r 2.
Therefore the ratio of the two shaded areas is 45 : 1 = 4 : 5.
23. A If Alfred is telling the truth, the other three are lying (as their statements would
then be false) and we know this is not the case. Hence Alfred is lying. Similarly,
if Horatio is telling the truth, the other three are lying which again cannot be the
case. So Horatio is lying. Hence the two who are telling the truth are Bernard and
Inigo. (A case where this situation would be realised would be if the brothers in
descending order of age were Alfred , Bernard, Horatio and Inigo.)
24. B The length of the side of the triangle is equal to four times
the radius of the arcs. So the arcs have radius 2 ÷ 4 = 12 .
In the first diagram, three semicircles have been shaded
dark grey. The second diagram shows how these
semicircles may be placed inside the triangle so that the
whole triangle is shaded. Therefore the difference between
the area of the shaded shape and the area of the triangle is
the sum of the areas of three sectors of a circle. The
interior angle of an equilateral triangle is 60°, so the angle
at the centre of each sector is 180° − 60° = 120°.
Therefore each sector is equal in area to one-third of the
area of a circle. Their combined area is equal to the area of
a circle of radius 12 . So the required area is π × ( 12 ) = π4 .
2

(10640 − 1)
25. D
(10640
− 1) is a 640-digit number consisting entirely of nines. So is a
9
640-digit number consisting entirely of ones.
10641 × (10640 − 1)
Therefore consists of 640 ones followed by 641 zeros. So
9
10641 × (10640 − 1)
+ 1 consists of 640 ones followed by 640 zeros followed by a
9
single one. Therefore it has 1281 digits.
 MT
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UK INTERMEDIATE MATHEMATICAL CHALLENGE

THURSDAY 6TH FEBRUARY 2014

Organised by the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust

from the School of Mathematics, University of Leeds
http://www.ukmt.org.uk
SOLUTIONS LEAFLET
This solutions leaflet for the IMC is sent in the hope that it might provide all
concerned with some alternative solutions to the ones they have obtained.
It is not intended to be definitive. The organisers would be very pleased to
receive alternatives created by candidates. More comprehensive solutions
are on the website at: http://www.ukmt.org.uk/

The UKMT is a registered charity

1. A 25% of 3
4 = 1
4 × 3
4 = 3
16 .
2. D The first four options are the smallest positive integers which are both odd and
not prime. However, the next largest odd numbers after 9, 15, 21 are 11, 17, 23
respectively and these are all prime. The next largest odd number after 25 is 27,
which is not prime. So 25 is the smallest positive integer which satisfies all three
conditions.
A
3. E Clearly AD lies along one of the lines of symmetry of the
figure. So ∠FDA = ∠EDA = x°. Triangle DEF is
equilateral so ∠EDF = 60°. D x°
The angles which meet at a point sum to 360°, so F E
x + x + 60 = 360.
Therefore x = 150. C B

4. C Since m is even, m = 2k for some integer k . So 3m + 4n = 2 (3k + 2n);

5mn = 2 (5kn); m3n3 = 8k 3n3 and 5m + 6n = 2 (5k + 3n), which are all even.
As n is odd, 3n is also odd. So m + 3n is an even integer plus an odd integer and
is therefore odd. The square of an odd integer is odd so (m + 3n)2 is odd.
5. E In one complete cycle of 4 hours, the clock is struck 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8
= 36 times. So in 24 hours the clock is struck 6 × 36 = 216 times.
6. E The large shape consists of 21 small squares, so the
required shape is made up of 7 small squares. So A and
C may be eliminated. The diagram on the right shows
that shape E is as required. It is left to the reader to
check that neither B nor D was the shape used.

