Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge 2022

Official Solutions

The COMC has three sections:

A. Short answer questions worth 4 marks each. A correct answer receives full marks. Partial marks
may be awarded for work shown if a correct answer is not provided.

B. Short answer questions worth 6 marks each. A correct answer receives full marks. Partial marks
may be awarded for work shown if a correct answer is not provided.

C. Multi-part full solution questions worth 10 marks each. Solutions must be complete and clearly
presented to receive full marks.

COMC exams from other years, with or without the solutions included, are free to download online.
Please visit https://comc.math.ca/2022/getting-ready/

© 2022 Canadian Mathematical Society January 5, 2023

Official Solutions https://comc.math.ca/ COMC 2022

Part A

A1. John had a box of candies. On the first day he ate exactly half of the candies and gave one
to his little sister. On the second day he ate exactly half of the remaining candies and gave
one to his little sister. On the third day he ate exactly half of the remaining candies and
gave one to his little sister, at which point no candies remained. How many candies were in
the box at the start?

Solution 1: We work backwards. At the start of the third day, John had 2 candies. At the start of the
second day, he had 2 × (2 + 1) = 6 candies. At the start of the first day, he had 2 × (6 + 1) = 14 candies,
so there were 14 candies in the box at the start.
Solution 2: Assume that there were x candies in the box at the start. After the first day, there are
x
2 − 1 candies. After the second day, there are
x
2 −1
−1
2
candies, and after the last day, there are
x
−1
2
2 −1
−1=0
2
candies. Expanding the left-hand side, we see that this is equivalent to
x 7
− = 0,
8 4
7
so we have x = 8 × 4 = 14.
Answer: 14 .

A2. A palindrome is a whole number whose digits are the same when read from left to right as
from right to left. For example, 565 and 7887 are palindromes. Find the smallest six-digit
palindrome divisible by 12.

Solution: We need a number in the form abccba that is divisible by both 3 and 4. Thus, we require that
the sum of digits 2a + 2b + 2c be divisible by 3, and that the number formed by the last two digits,
10b + a be divisible by 4. Due to the second condition, it is impossible to have a = 1, so the smallest
number must have a ≥ 2. If a = 2, then we cannot have b = 0, again by the second condition, so we must
have b ≥ 1. The number 210012 satisfies both conditions, so it is the smallest six-digit palindrome
divisible by 12.
Answer: 210012 .

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A3. Initially, there are four red balls, seven green balls, eight blue balls, ten white balls, and
eleven black balls on a table. Every minute, we may repaint one of the balls into any of the
other four colours. What is the minimum number of minutes after which the number of balls
of each of the five colours is the same?

Solution: We require there to be eight balls of each colour at the end. Thus, at least two white balls and
three black balls must be painted over; they can be painted into four red balls and one green ball, for a
total of five repaintings in five minutes.
Answer: 5 .

A4. In the diagram, triangle ABC lies between two parallel lines as shown. If segment AC has
length 5 cm, what is the length (in cm) of segment AB?
C
17◦
73◦

5 cm
B
x cm
13◦
A

Solution: By the Supplementary Angle Theorem, the triangle has ∡C = 180◦ − (73◦ + 17◦ ) = 90◦ . By
the Alternating Angle Theorem, the triangle has ∡A = 73◦ − 13◦ = 60◦ .
The remaining internal angle of the triangle is ∡B = 180◦ − ∡A − ∡C = 30◦ .
In the right triangle with angles 30◦ -60◦ -90◦ , the hypotenuse is twice the side opposite to the 30◦ angle.
Thus, the missing side has measure 10 cm.
Answer: x = 10 .

© 2022 Canadian Mathematical Society page 3

Official Solutions https://comc.math.ca/ COMC 2022

Part B

B1. The floor function of any real number a is the integer number denoted by ⌊a⌋ such that
⌊a⌋ ≤ a and ⌊a⌋ > a − 1. For example, ⌊5⌋ = 5, ⌊π⌋ = 3 and ⌊−1.5⌋ = −2.
Find the difference between the largest integer solution of the equation ⌊x/3⌋ = 102 and the
smallest integer solution of the equation ⌊x/3⌋ = −102.

