MATHCOUNTS TRICKS AND TIPS

1) Question : How many positive factors does 720 have??

Solution : write the prime factorization on 720 = (24)(32)(51). Now add one to each of
the exponents, and find the product of those new exponents :

(4+1)(2+1)(1+1) = (5)(3)(2)=30

For any number N whose prime factorization is N = axbycz… there would be :

(x+1)(y+1)(z+1)… factors

2) Question : Find the sum of the positive integer factors of 720

Solution : Again write the prime factorization of the number 720 = (24)(32)(51)
Now you must find the sum of all powers of each factor from the zero power, up
to the exponent in the prime factorization, and then multiply those sums together.
Ex :
(20+21+22+23+24)(30+31+32)(50+51)=
( 1+ 2+ 4 +8 +16)(1 + 3 + 9)(1 + 5)=
(31)(13)(6) = 2418

3) Question : How many zeros does 238! end in?

Solution : Since in order to end in zero, a number must be divisible by 10=5x2, each
zero is the result of the number having a factor of both 5 and 2. Since every other
number is even there are plenty of 2’s as factors, so we need to see how many factors
of 5 there are. First we know 238! means factorial, which means 238x237x236x……
1. It would be impossible to do all that out, so we just look for factors of 5. Since
every 5th number has a factor of 5 we start with 238 divided by 5 = 47.6, so there are
47 numbers that have a factor of 5. However, if a number has a factor of 25, it has 2
factors of 5. Every 5th factor of 5 would then also be a factor of 25, so we can divide
47 by 5 to get 9.4, so there are 9 additional factors of 5. We also know though that
53= 125, so we need to check for that. So we divide 9 by 5 to get 1.8, so there is 1
more factor of 5. Since 5 doesn’t go into 1, we are done. There are 47+9+1= 57
factors of 5 in 238!, therefore it ends in 57 zeros!!
Work : 238  5 = 47.6, 47  5  9.4, 9  5  1.8, 47+9+1 = 57

4) Question : What is the area of a triangle with sides a, b, and c?

Solutions: This is called Heron’s or Hero’s formula : Area = s ( s  a )( s  b)( s  c )
where s = ½ the perimeter, and a, b, and c are the three sides.
Ex. A triangle with sides 21, 28, and 35 would have area :
Perimeter=21+28+35 = 84 s = 84/2 = 42
Area = 42(42  21)(42  28)(42  35)  42( 21)(14)(7)  86436  294
5) Question : Thirteen points have been placed in a plane so that no three points are
collinear. What is the number of different lines determined by these points?

Solution: This problem is very similar to “the handshake problem.” If you number the
points 1-13, you can see that the first point can be connected to the other 12 creating 12
lines. Point #2 could also be connected to the other 12 except that it has already been
connected to #1 so only 11 new lines are created. Point #3 again could be connected to
the other 12 except that it has already been connected to #1 & #2 so that creates 10 new
lines. Hopefully you notice this pattern:

#1 -> 12 lines #2 -> 11 lines #3 -> 10 lines #4 -> 9 lines

#5 -> 8 lines #6………….

So 12+11+10+9+8+7+6+5+4+3+2+1 = 78.

PS a shortcut to adding from 1 to 12 is to add the ends and work your way back in:
1)12+1 =13, 2)11+2=13, 3)10+3=13, 4)9+4=13, 5)8+5= 13, 6)7+6=13

13x6=78 Hurray!!!!!

6) We must know repeating decimals. Any single digit repeating decimal is just over 9.
7 2
Ex: . 7  .2 
9 9
Any double digit repeating decimal is over 99.

13 51 17
Ex: .13  .51  
99 99 33
28  2 473  47
There are many other shortcuts such as .2 8  .47 3 
90 900
You are much better learning the technique I have explained earlier. If you aren’t
sure how to do it, see me.

7) You must learn about simplifying expressions with factorials and exponents. When
multiplying numbers remember you can always break a number down into prime
factors.
12!
For example, a problem like 10 5 can be reduced significantly if you look at factors.
2 3
12!
=
210  35  5 2
12 x11x10 x9 x8 x7 x6 x5 x 4 x3 x 2 x1 ( 2 x 2 x3)(11)( 2 x5)(3 x3)( 2 x 2 x 2)(7)( 2 x3)(5)( 2

2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x3 x3 x3 x3 x3 x5 x5 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x3 x3 x3 x3 x3
2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x3 x3x3 x3x3 x5 x5 x 7 x11 7 x11
  77
2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x3 x3 x3 x3 x3 x 5 x5 1

8) Recognize symbols that may be used as functional notation.

 ab ab ab a b ab a b

Any of these notations could mean a 2  2a  3b 2 or any other combination.

Ex. If a  b = a 2  2a  3b 2 , then to evaluate (4  3)  2 , first do

42 + 2(4) – 3(32)=16 + 8 – 27 = - 3 , then

(-3)2 +2(-3) – 3(22) =9 + (-6) – 12 = – 9

9) Be able to figure out how many rectangles are in a grid as such. For the 2 by 4
below, there are (2+1)(4+3+2+1) = (3)(10) = 30 rectangles in the picture.
For a n by m rectangle, there would be:
(1+2+3+…n)(1+2+3+….m) rectangles

This is the same as (5C2)(3C2) as you are choosing the sides

If they ask for Squares, or quadrilaterals, or if the picture is a bunch of triangles, you have
to just count them, this pattern won’t work.