7. B Since 6 and 15 are factors of the integer, its prime factors will include 2, 3 and 5.
So 10 and 30 will also be factors of the required integer. Seven of its factors are
now known and as 1 must also be a factor, the required integer is 30, the factors
of which are 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 10, 15, 30.
(Positive integers with exactly 8 factors are of the form pqr or pq3 or p7 where
p, q, r are distinct primes.)
8. C The missing die, if correctly placed in the figure, would show faces 1, 3, 5 placed
in a clockwise direction around the nearest corner. An examination of each of
the five proposed dice shows that only C has this property.
9. A Gill's car uses p / 100 litres of petrol for every one kilometre travelled. So for a
journey of length d km, pd / 100 litres of petrol are required.
10. B A, B, C, D, E are the centres of the five A B
semicircles. Note that AC joins the centres
of two touching semicircles and therefore
passes through the point of contact of the
semicircles. So AC has length 2 + 2 = 4. C D E
This also applies to all of the other sides of
triangles ACD and BED. Hence both triangles are equilateral. So each of the
nine arcs which make up the perimeter of the shaded shape subtends an angle of
60° at the centre of a semicircle.
So the length of the perimeter of the shaded figure is 9 × 16 × 2 × π × 2 = 6π.
11. C Precisely one of Jenny and Willie is telling the truth since the number of people
is either even or odd. Similarly, precisely one of Sam and Mrs Scrubitt is telling
the truth since the number of people is either a prime number or a number which
is the product of two integers greater than one. So although it is not possible to
deduce who is telling the truth, it is possible to deduce that exactly two of them
are doing so.
12. D Let the width of each strip be 1 unit. Then the triangle has base 8 and
perpendicular height 8. So its area is equal to 12 × 8 × 8 = 32. Looking from
the right, the area of the first shaded strip is 1 unit of area less than the first
unshaded strip. This difference of 1 unit also applies to the other three pairs of
strips in the triangle, which means that the shaded area is 4 less than the
unshaded area. So the total shaded area is 12 (32 − 4) = 14. Therefore the
32 = 16 .
7
required fraction is 14
13. B The smallest such number is 1 + 2 = 3, whilst the largest is 99 + 100 = 199.
Every number between 3 and 199 may be written as 1 + n with
n = 2, 3, … , 99 or as 100 + n with n = 1, … , 99. So in total there are
(199 − 3) + 1 = 197 such numbers.
14. B Chris Froome's average speed ≈ 3400
84 km/h ≈ 3400
85 km/h = 200
5 km/h = 40 km/h.
15. E Let Zac's number be x. Then 12 x + 8 = 2x − 8. So x + 16 = 4x − 16.
Therefore 32 = 3x, that is x = 10 23 .
16. C If the areas of the original and new triangles are the same then the product of the
base and the perpendicular height must be the same for the two triangles. When
the base of the original triangle is increased by 25%, its value is multiplied by 54 .
So if the area is to remain unchanged then the perpendicular height must be
multiplied by 45 , which means that its new value is 80% of its previous value. So
it is decreased by 20%.
17. D The number of minutes in one week is 7 × 24 × 60, which may be written as
7 × (6 × 4) × (5 × 3 × 2 × 2) = (7 × 6 × 5 × 4 × 3 × 2) × 2. So the
number of weeks in 8 × 7 × 6 × 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 minutes is 8 ÷ 2 = 4.
18. B The point (m, n) is hidden if and only if m and n share a common factor greater
than 1. So (6, 2) is hidden by (3, 1) since 6 and 2 have common factor 2. Also (6,
3) is hidden by (2, 1) whilst (6, 4) is hidden by (3,2). However, 6 and 5 have no
common factor other than 1 and therefore (6, 5) is not a hidden point.
Note that 8m = (23) = 23m = (2m) and 27 = 33; so 2m = 3. Therefore
m 3
19. C
4m = 2m × 2m = 9.
20. D Each exterior angle of a regular pentagon is 15 × 360° = 72°. So each of the
five circular arcs has radius 2 and so subtends an angle of (180 + 72) ° at a
vertex of the pentagon. Therefore the area of each of the five shaded major
360 × π × 2 = 10 × π × 4 = 5 . So the total shaded area is 14π.
2
sectors is 252 7 14π