Solution: For ⌊x/3⌋ = 102, we need 103 > x/3 ≥ 102, so 309 > x ≥ 306. Thus, x can be 306, 307, or
308. The largest is 308.
For ⌊x/3⌋ = −102, we need −101 > x/3 ≥ −102, so −303 > x ≥ −306. Thus, x can be −306, −305, or
−304. The smallest is −306.
Answer: 308 − (−306) = 614 .

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B2. A stone general is a chess piece that moves one square diagonally upward on each move;
that is, it may move from the coordinate (a, b) to either of the coordinates (a − 1, b + 1) or
(a + 1, b + 1). How many ways are there for a stone general to move from (5, 1) to (4, 8) in
seven moves on a standard 8 by 8 chessboard?

8 X

1 X

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Solution 1: Since we are constrained to 8 − 1 = 7 moves, and want to move from a = 5 to a = 4, we

need to move northwest 4 times and northeast 3 times. Notice that we do not fall off the grid in any
sequence of 4 northwest and 3 northeast moves because there are 4 cells to the left of the initial position
and there are 3 cells to the right of it.
Thus, every sequence of 4 northwest and 3 northeast moves works, and the answer is 73 = 74 = 35 .

Solution 2: For each square (i, j), let P (i, j) be the number of ways to get to (i, j) from (5, 1) using
j − 1 moves. Then we have P (i, j) = P (i − 1, j − 1) + P (i + 1, j − 1). Starting with P (5, 1) = 1 and
zeroes in all other cells in the first row, we can compute P (4, 8) = 35, as shown below.
20 35 34 14
5 15 20 14
5 10 10 4
1 4 6 4
1 3 3 1
1 2 1
1 1
0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0

Answer: x = 35 .

© 2022 Canadian Mathematical Society page 5

Official Solutions https://comc.math.ca/ COMC 2022

B3. In the diagram below, right triangle ABC has side lengths AC = 3 units, AB = 4 units, and
BC = 5 units. Circles centred around the corners of the triangle all have the same radius,
and the circle with centre O has area 4 times that of the circle with centre P . The shaded
area is kπ square units. What is k?

B
4 units

A P C

3 units

AO πr2O rO √
Solution: Since A◦ = πr2 , the ratio of the areas 4 = = translates into a ratio
4 = 2, =
AP P
πr2 rP
so r O = 2r P . Let x be r P and y be the radius of the corner circles. Then r O = 2x and y + 2x + y = 3,
y + 4x + y = 4. Subtracting 2x + 2y = 3 from 4x + 2y = 4 we have x = 1/2. Then y = 1. Thus, r O = 1,
and r P = 1/2.
The sum of internal angles in a triangle is π, so the shaded region is
2
πy 2 πr O πr2P π π π 12

2
9 9
A= + + = + + = π =⇒ k = .
2 2 2 2 2 2 8 8

9
Answer: k = .
8

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a
B4. Determine all integers a for which is an even integer.
1011 − a
a
Solution 1: Let 1011−a = 2k for some integer k and substitute a = 1011 − b. We have

a 1011 − b 1011
2k = = = − 1.
1011 − a b b

We thus require that 1011b be an odd integer. Since 1011 = 3 × 337, all factors of 1011 (positive and
negative) are odd. We seek b ∈ {±1, ±3, ±337, ±1011} which correspond to solutions
a ∈ {1010, 1012, 1008, 1014, 674, 1348, 0, 2022} , respectively.
a
In other words, integers a for which 1011−a is an even integer from the set

{1011 − b such that b|1011}.

