1976 AHSME Problems

1976 AHSME (Answer Key) Printable versions: Wiki • AoPS Resources • PDF
Instructions This is a 30-question, multiple choice test. Each question is followed by answers marked A, B, C, D and E. Only one of these is correct. You will receive 5 points for each correct answer, 2 points for each problem left unanswered, and 0 points for each incorrect answer. No aids are permitted other than scratch paper, graph paper, ruler, compass, protractor and erasers. Figures are not necessarily drawn to scale. You will have 90 minutes working time to complete the test.
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Problem 1

If one minus the reciprocal of $(1-x)$ equals the reciprocal of $(1-x)$ , then $x$ equals

$\textbf{(A) }-2\qquad \textbf{(B) }-1\qquad \textbf{(C) }1/2\qquad \textbf{(D) }2\qquad \textbf{(E) }3$

Solution

Problem 2

For how many real numbers $x$ is $\sqrt{-(x+1)^2}$ a real number?

$\textbf{(A) }\text{none}\qquad \textbf{(B) }\text{one}\qquad \textbf{(C) }\text{two}\qquad\\ \textbf{(D) }\text{a finite number greater than two}\qquad \textbf{(E) }\infty$

Solution

Problem 3

The sum of the distances from one vertex of a square with sides of length $2$ to the midpoints of each of the sides of the square is

$\textbf{(A) }2\sqrt{5}\qquad \textbf{(B) }2+\sqrt{3}\qquad \textbf{(C) }2+2\sqrt{3}\qquad \textbf{(D) }2+\sqrt{5}\qquad \textbf{(E) }2+2\sqrt{5}$

Solution

Problem 4

Let a geometric progression with n terms have first term one, common ratio $r$ and sum $s$ , where $r$ and $s$ are not zero. The sum of the geometric progression formed by replacing each term of the original progression by its reciprocal is

$\textbf{(A) }\frac{1}{s}\qquad \textbf{(B) }\frac{1}{r^ns}\qquad \textbf{(C) }\frac{s}{r^{n-1}}\qquad \textbf{(D) }\frac{r^n}{s}\qquad \textbf{(E) } \frac{r^{n-1}}{s}$

Solution

Problem 5

How many integers greater than $10$ and less than $100$ , written in base- $10$ notation, are increased by $9$ when their digits are reversed?

$\textbf{(A)}\ 0 \qquad \textbf{(B)}\ 1 \qquad \textbf{(C)}\ 8 \qquad \textbf{(D)}\ 9 \qquad \textbf{(E)}\ 10$

Solution

Problem 6

If $c$ is a real number and the negative of one of the solutions of $x^2-3x+c=0$ is a solution of $x^2+3x-c=0$ , then the solutions of $x^2-3x+c=0$ are

$\textbf{(A) }1,~2\qquad \textbf{(B) }-1,~-2\qquad \textbf{(C) }0,~3\qquad \textbf{(D) }0,~-3\qquad \textbf{(E) }\frac{3}{2},~\frac{3}{2}$

Solution

Problem 7

If $x$ is a real number, then the quantity $(1-|x|)(1+x)$ is positive if and only if

$\textbf{(A) }|x|<1\qquad \textbf{(B) }|x|>1\qquad \textbf{(C) }x<-1\text{ or }-1<x<1\qquad\\ \textbf{(D) }x<1\qquad \textbf{(E) }x<-1$

Solution

Problem 8

A point in the plane, both of whose rectangular coordinates are integers with absolute values less than or equal to four, is chosen at random, with all such points having an equal probability of being chosen. What is the probability that the distance from the point to the origin is at most two units?