21. D Firstly suppose that any two knights X and Y win x and y bouts respectively and
that x is at least as large as y. The difference between their total scores would be
the same as if X had won x − y bouts and Y had won none, since each of the
separate totals would have been reduced by the same amount, namely 20y. A
similar procedure applies to losses. For example, if X won 3 and lost 6, while Y
won 8 and lost 2, the difference between their total scores is the same as if X
won 0 and lost 4, while Y won 5 and lost 0. In each case the difference is 32.
This argument shows that, in the case of the Black Knight, B, and the Red
Knight, R, the smallest number of bouts will be achieved when one of B, R wins
all his bouts and the other loses all his bouts. Also B has to score one more point
than R. The possible scores for the knight who wins all his bouts are 20, 40, 60,
80, 100, 120, … . while the possible scores for the knight who loses all his bouts
are 17, 34, 51, 68, 85, 102, 119, 136, … .
The first two numbers to differ by 1 are 119 and 120. Thus the Black Knight has
a total of 120 corresponding to winning all of his 6 bouts and the Red Knight has
a total of 119 corresponding to losing all of his 7 bouts.
22. B Let a = a1a2 where a2 is the largest square dividing a. Note that a1 is then a
product of distinct primes. Similarly write b = b1b2 and c = c1c2. Since ab is a
square, a1b1 must be a square; so a1 = b1 = k say. Similarly c1 = k. The
smallest possible value of k is 2 (since a is not a square); and the smallest
possible values for a2, b2, c2 are 1, 4 and 9 in some order. This makes
a + b + c = 2 + 8 + 18 = 28.
23. A Let the radius of the circle be r and let the angle of the sector be
α°. α° r
α
Then the perimeter of the sector is 2r + 360 × 2πr .
This equals 2πr , the circumference of the original circle.
α
So 2r + 360 × 2πr = 2πr .
Therefore the fraction of the area of the disc removed is
α 2πr − 2r
360 = 2πr = π π− 1 .
24. A There are 9000 four-digit integers. To calculate the number of these which have
four different digits, we note that we have a choice of 9 for the thousands digit.
We now have a choice of 9 for the hundreds digit (since we can choose 0 as a
possible digit). After these two digits have been chosen, we have a choice of 8
for the tens digit and then 7 for the units digit. So the number of four-digit
numbers in which all digits are different is 9 × 9 × 8 × 7.
Therefore the number of four-digit numbers which have at least one digit
repeated is 9000 − 9 × 9 × 8 × 7 = 9(1000 − 9 × 8 × 7) =
9 × 8 × (125 − 9 × 7) = 72 × (125 í 63) = 72 × 62.
25. E Let each side of the octagon have length x. The octagon may A
be divided into eight triangles by joining the centre of the x
circle to the vertices of the octagon. One such triangle is 2
shown. Each of these triangles has one side of length 1 (the D y B
y 1
radius of the smaller circle), one side of length 2 (the radius of
the larger circle) and one side of length x. So all eight O
triangles are congruent. Therefore ∠AOB = 360° ÷ 8 = 45°.
Let D be the foot of the perpendicular from B to AO. Then triangle BDO is an
isosceles right-angled triangle.
Let OD = DB = y. Applying Pythagoras' Theorem to triangle BDO:
y2 + y2 = 1. So y = 12 .
Applying Pythagoras' Theorem to triangle ADB:
x2 = (2 − y)2 + y2 = (2 − 12 ) + ( 12 ) = 4 − 2 × 2 × 12 + 12 + 12 = 5 − 42 = 5 − 2 2.
2 2

So the length of the perimeter is 8x = 8 5 − 2 2.

