ALGEBRA I

STATE MATHEMATICS CONTEST FINALS

MAY 1, 2008

1. Simplify:
2
a.

2x 3
5(x 1)

3
4

.
5
x

3x + 4
2(x 5)

b.

c.

x+3
2(x 4)

d.

4x 5
5(x 2)

e. None of these

2. Find the last two digits of (17)107 .

a.21

b. 59

c. 83

d. 07

e. 73

1
3. Find f (f (f ( ))) where f (x) is defined as follows:
7

2x,
if 0 x < 12 ;
f (x) =
2 2x, if 12 x 1.
a.

1
343

b.

8
7

c.

6
7

d.

1
7

e.

8
343

4. The graph of the line Ax + By = C is perpendicular to the graph y = .4x 3, with A

and B relatively prime integers and A > 0. If the lines intersect at the point (10, 1) find C.
a.26

b. 52

c. 5

d. 17

e. cannot be determined

5. Let h(x) = 3x 2. Find h1 (4).

a.

1
10

b. 10

c.

1
2

d.2

e.

1
4

6. A drawer contains 2 black socks, 3 brown socks and 4 blue socks. If two socks are selected
at random, what is the probability that they are the same color?
a.

5
9

b.

2
3

c.

1
4

d.

5
18

e.

5
12

7. Suppose a and b are two non-zero real numbers with a < b. Which of the following
statements must be true regarding a and b?
I.
a.I only

1
1
>
a
b

b. II only

II. a2 < b2
c. III only

III. a < |b|

d. I and II

e. I and III

8. A university professor notices that the number of students in her class is the smallest
number so that 1 student remains if the class is divided into groups of 2, 2 students remain
when the class is divided into groups of 3, 3 students remain when groups of 4 are formed, 4
students remain when groups of 5 are formed and 5 students remain when groups of 6 form.
If x is the number of students in this class, what is true of x?
a.0 x 30

b. 31 x 60

c. 61 x 90

d. 91 x 120

e. x 121

Problems 9-12 concern the function

f (x) = ax2 + 3x 4,

where a is a non-zero real number.

9. Find the equation of the line containing (1, f (1)) and (2, f (2)).
a.(3a + 3)x y = 2a + 4
b. 3x y = 2a 4
c. 3ax 3y = a + 2
d. (3a + 3)x y = 2a + 2
e. (a + 1)x 3y = a 4

 
2
= 0.
10. Find the set of values of a for which f
a
a.

5
2

11. Simplify f (
a.

b. 1

x
)
x+1

(a 1)x2 5x 4
(x + 1)2

b.

ax2 + (2a 3)x + 1

x2

c.

(a 1)x2 + 3x 4
(x + 1)2

d.

ax2 5ax + 4
(x + 1)2

e.

ax2 + 3x 2
(x + 1)2

c. 2

d.

4
3

e.

9
4

12. There is one value of a for which f (x) has a double root. Find the value of the double
root.
a.

9
16

b.

9
3

c.

8
3

d.

3
4

e.

8
3

13. An odd function is one for which f (x) = f (x). If f (x) and g(x) are odd functions,
what must be true?
I. (f + g)(x) must be odd.
II. (f g)(x) must be odd.
III. f (g(x)) must be odd.
a.I only

b. II only

c. III only

d. I and III

e. II and III

14. Find all values of x for which

|3x + 2| < |x 4|.

a.3 < x <

1
2

b. x <

1
2

c. x < 3 or x >

1
2

d. x < 3

e. x > 3

15. If F (x) = Ax2 +Bx+C and f (x) = ax2 +bx+c are quadratic functions with F (x) 6= f (x),
what is true about the number of solutions to F (x) f (x) = 0?
I. It is possible that there is no solution.
II. It cannot have more than 2 solutions.
III. If it has only one solution then A = a.
a.II only

b. I only

c. I and II

d. I and III

e. All are true.

16. Sue always leaves a 17.5% tip when she dines out and she calculates her tip based
on the total bill including tax. Last time she went out, she noticed that there was an
extra sandwich on her bill and that the total was exactly $20. She paid $20 and told the
server to take the sandwich off the bill and keep the change. If sales tax is 6.75%, how much
(to the nearest penny) did the sandwich cost before tax?
a.$3.42

b. $3.28

c. $2.98

d. $2.68

e. $2.79

17. Suppose that a, b and c are the roots of f (x) = x3 4x2 5x. Compute (a+1)(b+1)(c+1).
a.12

b. 5

c. 0

d. 6

e. 8

18. Jeffs Algebra I test average will be a 88 if he gets a 72 on the next exam and a 91 if he
gets a 90 on the next exam. If all exams are weighted the same, how many exams has Jeff
taken so far?
a.3

b. 4

c. 5

d. 6

e. 7

19. Consider the parabola y = x2 3x + 5. A line

intersects this parabola at two points.
One point is (2, 3) and the other point is exactly 8 units away. Find the equation of this
line.
a.y = 3x 3

b. y = x + 1

c. y = 5x 7

d. y = 3x + 9

e. y = x + 5

20. The sum of Bob and Carols ages is half of Alices age. Carol will be as old as Bob is
now in two years. In 6 years, Alices age will be the sum of Carols and Bobs ages. How old
is Carol?
a.2

b. 3

c. 4

d. 5

e. 6

21. Mary wants to withdraw $200 from the bank in $5, $10, and $20 bills. She wants to
have at least one of each bill and would like the same number of $5s as $10s. What is the
fewest number of bills she can receive?
a.11

22. If g(x) =

2 7
a.
7

b. 12

c. 14

d. 15

e. 16

1
2x + 3 find g 1 ( ).
4
1
b.
16

c.