a
Solution 2: As in the previous solution, let 1011−a = 2k. Rearranging, we have

a 2022k
= 2k ⇐⇒ a + 2ka = 2022k ⇐⇒ a = . (1)
1011 − a 1 + 2k

Now, note that k and 1 + 2k are relatively prime, so we must have 1 + 2k | 2022; that is, we seek odd
divisors of 2022. Since 2022 = 2 × 1011 = 2 × 3 × 337, these are 1 + 2k = ±1, ±3, ±337, or ±1011. Using
equation (1),
1 + 2k = 1 =⇒ a = 0 ,
1 + 2k = 3 =⇒ a = 674 ,
1 + 2k = 337 =⇒ a = 1008 ,
1 + 2k = 1011 =⇒ a = 1010 ,
1 + 2k = −1 =⇒ a = 2022 ,
1 + 2k = −3 =⇒ a = 1348 ,
1 + 2k = −337 =⇒ a = 1014 ,
1 + 2k = −1011 =⇒ a = 1012 ,

Answer: a ∈ {1010, 1012, 1008, 1014, 674, 1348, 0, 2022}

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Official Solutions https://comc.math.ca/ COMC 2022

Part C

C1.

a. Find all integer values of a such that equation x2 + ax + 1 = 0 does not have real solutions
in x.

b. Find all pairs of integers (a, b) such that both equations

x2 + ax + b = 0 and x2 + bx + a = 0

have no real solutions in x.

c. How many ordered pairs (a, b) of positive integers satisfying a ≤ 8 and b ≤ 8 are there, such
that each of the equations

x2 + ax + b = 0 and x2 + bx + a = 0

has two unique real solutions in x?

Solution:

a. To get no real solutions we need a2 − 4 < 0, so |a| < 2. Thus, a = 0, ±1 .

Answer: a = 0, ±1 .

b. We need a2 − 4b < 0 and b2 − 4a < 0. Thus a2 < 4b and b2 < 4a. a and b are thus both positive,
and we can multiply the above inequalities to get
a2 b2 < 16ab ⇐⇒ ab < 16.
At least one of a and b is thus less than 4; if a < 4, then b2 < 4a < 16, so b < 4 as well. Similarly, if
b < 4, then a < 4 as well. By direct verification we find the pairs: (1, 1), (2, 2), (3, 3) .
Answer: (1, 1), (2, 2), (3, 3) .

c. To get two unique solutions, we need a2 − 4b > 0 and b2 − 4a > 0.

Since a2 > 4b and b2 > 4a, we have ab > 16 by the same logic as above. If a > 4, then b2 > 4a > 16,
so b > 4 as well, so we must have that both a and b are greater than 4.
If a = 5 then 4b < 25 and b2 > 20, so b = 5, 6;
If a = 6 then 4b < 36 and b2 > 24, so b = 5, 6, 7, 8;
Similarly,
a = 7, b = 6, 7, 8;
a = 8, b = 6, 7, 8.
Answer: 12 .

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A graphical solution for (b) and (c) is shown below. We plot curves a2 = 4b and b2 = 4a and identify
lattice points in respective regions within 1 ≤ a ≤ 8, 1 ≤ b ≤ 8.

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Official Solutions https://comc.math.ca/ COMC 2022

C2.

a. Show that the two diagonals drawn from a vertex of a regular pentagon trisect the angle.

b. Since the diagonals trisect the angle, if regular pentagon P QRST is folded along the diagonal
SP , the side T P will fall on the diagonal P R, as shown on the right. Here T ′ is the position
of vertex T after the folding.

P P

T Q Q
T′

S R S R
√
PT′ a+ b
Find the ratio T ′R . Express your answer in the form c , where a, b, c are integers.

c. Regular pentagon P QRST has an area of 1 square unit. The pentagon is folded along the
diagonals SP and RP as shown on the right. Here, T ′ and Q′ are the positions of vertices
T and Q, respectively, after the foldings. The segments ST ′ and RQ′ intersect at X.

P P

T Q
Q′ X T′

S R S R

Determine the √area (in square units) of the uncovered triangle XSR. Express your answer
in the form a+c b , where a, b, c are integers.