(Note that the length of AB may also be found by applying the Cosine Rule to
triangle OAB.)
 MT
UK

K
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UKMT

UK INTERMEDIATE MATHEMATICAL CHALLENGE

THURSDAY 5TH FEBRUARY 2015

Organised by the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust

from the School of Mathematics, University of Leeds

SOLUTIONS LEAFLET
This solutions leaflet for the IMC is sent in the hope that it might provide all
concerned with some alternative solutions to the ones they have obtained.
It is not intended to be definitive. The organisers would be very pleased to
receive alternatives created by candidates.
For reasons of space, these solutions are necessarily brief. Extended
solutions, and some exercises for further investigation, can be found at:

http://www.ukmt.org.uk/

The UKMT is a registered charity

1. A 1 í 0.2 + 0.03 − 0.004 = 0.8 + 0.026 = 0.826.

1600 400
2. E The number of steps climbed per minute ∼ = ∼ 130.
12 3

3. E Half of a third, plus a third of a quarter, plus a quarter of a fifth equals

1 1 1 10 + 5 + 3 18 3
+ + = = = .
6 12 20 60 60 10
4. C The sum of the exterior angles of a convex polygon
equals 360°. The angle marked p° is the exterior angle of x°
a regular pentagon. So p = 360 ÷ 5 = 72. The angle
sum of a triangle equals 180°, so q = 180 í 90 í 72 = 18. r° q°
The angle marked r° is the interior angle of a regular
pentagon, so r = 180 − 72 = 108. The angles marked
q°, r° and x° lie along a straight line, so x = 180 − (q + r) p°
= 180 − (18 + 108) = 54.
16 = (13) , 34 = (32) , 43 = 64 = 82 and 52 are all squares. However, 25 = 32
2 2
5. B
and is not a square.
6. D Let the length of the side of the regular hexagon be a. a a
Then its perimeter is 6a. Therefore the perimeter of the a
equilateral triangle is also 6a, so the length of each of its
sides is 2a. The diagrams show that the equilateral triangle may be divided up
into 4 equilateral triangles of side a, whereas the regular hexagon may be divided
into 6 such triangles. So the required ratio is 4 : 6 = 2 : 3.
7. E The tetrahedron has 6 edges and 4 vertices, so the required product is 6 × 4 = 24.
8. B The two-digit squares are 16, 25, 36, 49, 64 and 81. Of these, only 49 and 81
differ by 1 from a multiple of 10.
9. B The sum of the exterior angles of a convex polygon equals 360°. Therefore
p + r + t + v + x = 360°. Similarly, q + s + u + w + y = 360°.
Therefore p + q + r + s + t + u + v + w + x + y = 720°.
10. C 22 × 33 × 55 × 77 is of the form 22 × an odd number. It therefore has the form
4(2n + 1) = 8n + 4 where n is a positive integer and so leaves a remainder of 4
when divided by 8.
11. D As the 3 numbers have mean 7, their sum equals 3 × 7 = 21. For one of the
numbers to be as large as possible the other two numbers must be as small as
possible. They must also be different and so must be 1 and 2. Hence the largest
possible of the three numbers equals 21 í (1 + 2) = 18.
12. D If the ant moves alternately from white square to black
square and from black to white, then it will end on a white
square after 4 moves. So it must find a way to move from
white to white or from black to black. However, there is
only one pair of adjacent black squares and only one of
white. To reach that pair of black squares, the ant must
move to one side then climb up to one of the pair. That
uses up 3 moves, and the fourth must take it to the other black square of that pair.
Thus the two black squares in that pair are possible end points.
If, instead, the ant uses the white pair, it must first move to one side, then climb
up to one of the white pair then across to the other square of that pair. That uses
3 moves. The fourth move can then take it to any of the three adjoining black
squares. This gives 6 end squares, but these include the two already identified.
So there are just 6 possible end squares which are black.
13. A Three vertical lines have been 3 cm
added to the diagram. These
divide the original diagram into 14 cm
4 rectangles. In each of these, a diagonal divides the rectangle into two triangles of
equal area, one shaded and one unshaded. So the total shaded area in the original
rectangle is equal to the total unshaded area and is therefore equal to half the area of
the original rectangle. So the total shaded area is 12 × 3 × 14 cm2 = 21 cm2.
14. C Suppose the first three terms of the sequence are a, b, c. Then c = 12 (a + b) and so
a + b = 2c. The mean of the first three terms is then 13 (a + b + c) = 13 (2c + c) = c,
so the fourth term is c. Similarly, the following terms are all equal to c. Since one
of these terms is 26 and a = 8 then b = 2c − a = 52 − 8 = 44.
15. C The stripes are of equal width, so the 72 cm
width of each stripe is (72 ÷ 6) cm = h cm
24 cm
12 cm. The diagram shows that the
difference between the areas of any two
adjacent stripes is equal to the area of a rectangle of width 12 cm and height
12 × 24
h cm. By similar triangles, 12 h
= 24
72 . So h = 72 = 4. So the required area
is 12 × 4 cm = 48 cm .
2 2