$\textbf{(A) }\frac{13}{81}\qquad \textbf{(B) }\frac{15}{81}\qquad \textbf{(C) }\frac{13}{64}\qquad \textbf{(D) }\frac{\pi}{16}\qquad \textbf{(E) }\text{the square of a rational number}$

Solution

Problem 9

In triangle $ABC$ , $D$ is the midpoint of $AB$ ; $E$ is the midpoint of $DB$ ; and $F$ is the midpoint of $BC$ . If the area of $\triangle ABC$ is $96$ , then the area of $\triangle AEF$ is

$\textbf{(A) }16\qquad \textbf{(B) }24\qquad \textbf{(C) }32\qquad \textbf{(D) }36\qquad \textbf{(E) }48$

Solution

Problem 10

If $m,~n,~p$ , and $q$ are real numbers and $f(x)=mx+n$ and $g(x)=px+q$ , then the equation $f(g(x))=g(f(x))$ has a solution

$\textbf{(A) }\text{for all choices of }m,~n,~p, \text{ and } q\qquad\\ \textbf{(B) }\text{if and only if }m=p\text{ and }n=q\qquad\\ \textbf{(C) }\text{if and only if }mq-np=0\qquad\\ \textbf{(D) }\text{if and only if }n(1-p)-q(1-m)=0\qquad\\ \textbf{(E) }\text{if and only if }(1-n)(1-p)-(1-q)(1-m)=0$

Solution

Problem 11

Which of the following statements is (are) equivalent to the statement "If the pink elephant on planet alpha has purple eyes, then the wild pig on planet beta does not have a long nose"?

$\begin{array}{l}\textbf{I. }\text{"If the wild pig on planet beta has a long nose, then the pink elephant on planet alpha has purple eyes."}\\ \textbf{II. }\text{"If the pink elephant on planet alpha does not have purple eyes, then the wild pig on planet beta does not have a long nose."}\\ \textbf{III. }\text{"If the wild pig on planet beta has a long nose, then the pink elephant on planet alpha does not have purple eyes."}\\ \textbf{IV. }\text{"The pink elephant on planet alpha does not have purple eyes, or the wild pig on planet beta does not have a long nose."}\end{array}$

$\textbf{(A) }\textbf{I. }\text{and }\textbf{II. }\text{only}\qquad \textbf{(B) }\textbf{III. }\text{and }\textbf{IV. }\text{only}\qquad \textbf{(C) }\textbf{II. }\text{and }\textbf{IV. }\text{only}\qquad \textbf{(D) }\textbf{II. }\text{and }\textbf{III. }\text{only}\qquad \textbf{(E) }\textbf{III. }\text{only}$

Solution

Problem 12

A supermarket has $128$ crates of apples. Each crate contains at least $120$ apples and at most $144$ apples. What is the largest integer $n$ such that there must be at least $n$ crates containing the same number of apples?

$\textbf{(A) }4\qquad \textbf{(B) }5\qquad \textbf{(C) }6\qquad \textbf{(D) }24\qquad \textbf{(E) }25$

Solution

Problem 13

If $x$ cows give $x+1$ cans of milk in $x+2$ days, how many days will it take $x+3$ cows to give $x+5$ cans of milk?

$\textbf{(A) }\frac{x(x+2)(x+5)}{(x+1)(x+3)}\qquad \textbf{(B) }\frac{x(x+1)(x+5)}{(x+2)(x+3)}\qquad\\ \textbf{(C) }\frac{(x+1)(x+3)(x+5)}{x(x+2)}\qquad \textbf{(D) }\frac{(x+1)(x+3)}{x(x+2)(x+5)}\qquad \\ \textbf{(E) }\text{none of these}$

Solution

Problem 14

The measures of the interior angles of a convex polygon are in arithmetic progression. If the smallest angle is $100^\circ$ , and the largest is $140^\circ$ , then the number of sides the polygon has is

$\textbf{(A) }6\qquad \textbf{(B) }8\qquad \textbf{(C) }10\qquad \textbf{(D) }11\qquad \textbf{(E) }12$

Solution

Problem 15

If $r$ is the remainder when each of the numbers $1059,~1417$ , and $2312$ is divided by $d$ , where $d$ is an integer greater than $1$ , then $d-r$ equals

$\textbf{(A) }1\qquad \textbf{(B) }15\qquad \textbf{(C) }179\qquad \textbf{(D) }d-15\qquad \textbf{(E) }d-1$

Solution

Problem 16

In triangles $ABC$ and $DEF$ , lengths $AC,~BC,~DF$ , and $EF$ are all equal. Length $AB$ is twice the length of the altitude of $\triangle DEF$ from $F$ to $DE$ . Which of the following statements is (are) true?