9) You need to know the Distance formula. Distance = Rate x Time

Make sure that whatever the rate is it is measure with the same units as the Distance and
the Time. For example, if you go 200 miles in 3.5 hours, the Rate must be in miles/hour.
If the question has a situation in which two people, or 1 car and 1 train each go
the same distance, just make an equation w/ R1T1=R2T2 You may not know all four
variables, but if you know 2 of them, and know that one is 20 more than the other(or
something like that) For example:
If 2 people are making a long car trip, and the first car takes 3 hours to make the
trip. If the second car goes 20 mph slower, but takes 5 hours, hour long is the trip in
miles?
3(R) = 5(R-20)
3R = 5R – 100
-3R -3R
0 = 2R – 100
+100 +100
100 = 2R
2 2
50 = R
Now plug in 50 to R, and you get D=RT, D = 50(3) or D = (50-20)5
D= 150 or D = 30x5 = 150

10) We must be able to work with percents, especially percent off. If something is 20%
off, and then 30% off later on, that is not 50% off. 20% off = 80%. 30% off of the
 80% is 24% off, for a total of 44% off(or 56% paid). If you know the new
price($156.80) of the item, you can set up a proportion to find the original price.

56 156.8

100 original

11) We need to be able to figure out how many ways something can happen without
actually counting up all the possibilities.

For example : Six students have six seats to choose from, how many ways can they
arrange themselves?
Answer: 6x5x4x3x2x1 =720
Example 2: If you have 10 shirts and need to choose 6 of them, how many sets of 6 can
you choose?
10 x9 x8 x7 x6 x5 10 x9 x8 x7 x6 x5
Answer:   10 x3 x7  210 after reducing
6 x5 x 4 x3x 2 x1 6 x5 x 4 x3x 2 x1

12) We need to be able to do some simple probability.

good
Probability = possible For example, if you roll 2 dice, what is the probability that the
3 1
sum would be 11 or more?? P =  since there are 36 ways to roll 2 dice together,
36 12
and only 3 of them have sums of 11 or more. If you want the probability of doing
something more than once, you just multiply their probabilities together. For example,
the probability of getting a sum of 11 or more on 2 straight rolls would be
1 1 1
  .
12 12 144

13) We need to be able to find the units digit of any number to any power.

Example: What is the units digit of 53265?

Solution: 531 ends in 3

532 = 53x53 which will end in 9
533= 53x53x53 since the first 2 together end in 9, 9x53 ends in 7
534= 53x53x53x53 = ends in 7 x 53 which ends in 1
This will now repeat since ….1x 53 will end in 3 and start the pattern over
So 53 ends in 3; 532 ends in 9; 533 ends in 7; 534 ends in 1(so will every 4th one)………
1

5440 ends in 1…..53240ends in 1…….53264 ends in 1; 53265 ends in 3!!!!!!!!

NOTE: any number to the 5th power ends in the same thing as that number!
14) Angle formed by two hands of a clock formula : abs(30h -5.5m) where h = hours
and m = minutes. NOTE if your get a value greater than 180, you need to subtract your
answer from 360 so you can get the angle "between" the hands not wrapping around the
other way!

15) To find the sum of a series of powers of the same base, here is the formula.
Example :

1 + 2 + 4 + 8 + 16 + 32 + 64 = 127(as we have seen many times before)

128  1 127
  127
2 1 1

Example2 :

1+3+9+27+81+243 = 364(you can check by just adding)

729  1 728
  364
3 1 2

The general formula is this :

x n 1  1
x0 + x1 +x2 + x3+ …………. + xn =
x 1

Basically, you do the next power of that base – 1 , divided by the base – 1

16) Examine this picture:

A C
D
If Angle ABC is bisected(cut in half) and drawn until it intersects AC, this proportion
becomes true.

AB AD

CB CD
17)
a)In any triangle, inradius*semiperimeter = area. That is, for an arbitrary triangle
ABC with sides a, b, c, the following formula may always be used:

(a + b + c)/2 * r = Area(ABC)

In a 3-4-5 right triangle the area is easily found. So is the semiperimeter.

(3 + 4 + 5)/2 * r = 3 * 4/2
r=1

b) For a right angle triangle, the radius of inscribed circle (Angle C is the right
angle, c is hypotenuse) radius= (a+b-c)/2 = (3+4-5)/2 = 2/2 = 1 = radius

18) The radius of the circle circumscribed around a triangle is equal to the product of the
sides divided by four times the area of the triangle.

abc
rcircumscribed circle 
4(area of abc)

19) In any triangle, the area of the largest inscribed rectangle is always ½ that of the
triangle.

20) If you have an n x n array of points, and you want to find out how many squares
have all four vertices from the array, use this formula :

n^2(n^2 - 1)/12 squares