16. D All four values cannot be prime. If this were so, both m × n and m ÷ n would
be prime which can happen only if m is prime and n = 1. If m is an odd prime
then m + 1 is even and at least 4, hence not prime, while if m = 2 then m − 1
is not prime but m + 1 = 3 is. Thus three prime values are the most we can have.
17. D The 12 pentagonal panels have a total of 12 × 5 = 60 edges. The 20 hexagonal
panels have a total of 20 × 6 = 120 edges. So in total the panels have 180
edges. When the panels are sewn together, two edges form each join. So the
number of joins is 180 ÷ 2 = 90.
18. A Let the weights in kg of the box, 1 plate and 1 cup be b, p and c respectively.
Then: b + 20p + 30c = 4.8 (i); b + 40p + 50c = 8.4 (ii).
Subtracting (i) from (ii): 20p + 20c = 3.6 (iii). So 10p + 10c = 1.8 (iv).
Subtracting (iv) from (i): b + 10p + 20c = 3. So the required weight is 3 kg.
19. A The small numbers in the figure show the lengths in 4

cm of each line segment. The larger numbers inside

4 14 9
3
the figure show the areas in cm2 of each square or 16
trapezium. (The area of a trapezium is 12 (a + b) h 3
4
where a and b are the lengths of the parallel sides and 15 6
h is the perpendicular distance between them.) 6 15
So the area of the shaded portion in cm2 is 2
11 × 11 − (1 + 12 + 4 + 15 + 9 + 14 + 16 + 15) = 35. 1
1 1 12 2 4
(See the extended solutions for a beautifully elegant 8
solution of this problem.)
20. C There are 3 different possibilities for the first character. The second character may
be any digit from 0 to 9 inclusive, so it has 10 different possibilities. The third
character differs from the second digit, so has 9 different possibilities. Once the
second and third characters are determined, the fourth character is also determined
since it is the units digit of the sum of the second and third characters.
So, the number of different codes is 3 × 10 × 9 = 270.
21. D Let the area of each rectangle be Y . Then the total shaded area is
2 (Y − X) + X = 2Y − X. Therefore X = 18 (2Y − X). So 8X = 2Y − X,
that is 9X = 2Y . Therefore XY = 29 .
B y CzD y
22. B Let the length of the sides of each small square be x. Then E

the shaded area is 24x2. Let the perimeter of the square be y 5x

divided into eight line segments, each of length y, and four A

line segments of length z. Some of these are labelled in the
diagram. By Pythagoras' Theorem in triangle ABC:
y2 + y2 = (5x)2, that is 2y2 = 25x2.
So y = 52 x = 5 2 2 x. Similarly, in the triangle with hypotenuse CD:
x2 + x2 = z2, that is 2x2 = z2. So z = 2x. Therefore the length of the side of
the large square is 2y + z = 5 2x + 2x = 6 2x. So the area of the large
square is (6 2x) = 72x2. Hence the required fraction is 24x
2
72x = 3 .
2 1
2