Solution:

a. The sum of the angles in a regular pentagon is 180◦ × (5 − 2) = 540◦ . Each angle in a regular
pentagon is 540◦ /5 = 108◦ .
Since all sides are equal, SP T and RP Q are isosceles triangles. Thus,
∠SP T = (180◦ − 108◦ )/2 = 36◦ . Similarly, ∠RP Q = (180◦ − 108◦ )/2 = 36◦ . Then,
∠SP R = 108◦ − 2 × 36◦ = 36◦ .
Thus, the diagonals SP and RP trisect the angle T P Q.

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b. Without loss of generality, assume that the pentagon has side length 1. Triangles P RS and ST ′ R
are similar isosceles triangles with angles (36◦ , 72◦ , 72◦ ). Let the diagonal
√
have length x. Then we
SP SR x 1 2 1+ 5
have SR = T ′ R and so 1 = x−1 . Then x − x − 1 = 0 and so x = 2 , where we neglected the
second root of the equation because it is negative.
√
PT′ 1 1+ 5
The required ratio is T ′R = x−1 =x= 2 .
√
1+ 5
Answer: 2 .

We can also make the following calculation that will be useful in (c). Notice that T ′ lies on the
diagonal SQ, and so is X. Observe that
√ √
′ ′ 1+ 5 5−1
SX = QT = SQ − ST = −1= .
2 2

T Q
T′
X

S M R

Let M be the midpoint of SR, so SM = 1/2. This implies that

√
cos(36◦ ) = SM
SX = √1
5−1
= 5+1
4 .
√ 2 √
As well, from the right triangle SXM , we find XM 2 = ( 5−1) − 14 = 5−24 5
and so
√ √ p √
4
XM = 5−2 20 . Then XM/SM = 5 − 20 = tan(XSM ) = tan(36◦ ).

c. Solution 1:
Let O be the centre of the pentagon. From the right triangle SOM , we have
SM/OM = tan(SOM ), so OM = SM/ tan(36◦ ).
The area [P QRST ] = 5[ROS] = 25 SR · OM = 5SM · OM = 5(SM )2 / tan(36◦ ) = 1.

T Q
O

X
◦
S α = 36 M R

© 2022 Canadian Mathematical Society page 11

Official Solutions https://comc.math.ca/ COMC 2022

Thus, (SM )2 = 1
5 tan(36◦ ).
From the right triangle SXM (see (b)), we have XM/SM = tan(XSM ), so XM = SM tan(36◦ ).
The area [XSR] = 2[SXM ] = SM · XM = (SM )2 tan(36◦ ) = 51 tan2 (36◦ ).
p √ √
Since tan(36◦ ) = 5 − 20, as found in (b), the area is 5−25 5 .

P.S. Another solution may avoid reference to tan(36◦ ) by using XM

SM = SM
OM .

Solution 2:
Let the side length of the pentagon be a. Then, from the isosceles 36◦ -36◦ -108◦ triangle P T S, where
P T = T S = a, the diagonal P S = 2a cos(36◦ ). We express the area of ST P and SP R in terms of a.

a2 a2
[SP T ] = sin(108◦ ) = sin(72◦ ), [SP R] = a2 cos(36◦ ) sin(72◦ ).
2 2
Since [SP R] + 2[SP T ] = 1, we have a2 sin(72◦ )(1 + cos(36
√
◦ )) = 1 and we obtain

a2 = (sin(72◦ )(1 + cos(36◦ ))−1 . We also use cos(36◦ ) = 4 as found above, and so
5+1
√ √
1 + cos(36◦ ) = 5+5
4 and (1 + cos(36◦ ))−1 = 5− 5
5 , to get
√ √
1 5− 5 cos(36◦ ) 5
[SP T ] = = , [SP R] = = .
2(1 + cos(36◦ )) 10 1 + cos(36 )◦ 5
√
1− 5
Now we notice that XT S and SP R are similar. Since SX/SR = 2 , the coefficient of similarity
√ √
6−2 5 3− 5
for the triangles is the square of this ratio, namely 4 = 2 .
Finally, √ √ √ √
5− 5 3− 5 5 5−2 5
[SXR] = [SRT ] − [XT S] = − × = .
10 2 5 5