11

47
d.
32

e.

11
11

23. The graphs of the equations

y = 3x2 2x 4

and

y = x2 + 5x 2

meet at two points. Find the point of intersection closest to (0, 0).
1
a.( , 3)
4

b. (0, 2)

c. (2, 4)

d. (2, 12)

1 53
e. ( , )
4 16

24. Jacks allowance is $100 for the first month and then it increases by $20 every month
thereafter. Jill gets $1 the first month and it doubles every month thereafter. Over the
course of the year, who earned more total money and how much more did he/she earn?
a.Jill gets $1575 more.
b. Jill gets $1728 more.
c. Jack gets $76 more.
d. Jack gets $472 more.
e. They receive the exact same amount.

25. Frank and Jim decide to ride their bikes along a predetermined route. Frank can ride
at a steady 18 mph and Jim can ride at 19.5 mph. When Jim finishes the ride he has to
wait 20 minutes for Frank to finish. If they both rode the same distance, how far did each
of them ride?
a.30 mi.

b. 78 mi.

c. 4.5 mi.

26. Solve the following expression for b:

x=

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

ab 3a2 x
x
ax
3a2 x2

a |a| 1 + 12x2
2x

a ax 13
2x

x x2 4ax
2a

ab
.
3a2 b2

d. 36 mi.

e. 62 mi.

27. Expand (3x y 1 ).

a.

y3
27x3 y 3 27x2 y 2 + 9xy 1

b.

y3
27x3 1

c.

y 3
27x3

d.
e.

27x3

1
+ 9xy 2 y 3

9x3 y

y3
27x3 y 3 9x2 y + 9xy 1

28. Determine all values of c for which 3x2 + 12x + c = 0 has no (real) solutions.
a.c < 0

b. c 0

c. c 12

d. c > 12

e. 0 < c < 12

29. Suppose a linear function, f (x), contains the points (1, 7) and (3, 4). What is the
change in f (x) when x increases by 3?
a.9

b.

33
2

c.

9
2

d. 9

e. 33

30. A custom T-shirt shop charges different prices per shirt based on how many the customer
wants. For up to 10 shirts, the cost is $10 per shirt. When ordering between 11 and 24
(inclusive) shirts, the cost is only $9 per shirt. For 25 to 50 shirts the cost per shirt is $8;
and the cost per shirt is $7 for any order of more than 50 shirts. Alex determines that there
is a number of shirts x so that ordering x shirts and ordering x + 3 shirts costs exactly the
same. What is x?
a.8

b. 9

c. 23

d. 24

e. 49

31. When the polynomial P (x) is divided by x 3 the quotient is 2x2 4x + 3 and the
remainder is 2. Evaluate P (2).
a.1

b. 3

c. 1

d. 5

e. cannot be determined

32. Suppose p and q are distinct primes. Which of the following statements are true?
I. p + q is never prime.
II. pq has exactly 4 positive integer factors.
III. The least common multiple of p and q is 1.
a.I only

b. II only

c. III only

d. I and II

e. II and III

33. A line segment connects the points (1, 7) and (22, 42) in the plane. How many points
(including the endpoints) on this segment have the property that both coordinates are integers?
a.9

b. 22

c. 21

d. 7

e. 8

34. Five consecutive integers have the property that the sum of the first 4 is exactly three
times the fifth. Find the sum of the next five consecutive integers.
a.80

b. 65

c. 55

d. 90

e. 75

35. Find the digit x so that the number 111111x11111111 is divisible by 9.

a.2

b. 3

36. Let a ? b be defined by a ? b =

1 5
a.{
}
2

b. {1, 2}

c. 4

d. 5

e. 6

1 1
+ . Find the solution set for x ? (x ? 1) = 2.
a b
c. {2, 1}

1
d. {2, }
2

1
e. {
2

37. Let P (x) be a polynomial with degree 5. What is the greatest number of times a line
y = mx + b can intersect P (x)?
a.1

b. 4

c. 5

d. 6

e. Any number is possible.

38. Let M (x, y) denote the larger of x and y and m(x, y) denote the smaller of x and y.
Suppose that a < b < c < d < e. Find
M (m (M (a, b) , c) , m (d, M (c, e))) .
a.a

b. b

c. c

d. d

e. e

39. Today is a Thursday. What day of the week will it be 2008 days from now?
a.Thursday

b. Friday

c. Sunday

d. Monday

e. Wednesday

40. A fast food chain wants to advertise that their burgers can be customized in over a
million ways. What is the smallest number of toppings they need to provide to make this
statement true?
a.20

b. 26

c. 51

d. 8

e. 17