23. B The permutations which follow UKIMC in dictionary order are UKMCI,
UKMIC, UMCIK, UMCKI, UMICK, UMIKC, UMKCI, UMKIC. There are
eight of these, so UKIMC is 112th in the list.
24. E In the diagram V is the point where the perpendicular from U T
1
P meets TS. Let the side of the square RSTU be x. So the 8 x−8 V
P
radius of the arc from R to T is x. Therefore SP has length
x−1
x, PV has length x − 8 and VS has length x − 1. Applying x
Pythagoras' Theorem to triangle PVS:
(x − 8)2 + (x − 1)2 = x2. So x2 − 16x + 64 + x2 − 2x + 1 = x2.
Therefore x2 − 18x + 65 = 0, so (x − 5) (x − 13) = 0. R S
Hence x = 5 or x = 13, but x > 8 so the length of the side of the square RSTU is 13.
25. D Points A, B, C, D, E, F on the perimeter of C
the triangle are as shown. Let AD have
length x so that DB has length 3x. Let the F
perpendicular from C to AB have length 4h.
So, by similar triangles, the perpendicular
from E to DB has length h. The area of 4h E
triangle ABC is 2 × 4x × 4h = 8xh. The
1
h
area of triangle DBE is 2 × 3x × h = 2 xh.
1 3
A x D 3x B
So the area of triangle DBE is 163 of the area
of triangle ABC.
Similarly, by drawing perpendiculars to CB from A and from F, it may be shown
that the area of triangle FEC is 163 of the area of triangle ABC .
So the fraction of the area of the triangle that is shaded is 1 − 163 − 163 = 85 .
 MT
UK

K
MT

U
UKMT

UK INTERMEDIATE MATHEMATICAL CHALLENGE

THURSDAY 4TH FEBRUARY 2016

Organised by the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust

from the School of Mathematics, University of Leeds

SOLUTIONS LEAFLET
This solutions leaflet for the IMC is sent in the hope that it might provide all
concerned with some alternative solutions to the ones they have obtained.
It is not intended to be definitive. The organisers would be very pleased to
receive alternatives created by candidates.
For reasons of space, these solutions are necessarily brief. Extended
solutions, and some exercises for further investigation, can be found at:

http://www.ukmt.org.uk/

The UKMT is a registered charity

1. B 6116 − 2016 = 4100, so 6102 í 2016 = 4100 − 14 = 4086.

1 1 1 1 1
2. D The difference between the given options and 1 is , , , and
8 7 10 11 10
1 10
respectively. As is the smallest of these fractions, is closest to 1.
11 11
3. B The values of the five expressions are 5, 13, 25, 41 and 61 respectively. Of these,
only 25 is non-prime.
4. E Amrita bakes every 5 days and Thursdays come every 7 days. So the next time
Amrita bakes on a Thursday will be in 35 days time since 35 is the lowest
common multiple of 5 and 7.
5. A By train, the distance in miles of the second sign from Edinburgh is 200 − 312 .
This sign is halfway between London and Edinburgh, so the distance in miles
between the two cities is 2 (200 í 3 12 ) = 400 − 7 = 393.
6. C Let g and s be the number of goats and sheep respectively. Then s = 2g and
12 = s − g = 2g − g = g. Hence the number of animals is s + g = 3g = 36.
7. C The angles at a point sum to 360° so
75 + z = 360 and y + x = 360. 27°