$\begin{array}{l}\textbf{I. }\angle ACB \text{ and }\angle DFE\text{ must be complementary.}\\ \textbf{II. }\angle ACB \text{ and }\angle DFE\text{ must be supplementary.}\\ \textbf{III. }\text{The area of }\triangle ABC\text{ must equal the area of }\triangle DEF.\\ \textbf{IV. }\text{The area of }\triangle ABC\text{ must equal twice the area of }\triangle DEF.\end{array}$

$\textbf{(A) }\textbf{II. }\text{only}\qquad \textbf{(B) }\textbf{III. }\text{only}\qquad \textbf{(C) }\textbf{IV. }\text{only}\qquad \textbf{(D) }\text{I. }\text{and }\textbf{III. }\text{only}\qquad \textbf{(E) }\textbf{II. }\text{and }\textbf{III. }\text{only}$

Solution

Problem 17

If $\theta$ is an acute angle, and $\sin 2\theta=a$ , then $\sin\theta+\cos\theta$ equals

$\textbf{(A) }\sqrt{a+1}\qquad \textbf{(B) }(\sqrt{2}-1)a+1\qquad \textbf{(C) }\sqrt{a+1}-\sqrt{a^2-a}\qquad\\ \textbf{(D) }\sqrt{a+1}+\sqrt{a^2-a}\qquad \textbf{(E) }\sqrt{a+1}+a^2-a$

Solution

Problem 18

$[asy] //size(100);//local size(200); real r1=2; pair O=(0,0), D=(.5,.5*sqrt(3)), C=(D.x+.5*3,D.y), B, B_prime=endpoint(arc(D, 3, 0,-2)); B=B_prime; path c1=circle(O, r1); pair C=midpoint(D--B_prime); path arc2=arc(B_prime, 6/2, 158.25,250); draw(c1); draw(O--D); draw(D--C); draw(C--B_prime); pair A=beginpoint(arc2); draw(B_prime--A); //dot(O^^D^^C^^A); //dot(B_prime); label("\scriptsize{$O$}",O,.6dir(D--O)); label("\scriptsize{$C$}",C,.5dir(-55)); label("\scriptsize{$D$}", D,.2NW); //label("\scriptsize{$B$}",B,S); label("\scriptsize{$B$}", B_prime, .5*dir(D--B_prime)); label("\scriptsize{$A$}",A,.5dir(NE)); label("\tiny{2}", O--D, .45*LeftSide); label("\tiny{3}", D--C, .45*LeftSide); label("\tiny{6}", B_prime--A, .45*RightSide); label("\tiny{3}", waypoint(C--B_prime,.1), .45*N); //Credit to Klaus-Anton for the diagram[/asy]$

In the adjoining figure, $AB$ is tangent at $A$ to the circle with center $O$ ; point $D$ is interior to the circle; and $DB$ intersects the circle at $C$ . If $BC=DC=3$ , $OD=2$ , and $AB=6$ , then the radius of the circle is

$\textbf{(A) }3+\sqrt{3}\qquad \textbf{(B) }15/\pi\qquad \textbf{(C) }9/2\qquad \textbf{(D) }2\sqrt{6}\qquad \textbf{(E) }\sqrt{22}$

Solution

Problem 19

A polynomial $p(x)$ has remainder three when divided by $x-1$ and remainder five when divided by $x-3$ . The remainder when $p(x)$ is divided by $(x-1)(x-3)$ is

$\textbf{(A) }x-2\qquad \textbf{(B) }x+2\qquad \textbf{(C) }2\qquad \textbf{(D) }8\qquad \textbf{(E) }15$

Solution

Problem 20

Let $a,~b$ , and $x$ be positive real numbers distinct from one. Then $4(\log_ax)^2+3(\log_bx)^2=8(\log_ax)(\log_bx)$

$\textbf{(A) }\text{for all values of }a,~b,\text{ and }x\qquad\\ \textbf{(B) }\text{if and only if }a=b^2\qquad\\ \textbf{(C) }\text{if and only if }b=a^2\qquad\\ \textbf{(D) }\text{if and only if }x=ab\qquad\\ \textbf{(E) }\text{for none of these}$

Solution

Problem 21

What is the smallest positive odd integer $n$ such that the product $2^{1/7}2^{3/7}\cdots2^{(2n+1)/7}$ is greater than $1000$ ? (In the product the denominators of the exponents are all sevens, and the numerators are the successive odd integers from $1$ to $2n+1$ .)

