y = 8(b) + 3 = 99

15 7 x = 5a + 2 = 77
y = 8b + 3 = 59
23 2 x = 5a + 2 = 117
y = 8b + 3 = 19
Ans. 117 x 19 = 2223

Problem Set 3 Part 2

Arithmetic and Geometric Progression, Rate Problems,
Quadratic Equation, Theory of Equations

31. The 1st term of the GP is 27 and the 4th term is -1. Find the 3rd
term.
a. 3 b. 2
c. -3 d. -2

32. The sum of the 1st 10 terms of a GP 2, 4, 8, 16….(ECE April

1998)
a. 1024 b. 2046
c. 3024 d. 4024

33. Find the sum 1 , -1/5, 1/25 …..

a. 2/3 b. 5/6
c. 1 d. 7/6

34. The numbers 28, x + 2, 112 form a geometric progression.

What is the 10th term? CE May 1995
a. 14536 b. 13463
c. 14336 d. 16344
35. Determine the sum of the infinite series 1/3 + 1/9 + 1/27 + ……..
a. 4/5 b. 3/4
c. 2/3 d. 1/2
36. Find the sum of the infinite series 1 - 1/4 + 1/6 +… ( CE May
1998 )

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 a. 4/5 b. 5/6
c. 6/7 d. 7/8
37. If 1/3 of the air in the tank is removed by each stroke of an air
pump, what fractional part of the total air is removed in 6 strokes?
a. 0.7122 b. 0.9122
c. 0.6122 d. 0.8122

SITUATION (Problems 38,39,40) PAST CEBOARD

The following data of road accident vs drivers age form a quadratic
function.
Age Accident per year
20 250
40 150
60 200

38. Find the coefficient of x2

a. 0.1875 b. 0.2125
c. 0.1575 d. 0.1765
39. Find the coefficient of x.
a. -14.75 b. -17.75
c. -15.25 d. -16.25
40. Find the number of accidents per year for an age of 30.
a. 154.75 b. 189.65
c. 254.25 d. 181.25
41. In a benefit show, a number of wealthy men agreed that the 1 st
one to arrive would pay 10 centavos to enter and each succeeding
arrival will pay twice as much as the preceding man. The total amount
collected is P 104, 857.50. How many wealthy men paid?
a. 18 b. 19
c. 20 d. 21
42. What is the equation whose roots are the reciprocal of 2x2- 3x- 5
= 0 PAST ECE BOARD
a. 5x2 + 3x – 2 = 0 b. 5x2 - 3x – 2 = 0
c. 5x2 + 3x – 5 = 0 d. 5x2 - 3x – 2 = 0
43. Two engineering students are solving a problem leading to a
quadratic equation. One student made a mistake in the coefficient of

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the first degree term and got roots of 2 and - 3. The other student
made a mistake in the coefficient of the constant term and got roots of
– 1 and 4. What is the correct equation?
a. x2 + 3x - 6 = 0 b. x2 – 3x - 9 = 0
c. x2 – 3x - 7 = 0 d. x2 – 3x - 6 = 0
44. Determine k so that the equation 4x2 + kx + 1 = 0 will have just
one real solution. PAST ME BOARD
a. 2 b. 3
c. 4 d. 5
45. With a wind velocity of 40 kph, it takes an airplane as long to travel
1,200 km with the wind as 900 km against it. How fast can the
airplane travel in still air? PAST ME BOARD
a. 240 kph b. 290 kph
c. 280 kph d. 300 kph
46. A boat travels downstream in 2/3 of the time as it goes going
upstream. If the velocity of the rivers current is 8 kph, determine the
velocity of the boat in still water.
a. 50 kph b. 40 kph
c. 45 kph d. 50 kph
47. A man leaves his house at 8:00 AM and traveling at an average
speed of 2 kph, arrives at his office 3 min ahead of the expected time.
Had he left his house at 8:30 am and traveled at an average speed of
3 kph, he will arrive 6 min late of the expected time. Find the distance
that he had traveled.
CE BOARD NOV 2005
a. 2.4 km b. 1.8 km
c. 2.1 km d. 2.4 km
48. A ball is dropped from a height of 120 ft and continuously
rebounds to 2/3 of the distance it falls. What is the total distance
traversed by the ball when it comes to rest?
a. 1000 ft b. 600 ft
c. 800 ft d. 750 ft
49. If one of the roots of ax2 + bx + c is 3 + √2 . Find the value
of b.
a. -6 b. 5
c. 10 d. -8