Therefore 75 + z + y + x = 720. 75° y° 24°

The sum of the interior angles of a z° x°
hexagon is 4 × 180° = 720°. 26° 23°
Therefore
27 + 24 + y + 23 + 26 + z = 720, so 75 + z + y + x = 27 + 24 + y + 23 + 26 + z.
Hence 75 + x = 27 + 24 + 23 + 26 = 100. So x = 100 − 75 = 25.
8. E 2.017 × 2016 − 10.16 × 201.7 = 201.7 × 20.16 í 10.16 × 201.7
= 201.7 (20.16 − 10.16) = 201.7 × 10 = 2017.
9. C Bertie travelled 5.5 m in 19.6 s, which is just less than one-third of a minute. So
his average speed was approximately 16.5 m per minute, which is equal to 990 m
in one hour, as 16.5 × 60 = 990. Now 990 m = 0.99 km, so Bertie's approximate
average speed was 1 km per hour.
10. E The sum of the interior angles of a quadrilateral is D C
150° 60°
360°, so x + 5x + 2x + 4x = 360, that is
12x = 360. Therefore x = 30 and the angles of A 30° 120° B
the quadrilateral, taken in order, are 30°, 150°,
60° and 120°. The diagram shows the shape of the quadrilateral.
Since 30 + 150 = 180, we see that AB and DC are parallel. Since it has no
equal angles, it is not a rhombus or a parallelogram so it is a trapezium.
11. D When the net is folded up to form the
rhombicuboctahedron, the left-hand
edge of the square marked X is joined
to the right-hand edge of the square
marked E so that the eight squares at
the centre of the net form a band
around the solid. In this band, the square opposite square P is the square which is
four squares away from P, that is square D. So if the square marked P is placed
face down on a table, then the square marked D will be facing up.
12. D Assume that a > b. Then a + b = 7 and a − b = 2. Adding these two
equations together gives 2a = 9. So a = 92 and hence b = 7 − 92 = 142− 9 = 25 .
Therefore a × b = 92 × 25 = 454 = 11 4 .
1
13. B In the seven lines each of the integers from 1 to 7 is used twice and each of the
integers from 8 to 14 is used once. So the sum of the numbers in the seven lines
is (1 + 2 + … +14) + (1 + 2 + … +7) = 105 + 28 = 133. Therefore the
total of the numbers in each line is 133 ÷ 7 = 19.
It is left as an exercise for the reader to show that it is possible to complete the
diagram so that the total of the three numbers in each line is indeed 19.
14. D Let there be g girls and b boys in Tegwen's family. Then, as she has the same
number of brothers as she does sisters, b = g − 1. Also, each of her brothers has
50% more sisters than brothers. Therefore g = 23 (b − 1). So b + 1 = 23 (b − 1)
and hence 2b + 2 = 3b − 3. Rearranging this equation gives b = 5. So
g = 5 + 1 = 6. Therefore there are 5 + 6 = 11 children in Tegwen's family.
15. A Let the length of the side of the square be 2x cm. Then, (all distances
in cm)
using Pythagoras' Theorem in the triangle shown, 1
2x
(2x)2 + x2 = 12. So 4x2 + x2 = 1. Therefore x2 = 15
and the area of the square is 4x2 cm2 = 45 cm2. x

