Practice (4)
back to index | new
A geometric sequence $(a_n)$ has $a_1=\sin x$, $a_2=\cos x$, and $a_3= \tan x$ for some real number $x$. For what value of $n$ does $a_n=1+\cos x$?
Monic quadratic polynomial $P(x)$ and $Q(x)$ have the property that $P(Q(x))$ has zeros at $x=-23, -21, -17,$ and $-15$, and $Q(P(x))$ has zeros at $x=-59,-57,-51$ and $-49$. What is the sum of the minimum values of $P(x)$ and $Q(x)$?
The first three terms of an arithmetic sequence are $2x - 3$, $5x - 11$, and $3x + 1$ respectively. The $n$th term of the sequence is $2009$. What is $n$?
Suppose that $f(x+3)=3x^2 + 7x + 4$ and $f(x)=ax^2 + bx + c$. What is $a+b+c$?
The figures $F_1$, $F_2$, $F_3$, and $F_4$ shown are the first in a sequence of figures. For $n\ge3$, $F_n$ is constructed from $F_{n - 1}$ by surrounding it with a square and placing one more diamond on each side of the new square than $F_{n - 1}$ had on each side of its outside square. For example, figure $F_3$ has $13$ diamonds. How many diamonds are there in figure $F_{20}$?
Let $a + ar_1 + ar_1^2 + ar_1^3 + \cdots$ and $a + ar_2 + ar_2^2 + ar_2^3 + \cdots$ be two different infinite geometric series of positive numbers with the same first term. The sum of the first series is $r_1$, and the sum of the second series is $r_2$. What is $r_1 + r_2$?
Let $p(x) = x^3 + ax^2 + bx + c$, where $a$, $b$, and $c$ are complex numbers. Suppose that
\[p(2009 + 9002\pi i) = p(2009) = p(9002) = 0\]
What is the number of nonreal zeros of $x^{12} + ax^8 + bx^4 + c$?
Functions $f$ and $g$ are quadratic, $g(x) = - f(100 - x)$, and the graph of $g$ contains the vertex of the graph of $f$. The four $x$-intercepts on the two graphs have $x$-coordinates $x_1$, $x_2$, $x_3$, and $x_4$, in increasing order, and $x_3 - x_2 = 150$. The value of $x_4 - x_1$ is $m + n\sqrt p$, where $m$, $n$, and $p$ are positive integers, and $p$ is not divisible by the square of any prime. What is $m + n + p$?
The tower function of twos is defined recursively as follows: $T(1) = 2$ and $T(n + 1) = 2^{T(n)}$ for $n\ge1$. Let $A = (T(2009))^{T(2009)}$ and $B = (T(2009))^A$. What is the largest integer $k$ such that
\[\underbrace{\log_2\log_2\log_2\ldots\log_2B}_{k\text{ times}}\]
is defined?
The first two terms of a sequence are $a_1 = 1$ and $a_2 = \frac {1}{\sqrt3}$. For $n\ge1$,
\[a_{n + 2} = \frac {a_n + a_{n + 1}}{1 - a_na_{n + 1}}.\]
What is $|a_{2009}|$?
The fifth and eighth terms of a geometric sequence of real numbers are $7!$ and $8!$ respectively. What is the first term?
Assume $0 < r < 3$. Below are five equations for $x$. Which equation has the largest solution $x$?
A function $f$ has domain $[0,2]$ and range $[0,1]$. (The notation $[a,b]$ denotes $\{x:a \le x \le b \}$.) What are the domain and range, respectively, of the function $g$ defined by $g(x)=1-f(x+1)$?
What is the area of the region defined by the inequality $|3x-18|+|2y+7|\le3$?
The numbers $\log(a^3b^7)$, $\log(a^5b^{12})$, and $\log(a^8b^{15})$ are the first three terms of an arithmetic sequence, and the $12^\text{th}$ term of the sequence is $\log{b^n}$. What is $n$?
Let $a_1,a_2,\ldots$ be a sequence determined by the rule $a_n=a_{n-1}/2$ if $a_{n-1}$ is even and $a_n=3a_{n-1}+1$ if $a_{n-1}$ is odd. For how many positive integers $a_1 \le 2008$ is it true that $a_1$ is less than each of $a_2$, $a_3$, and $a_4$?
The solutions of the equation $z^4+4z^3i-6z^2-4zi-i=0$ are the vertices of a convex polygon in the complex plane. What is the area of the polygon?
A sequence $(a_1,b_1)$, $(a_2,b_2)$, $(a_3,b_3)$, $\ldots$ of points in the coordinate plane satisfies
$(a_{n + 1}, b_{n + 1}) = (\sqrt {3}a_n - b_n, \sqrt {3}b_n + a_n)$ for $n = 1,2,3,\ldots$.
Suppose that $(a_{100},b_{100}) = (2,4)$. What is $a_1 + b_1$?
For each positive integer $n$, the mean of the first $n$ terms of a sequence is $n$. What is the $2008$th term of the sequence?
A circle has a radius of $\log_{10}{(a^2)}$ and a circumference of $\log_{10}{(b^4)}$. What is $\log_{a}{b}$?
The sum of the base-$10$ logarithms of the divisors of $10^n$ is $792$. What is $n$?
Let $A_0=(0,0)$. Distinct points $A_1,A_2,\dots$ lie on the $x$-axis, and distinct points $B_1,B_2,\dots$ lie on the graph of $y=\sqrt{x}$. For every positive integer $n,\ A_{n-1}B_nA_n$ is an equilateral triangle. What is the least $n$ for which the length $A_0A_n\geq100$?
Let $a, b, c, d$, and $e$ be five consecutive terms in an arithmetic sequence, and suppose that $a+b+c+d+e=30$. Which of $a, b, c, d,$ or $e$ can be found?
Square $ABCD$ has area $36,$ and $\overline{AB}$ is parallel to the x-axis. Vertices $A,$ $B$, and $C$ are on the graphs of $y = \log_{a}x,$ $y = 2\log_{a}x,$ and $y = 3\log_{a}x,$ respectively. What is $a?$
A function $f$ has the property that $f(3x-1)=x^2+x+1$ for all real numbers $x$. What is $f(5)$?