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50. If one of the roots of ax2 + bx + c is 2/3 + 5/9i where a, b and c
are integers, what is the value of c?
a. 62 b. -61
c. 59 d. 61
51. Factor 2x – 5x – 63
2

a. ( 2x + 7)( x – 9) b. ( 2x + 9)( x -7)

c. ( x + 63)( 2x -1) c. ( x + 1)( 2x – 63)
52. If the two roots of the cubic equation 2x3 + ax2 + bx + 15 are 1
and 3, what is the value of a?
a. 2 b. 4
c. -3 d. 5
53. If two of the roots of the cubic equation ax3 + bx2 + cx + d are
3/2 + 4/5i and 7, and a , b, c and d are integral values, what is the
value of c?
a.2145 b. 2211
c. 1239 d. 2389
54. What is the sum of the geometric progression 2x, 4x + 14, 20x -
14 up to the 10th term? CE Nov 1998
a. 423,114 b. 431,222
c. 413,336 d. 341,116
55. Find the value of x in the equation
( x + yi)( 1- 2i) = 7 – 4i CE NOV 2004
a. 1 b. 3
c.5 d. 2
56. Find the summation of 5k – 3 from k = 1 to k = 16.
CE Nov 2005
a. 612 b. 678
c. 632 d. 712
57. The geometric mean of 2 numbers is 8 while the arithmetic mean
is 4. The cube of the harmonic mean is CE Nov 2005
a. 4123 b. 4096
c. 5122 d. 5132

(Stuation Problems 58, 59, 60)

You are taking a test in which items of type A are worth 10 points
and items of type B are worth 15 points. It takes 3 minutes to answer

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each item of type A and 6 minutes for each item of type B. The total
time allowed is 60 min, and you may not answer more than 16
questions. Assuming all your answers are correct and you may not
answer more than 16 questions. Assume that all you answers are
correct.
PAST CE BOARD
58. Determine the number of type A question solved.
a. 13 b. 14
c. 12 d. 15
59. Determine the number of type B question solved.
a. 5 b. 6
c. 4 d. 8
60. The maximum score is
a. 180 b. 200
c. 220 d. 230

60-b. In a pile of log, each layer contains one more log than the layer
above and the top contains just one log. If there are 105 logs in the
pile, how many layers are there.
a. 12 b. 13
c. 14 d. 15

60-c In a racing contest , there are 240 cars which will have provisions
that will last for 15 hrs. Assuming constant hourly consumption for
each car, how long will the provisions last if 8 cars withdraw from the
race every hr after the 1st?
a. 24 b. 25
c. 26 d. 27

60-d To conserve energy due to present energy crisis, Meralco tried to

readjust their charges to electrical energy users who consume more
than 2000 kw-hrs. For the 1st 100 kw hr, they charge P 0.40 and
increasing at a constant rate more than the preceding one until the 5th
100 kw hr is charge P 0.76. How much is the average charge for the
electrical energy per 100 kw hr? PAST CE BOARD

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 a. 0.78 b. 0.58
c. 0.32 d. 0.61

60e. A man left his home at past 3:00 PM as indicated in his wall
clock. Between 2 to 3 hrs after, he returned home and noticed the
hands of the clock interchanged. At what time did he leave his home?
PAST ECE BOARD
a. 3:32.17 b. 3:31.47
c. 3:21.33 d. 3:31.88

60f. In a mixed company of Poles, Italians, Greeks, Turks and

GermansThe poles are one less than 1/3 of the Germans; and 3 less
than half the Italians; the Germans and the Turks outnumber the
Greek and the Italians by 3; the Greeks and the Germans form one
less than half the company and the Greeks and the Italians form 7/16
of the company. How many Germans are there? PAST CE BOARD
EXAM
a. 40 b. 32
c. 24 d. 18

SOLUTION:
31. an = a1rn-1
-1 = 27r4-1; r = (-1/27)1/3 = -1/3
a3 = 27(-1/3)2 = 3
a1(1  r n ) 2(1  210 )
32’. Sn = = 2046
1 r 1 2
a1 a 1
33. Sn = = 1 5/6
1 r 1  r 1  ( 1/ 5)
34. ENTER: MODE 3 6
Input
X Y
1 28
3 112
10 ŷ = 14336

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