16. B The prime factorisation of 24 = 23 × 3. Therefore all multiples of 24 must

include both 23 and 3 in their prime factorisation. Of the options given, only the
last includes 23. As it is also a multiple of 3, it is a multiple of 24.
17. B Let the radius of the dashed circle be r cm. Then one of the equal areas is
bounded by circles of radii of 14 cm and r cm, whilst the other is bounded by
circles of radii of r cm and 2 cm. So π × 142 − πr 2 = πr 2 − π × 22.
Dividing throughout by π gives 196 − r 2 = r 2 − 4. So 2r 2 = 200, that is
r 2 = 100. Therefore r = 10 (since r > 0).
18. C Let the length of each of the shorter sides of the triangle be x cm and the length
of its hypotenuse be y cm. Then, by Pythagoras' Theorem: x2 + x2 = y2. So
y2 = 2x2. Also, x2 + x2 + y2 = 72, so 4x2 = 72, that is x2 = 18. Now the
area of the triangle, in cm2, is 12 × x × x = 12 x2 = 9.
19. B From the information given, there are at least two 9s in the list, since 9 is the
mode, and at least one number greater than 10, since 10 is the mean. So there are
at least three numbers greater than 8 in the list. Therefore the list must contain at
least six numbers, as the median of the numbers is 8. Moreover, it is possible to
find suitable lists of six numbers with sum 60 (as the mean is 10), for example 1,
2, 7, 9, 9, 32.
20. D In the diagram, O is the centre of the lower semicircle, A
and C are the points of intersection of the two semicircles
and B is the point at the centre of the rectangle and also of B C
A
the overlap. Now OA is a radius of the semicircle so OA has
length 5 cm. Also OB is half the height of the rectangle so O
has length 4 cm. Angle ABO is a right angle. So triangle
ABO is a (3, 4, 5) triangle and hence AC = 2 × 3 cm = 6 cm.
 a
21. A Let a be the side length of the octagon and b be as shown on the
diagram. The square in the centre is a by a, each rectangle is a b
by b and the triangles are each half of a b by b square. Applying
Pythagoras' Theorem to a triangle shows that a2 = 2b2. So the
shaded area is b2 + ab = b2 + 2b2 = b2 (1 + 2).
Similarly the total area of the figure is a2 + 4ab + 2b2 = 4b2 + 4 2b2
= b2 (4 + 4 2). Therefore the ratio required is (1 + 2) : (4 + 4 2) = 1 : 4.
22. E For brevity, let T denote a truth teller and L a liar. Clearly each T has to have an
L on each side. Each L either (i) has a T on each side or (ii) has an L on one side
and a T on the other side. The largest number of Ts will occur if (i) is always the
case. This gives the arrangement TLTLTL… which, since 2 divides 2016, joins
up correctly after going round the table. In this case the number of Ts is
2 × 2016. The smallest will occur if case (ii) always is the case. This gives the
1

arrangement LLTLLTLLT… which, since 3 divides 2016, also joins up

correctly. In this case the number of Ts is 13 × 2016. The difference is
6 × 2016 = 336.
1

23. B The diagram shows part of the figure, to which have been C
added A and C, centres of two of the quarter-circle arcs, B R R
and D, points of intersection of two arcs, and E, the centre B 2
D
of the small circle. In cm, the radii of each arc and the R
r
small circle are R and r respectively. Firstly, note that A
R E
∠BCD is a right angle as arc BD is a quarter of a circle.
Therefore, by Pythagoras' Theorem R2 + R2 = 22 so (all distances in cm)
R = 2. Consider triangle ACE: from the symmetry of
the figure we deduce that ∠AEC = 14 × 360° = 90°. So, by Pythagoras' Theorem
(R + r)2 + (R + r)2= (2R)2 = 4R2. Therefore (R + r)2 = 2R2 = 2 × 2 = 4.
Hence R + r = 2, so r = 2 − R = 2 − 2.
24. C Let the distance from the bottom of the escalator to the top be d . Then, when she
stands still, Aimee travels d / 60 every second. When she is walking, Aimee
travels d / 90 every second. So when Aimee walks up the working escalator, the
d d 3d + 2d 5d d
distance which she travels every second is + = = = . So
60 90 180 180 36
the required number of seconds is 36.
25. D The tiled area may be considered to be a tessellation of the figure
shown, except for the dotted lines. For every hexagonal tile, there
are two triangular tiles. The diagram shows that the area of each
hexagonal tile is 24 times the area of each triangular tile. As there
are two triangular tiles to each hexagonal tile, the ratio of the fraction of the floor
shaded black to that which is shaded grey is 2 : 24 = 1: 12. Therefore, in the
repeating pattern of tiles, the fraction which is shaded black is 1/13.
The exact ratios given are for the infinite plane. Since we are dealing with a
finite floor, this is approximate since the edges are unpredictable, but close to
correct since the numbers involved are large.