$\textbf{(A) }7\qquad \textbf{(B) }9\qquad \textbf{(C) }11\qquad \textbf{(D) }17\qquad \textbf{(E) }19$

Solution

Problem 22

Given an equilateral triangle with side of length $s$ , consider the locus of all points $\mathit{P}$ in the plane of the triangle such that the sum of the squares of the distances from $\mathit{P}$ to the vertices of the triangle is a fixed number $a$ . This locus

$\textbf{(A) }\text{is a circle if }a>s^2\qquad\\ \textbf{(B) }\text{contains only three points if }a=2s^2\text{ and is a circle if }a>2s^2\qquad\\ \textbf{(C) }\text{is a circle with positive radius only if }s^2<a<2s^2\qquad\\ \textbf{(D) }\text{contains only a finite number of points for any value of }a\qquad\\ \textbf{(E) }\text{is none of these}$

Solution

Problem 23

For integers $k$ and $n$ such that $1\le k<n$ , let $C^n_k=\frac{n!}{k!(n-k)!}$ . Then $\left(\frac{n-2k-1}{k+1}\right)C^n_k$ is an integer

$\textbf{(A) }\text{for all }k\text{ and }n\qquad \\ \textbf{(B) }\text{for all even values of }k\text{ and }n,\text{ but not for all }k\text{ and }n\qquad \\ \textbf{(C) }\text{for all odd values of }k\text{ and }n,\text{ but not for all }k\text{ and }n\qquad \\ \textbf{(D) }\text{if }k=1\text{ or }n-1,\text{ but not for all odd values }k\text{ and }n\qquad \\ \textbf{(E) }\text{if }n\text{ is divisible by }k,\text{ but not for all even values }k\text{ and }n$

Solution

Problem 24

$[asy] size(150); pair A=(0,0),B=(1,0),C=(0,1),D=(-1,0),E=(0,.5),F=(sqrt(2)/2,.25); draw(circle(A,1)^^D--B); draw(circle(E,.5)^^circle( F ,.25)); label("$A$", D, W); label("$K$", A, S); label("$B$", B, dir(0)); label("$L$", E, N); label("$M$",shift(-.05,.05)*F); //Credit to Klaus-Anton for the diagram [/asy]$

In the adjoining figure, circle $\mathit{K}$ has diameter $\mathit{AB}$ ; circle $\mathit{L}$ is tangent to circle $\mathit{K}$ and to $\mathit{AB}$ at the center of circle $\mathit{K}$ ; and circle $\mathit{M}$ tangent to circle $\mathit{K}$ , to circle $\mathit{L}$ and $\mathit{AB}$ . The ratio of the area of circle $\mathit{K}$ to the area of circle $\mathit{M}$ is

$\textbf{(A) }12\qquad \textbf{(B) }14\qquad \textbf{(C) }16\qquad \textbf{(D) }18\qquad \textbf{(E) }\text{not an integer}$

Solution

Problem 25

For a sequence $u_1,u_2\dots$ , define $\Delta^1(u_n)=u_{n+1}-u_n$ and, for all integer $k>1, \Delta^k(u_n)=\Delta^1(\Delta^{k-1}(u_n))$ . If $u_n=n^3+n$ , then $\Delta^k(u_n)=0$ for all $n$

$\textbf{(A) }\text{if }k=1\qquad \\ \textbf{(B) }\text{if }k=2,\text{ but not if }k=1\qquad \\ \textbf{(C) }\text{if }k=3,\text{ but not if }k=2\qquad \\ \textbf{(D) }\text{if }k=4,\text{ but not if }k=3\qquad\\ \textbf{(E) }\text{for no value of }k$

