1997 AIME Problems

1997 AIME (Answer Key) Printable version \| AoPS Contest Collections • PDF
Instructions This is a 15-question, 3-hour examination. All answers are integers ranging from $000$ to $999$ , inclusive. Your score will be the number of correct answers; i.e., there is neither partial credit nor a penalty for wrong answers. No aids other than scratch paper, graph paper, ruler, compass, and protractor are permitted. In particular, calculators and computers are not permitted.
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Problem 1

How many of the integers between 1 and 1000, inclusive, can be expressed as the difference of the squares of two nonnegative integers?

Solution

Problem 2

The nine horizontal and nine vertical lines on an $8\times8$ checkerboard form $r$ rectangles, of which $s$ are squares. The number $s/r$ can be written in the form $m/n,$ where $m$ and $n$ are relatively prime positive integers. Find $m + n.$

Solution

Problem 3

Sarah intended to multiply a two-digit number and a three-digit number, but she left out the multiplication sign and simply placed the two-digit number to the left of the three-digit number, thereby forming a five-digit number. This number is exactly nine times the product Sarah should have obtained. What is the sum of the two-digit number and the three-digit number?

Solution

Problem 4

Circles of radii 5, 5, 8, and $m/n$ are mutually externally tangent, where $m$ and $n$ are relatively prime positive integers. Find $m + n.$

Solution

Problem 5

The number $r$ can be expressed as a four-place decimal $0.abcd,$ where $a, b, c,$ and $d$ represent digits, any of which could be zero. It is desired to approximate $r$ by a fraction whose numerator is 1 or 2 and whose denominator is an integer. The closest such fraction to $r$ is $\frac 27.$ What is the number of possible values for $r$ ?

Solution

Problem 6

Point $B$ is in the exterior of the regular $n$ -sided polygon $A_1A_2\cdots A_n$ , and $A_1A_2B$ is an equilateral triangle. What is the largest value of $n$ for which $A_1$ , $A_n$ , and $B$ are consecutive vertices of a regular polygon?

Solution

Problem 7

A car travels due east at $\frac 23$ mile per minute on a long, straight road. At the same time, a circular storm, whose radius is $51$ miles, moves southeast at $\frac 12\sqrt{2}$ mile per minute. At time $t=0$ , the center of the storm is $110$ miles due north of the car. At time $t=t_1$ minutes, the car enters the storm circle, and at time $t=t_2$ minutes, the car leaves the storm circle. Find $\frac 12(t_1+t_2)$ .

Solution

Problem 8

How many different $4\times 4$ arrays whose entries are all 1's and -1's have the property that the sum of the entries in each row is 0 and the sum of the entires in each column is 0?

Solution

Problem 9

Given a nonnegative real number $x$ , let $\langle x\rangle$ denote the fractional part of $x$ ; that is, $\langle x\rangle=x-\lfloor x\rfloor$ , where $\lfloor x\rfloor$ denotes the greatest integer less than or equal to $x$ . Suppose that $a$ is positive, $\langle a^{-1}\rangle=\langle a^2\rangle$ , and $2<a^2<3$ . Find the value of $a^{12}-144a^{-1}$ .

Solution

Problem 10

Every card in a deck has a picture of one shape - circle, square, or triangle, which is painted in one of the three colors - red, blue, or green. Furthermore, each color is applied in one of three shades - light, medium, or dark. The deck has 27 cards, with every shape-color-shade combination represented. A set of three cards from the deck is called complementary if all of the following statements are true:

i. Either each of the three cards has a different shape or all three of the card have the same shape.

ii. Either each of the three cards has a different color or all three of the cards have the same color.

iii. Either each of the three cards has a different shade or all three of the cards have the same shade.

How many different complementary three-card sets are there?

Solution

Problem 11

Let $x=\frac{\sum_{n=1}^{44} \cos n^\circ}{\sum_{n=1}^{44} \sin n^\circ}$ . What is the greatest integer that does not exceed $100x$ ?

Solution

Problem 12

The function $f$ defined by $f(x)= \frac{ax+b}{cx+d}$ , where $a$ , $b$ , $c$ and $d$ are nonzero real numbers, has the properties $f(19)=19$ , $f(97)=97$ and $f(f(x))=x$ for all values except $\frac{-d}{c}$ . Find the unique number that is not in the range of $f$ .

Solution

Problem 13

Let $S$ be the set of points in the Cartesian plane that satisfy

$\Big|\big| |x|-2\big|-1\Big|+\Big|\big| |y|-2\big|-1\Big|=1.$

If a model of $S$ were built from wire of negligible thickness, then the total length of wire required would be $a\sqrt{b}$ , where $a$ and $b$ are positive integers and $b$ is not divisible by the square of any prime number. Find $a+b$ .

Solution

Problem 14

Let $v$ and $w$ be distinct, randomly chosen roots of the equation $z^{1997}-1=0$ . Let $m/n$ be the probability that $\sqrt{2+\sqrt{3}}\le |v+w|$ , where $m$ and $n$ are relatively prime positive integers. Find $m+n$ .

Solution

Problem 15

The sides of rectangle $ABCD$ have lengths $10$ and $11$ . An equilateral triangle is drawn so that no point of the triangle lies outside $ABCD$ . The maximum possible area of such a triangle can be written in the form $p\sqrt{q}-r$ , where $p$ , $q$ , and $r$ are positive integers, and $q$ is not divisible by the square of any prime number. Find $p+q+r$ .