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C3. Yana and Zahid are playing a game. Yana rolls her pair of fair six-sided dice and draws a
rectangle whose length and width are the two numbers she rolled. Zahid rolls his pair of fair
six-sided dice, and draws a square with side length according to the rule specified below.

a. Suppose that Zahid always uses the number from the first of his two dice as the side length
of his square, and ignores the second. Whose shape has the larger average area, and by how
much?

b. Suppose now that Zahid draws a square with the side length equal to the minimum of his
two dice results. What is the probability that Yana’s and Zahid’s shapes will have the same
area?

c. Suppose once again that Zahid draws a square with the side length equal to the minimum
of his two dice results. Let D = AreaYana − AreaZahid be the difference between the area of
Yana’s figure and the area of Zahid’s figure. Find the expected value of D.

Solution:

a. Zahid’s average area is:

12 + 22 + 32 + 42 + 52 + 62 1 + 4 + 9 + 16 + 25 + 36 91
= = .
6 6 6
Yana’s average area is:
(1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6)2 212 72 49
= 2 = 2 = .
36 6 2 4
182 − 147
Therefore, Zahid’s average area is larger by = 35/12 (square units).
12

b. All possible outcomes for two dice are:

 
(1, 1) (1, 2) (1, 3) (1, 4) (1, 5) (1, 6)
 (2, 1) (2, 2) (2, 3) (2, 4) (2, 5) (2, 6) 
 
 (3, 1) (3, 2) (3, 3) (3, 4) (3, 5) (3, 6) 
 .
 (4, 1) (4, 2) (4, 3) (4, 4) (4, 5) (4, 6) 
 
 (5, 1) (5, 2) (5, 3) (5, 4) (5, 5) (5, 6) 
(6, 1) (6, 2) (6, 3) (6, 4) (6, 5) (6, 6)

The only way for them to have the same area is if (i) Zahid’s minimum value is equal to that on
Yana’s two rolled dice or (ii) Zahid’s minimum is 2 and Yana rolls a 1 and 4, in some order.
The probability that Zahid’s minimum number is 1 is Pz (1) = 11/36. Similarly,
Pz (2) = 9/36, Pz (3) = 7/36, Pz (4) = 5/36, Pz (5) = 3/36, Pz (6) = 1/36.
13−2n
In general, the probability that Zahid’s minimum number is n is Pz (n) = 36 .
The probability for Yana to roll the same specific number on both dice is 1/36. The probability to
roll either (1, 4) or (4, 1) is 2/36.

© 2022 Canadian Mathematical Society page 13

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1 2 1 1
The total probability is × (Pz (1) + · · · + Pz (6)) + × Pz (2) = + = 1/24 .
36 36 36 72

c. As calculated in part (a), the expected value of Yana’s area is 49 4 . From part (b), the probabilities
that Zahid’s minimum number is n is 13−2n36 for n = 1, 2, . . . , 6, and in these cases, his area is n2 .
Thus, the expected value of Zahid’s area is
6
X 13 − 2n 11 36 63 80 75 36 301
(n2 ) = + + + + + = .
36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36
n=1

The expected value of the difference of the areas is the difference of the expected values, which is
49 301 140 35
− = = .
4 36 36 9

Answer: 35/9 .

C4. An integer container (x, y, z) is a rectangular prism with positive integer side lengths x, y, z,
where x ≤ y ≤ z. A stick has x = y = 1; a flat has x = 1 and y > 1; and a box has x > 1.
There are 5 integer containers with volume 30: one stick (1, 1, 30), three flats (1, 2, 15), (1,
3, 10), (1, 5, 6) and one box (2, 3, 5).

a. How many sticks, flats and boxes are there among the integer containers with volume 36?

b. How many flats and boxes are there among the integer containers with volume 210?

c. Suppose n = pe11 · · · pekk has k distinct prime factors p1 , p2 , . . . , pk , each with integer exponent
e1 ≥ 1, e2 ≥ 1, . . . , ek ≥ 1 and k ≥ 3. How many boxes are there among the integer containers
with volume n? Express your answer in terms of e1 , e2 , . . . , ek . How many boxes with volume
n = 8! are there?