Solution

Problem 26

$[asy] size(150); dotfactor=4; draw(circle((0,0),4)); draw(circle((10,-6),3)); pair O,A,P,Q; O = (0,0); A = (10,-6); P = (-.55, -4.12); Q = (10.7, -2.86); dot("$O$", O, NE); dot("$O'$", A, SW); dot("$P$", P, SW); dot("$Q$", Q, NE); draw((2*sqrt(2),2*sqrt(2))--(10 + 3*sqrt(2)/2, -6 + 3*sqrt(2)/2)--cycle); draw((-1.68*sqrt(2),-2.302*sqrt(2))--(10 - 2.6*sqrt(2)/2, -6 - 3.4*sqrt(2)/2)--cycle); draw(P--Q--cycle); //Credit to happiface for the diagram [/asy]$

In the adjoining figure, every point of circle $\mathit{O'}$ is exterior to circle $\mathit{O}$ . Let $\mathit{P}$ and $\mathit{Q}$ be the points of intersection of an internal common tangent with the two external common tangents. Then the length of $PQ$ is

$\textbf{(A) }\text{the average of the lengths of the internal and external common tangents}\qquad\\ \textbf{(B) }\text{equal to the length of an external common tangent if and only if circles }\mathit{O}\text{ and }\mathit{O'} \text{have equal radii}\\ \textbf{(C) }\text{always equal to the length of an external common tangent}\qquad\\ \textbf{(D) }\text{greater than the length of an external common tangent}\qquad\\ \textbf{(E) }\text{the geometric mean of the lengths of the internal and external common tangents}$

Solution

Problem 27

If $N=\frac{\sqrt{\sqrt{5}+2}+\sqrt{\sqrt{5}-2}}{\sqrt{\sqrt{5}+1}}-\sqrt{3-2\sqrt{2}}$ , then $N$ equals

$\textbf{(A) }1\qquad \textbf{(B) }2\sqrt{2}-1\qquad \textbf{(C) }\frac{\sqrt{5}}{2}\qquad \textbf{(D) }\sqrt{\frac{5}{2}}\qquad \textbf{(E) }\text{none of these}$

Solution

Problem 28

Lines $\mathit{L}_1,\mathit{L}_2,\dots,\mathit{L}_{100}$ are distinct. All lines $\mathit{L}_{4n}, n$ a positive integer, are parallel to each other. All lines $\mathit{L}_{4n-3}$ , $n$ a positive integer, pass through a given point $\mathit{A}$ . The maximum number of points of intersection of pairs of lines from the complete set $\{\mathit{L}_1,\mathit{L}_2,\dots,\mathit{L}_{100}\}$ is

$\textbf{(A) }4350\qquad \textbf{(B) }4351\qquad \textbf{(C) }4900\qquad \textbf{(D) }4901\qquad \textbf{(E) }9851$

Solution

Problem 29

Ann and Barbara were comparing their ages and found that Barbara is as old as Ann was when Barbara was as old as Ann had been when Barbara was half as old as Ann is. If the sum of their present ages is $44$ years, then Ann's age is

$\textbf{(A) }22\qquad \textbf{(B) }24\qquad \textbf{(C) }25\qquad \textbf{(D) }26\qquad \textbf{(E) }28$

Solution

Problem 30

How many distinct ordered triples $(x,y,z)$ satisfy the equations $x+2y+4z=12$ $xy+4yz+2xz=22$ $xyz=6$

$\textbf{(A) }\text{none}\qquad \textbf{(B) }1\qquad \textbf{(C) }2\qquad \textbf{(D) }4\qquad \textbf{(E) }6$

Solution

1976 AHSME (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by 1975 AHSME	Followed by 1977 AHSME
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1976 AHSME Problems

Contents

Problem 1

Problem 2

Problem 3

Problem 4

Problem 5

Problem 6

Problem 7

Problem 8

Problem 9

Problem 10

Problem 11

Problem 12

Problem 13

Problem 14

Problem 15

Problem 16

Problem 17

Problem 18

Problem 19

Problem 20

Problem 21

Problem 22

Problem 23

Problem 24

Problem 25

Problem 26

Problem 27

Problem 28

Problem 29

Problem 30

See also