Solution: There is always one stick for every volume. To count flats with volume n, we want pairs (y, z)
with 1 < y ≤ z and yz = n, so we can count divisors of n and discard the pair (1, n). That is, if d(n) is
the number of divisors of n, the number of flats is (d(n) − 2)/2 if n is not a perfect square, and
(d(n) − 1)/2 if n is a perfect square.

a. There is one stick (1, 1, 36) with volume 36, and four flats, by the divisor counting argument since
d(36) = 9. Or, explicitly, the flats are (1, 2, 18), (1, 3, 12), (1, 4, 9), and (1, 6, 6).
To count boxes, we can directly find them all by case work: (2, 2, 9), (2, 3, 6), (3, 3, 4). Alternatively,
for each box, we can distribute the primes 2, 2, 3, 3 to three sides, so that each side gets at least one
prime factor. In this case, there must be one side that is a product of two primes (maybe not
distinct), and there are three ways to do this.
Answer: 1, 4, 3 .

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b. We have 210 = 2 · 3 · 5 · 7, so that d(210) = 24 , and hence there are 7 flats. To count boxes, we
note that

one side length must be a product of two primes, while the other two are prime. There
are 42 = 6 ways to choose two of the four, so there are 6 boxes.
Explicitly, the boxes are (2, 3, 35), (2, 5, 21), (2, 7, 15), (3, 5, 14), (3, 7, 10), (5, 6, 7).

c. We first count the number of containers with volume n, Cn , followed by the number of flats, Fn .
We then desire Cn − Fn − 1, as there is one stick of volume n.
There are three kinds of containers: ones where no two dimensions are equal, ones where two
dimensions are equal, and ones where all three dimensions are equal. Call the number of such
containers C1,n , C2,n , and C3,n , respectively. Note that C3,n = 1 when all ei are multiples of 3, and
C3,n = 0 otherwise.
To count C2,n , we first count the number of triplets (x, y, z) of positive integers with xyz = n and
x = y. We see that there are ⌊ e2i ⌋ + 1 ways to choose the number of factors of pi in each of the three
dimensions (we may choose the power of pi in x as 0, 1, . . . , ⌊ei /2⌋). Each of these triplets
corresponds to exactly one container, so there are
k j k
Y ei 
C2,n + C3,n = +1
2
i=1

containers where at least two dimensions are equal.

Finally, to count C1,n , we first count
the number of triplets (x, y, z) of positive integers with
xyz = n. For each pi , there are ei2+2 ways to distribute its divisors among x, y, and z. Here, every
element of C1,n is counted six times, every element of C2,n is counted thrice, and every element of
C3,n is counted once, whence
k  
Y ei + 2
6C1,n + 3C2,n + C3,n = .
2
i=1

Combining all of this together (adding the last equation with thrice the first one), we have
k  k j k
 ( !
1 Y ei + 2 Y ei  2 if 3|ei for all i
Cn = C1,n + C2,n + C3,n = +3 +1 +
6 2 2 0 otherwise
i=1 i=1

Now we deal with flats. For every unordered pair of divisors of n, (k, n/k), there is a flat with
dimensions 1, k, n/k in some order, provided k ̸= 1, n. The number of such unordered pairs is
k
( !
1 Y 1 if 2|ei for all i
Fn = (ei + 1) − 2 + .
2 0 otherwise
i=1

Now we specialize to the case n = 8! = 27 · 32 · 5 · 7.

We see that      
1 9 4 3 3
Cn = + 3 · 4 · 2 = 328,
6 2 2 2 2

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and
1
Fn = (8 · 3 · 2 · 2 − 2) = 47,
2
so the number of boxes is
Cn − Fn − 1 = 280 .

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