Practice Problems for Russian Math Olympiad

Grade 5-6
2019 …………..…………………………………………………………… Pg. 2
2018 …………..…………………………………………………………… Pg. 5
2017 …………..…………………………………………………………… Pg. 8
2016 …………..…………………………………………………………… Pg. 11
 FINAL ROUND
ID ____________________________________________
Name ________________________________________ Grades
Grade __________________________________________
RSM Affiliation _________________________________ 5-6
Test Location __________________________________

1 If 20 + XY + 19 = 100, compute 20 + YX – 19.

(X and Y represent the digits of the 2-digit numbers XY and YX.)

2 A car moved 1 second at a constant rate of 2 m/sec, then 1 second

at a constant rate of 4 m/sec, then 1 second at a constant rate of
6 m/sec, and so on. All movements were in the same direction. In
how many seconds would the total distance covered by the car be
110 meters?

3 Gary and Mary have the same number of candies. If

Gary gives Mary half of all his candies, and then Mary
gives Gary half of all the candies she has at the moment,

Please fold over on line. Write answers on back.

Gary would have 12 more candies than Mary. How
many candies do Gary and Mary have altogether?

4 Numbers were written in 1000 boxes in a row, one number per

box (only the first ten and the last five boxes are shown). For every
four boxes in a row, the sum of their numbers was 12. Most of the
numbers got erased over time, but three of them remain. What
number was written in the last box on the right?

0 1 2 ...
5 Four cats – Astro, Buttons, Calico, and Duchess – bought
30 mice altogether. Each of the four cats bought an odd
number of mice. Buttons bought more mice than Astro,
and Calico bought fewer mice than Duchess. What
is the greatest number of mice that could have been
bought by Astro and Calico altogether?

6 The area of a regular hexagon RASHMI S H

is 9102 square feet. Compute the area
(in square feet) of the triangle RSM.
A M

R I
 FINAL ROUND
ID ____________________________________________
Name ________________________________________ Grades
Grade __________________________________________
RSM Affiliation _________________________________ 5-6
Test Location __________________________________

7 Fatima drew a rectangle with side lengths that were whole

numbers. The perimeter of the rectangle was a multiple of 7 and
the area was a multiple of 9. Compute the least possible perimeter
of Fatima’s rectangle.

8 How many quadrilaterals of all sizes and

positions are there in the diagram, including
quadrilaterals that are made up of more than
one shape?

Please fold over on line. Write answers on back.

Stretch and Shorty are friends. Every January 1st they
get measured and they write down the date, Stretch‘s
height, Shorty’s height, their total height, and their height
difference (the amount by which Stretch is taller than
Shorty). From January 1st, 2018, to January 1st, 2019,
Stretch grew 5%, Shorty grew 2%, their total height
increased by 4%, and their height difference increased by
X%. Compute the value of X.

10 How many different whole numbers are there containing only the
digits 1 and/or 2 (each of these digits can be used one or more
times or not at all) such that for each of these numbers, the sum of all
of its digits equals seven?

11 A teacher gave her students a paper square. The first student cut this
square into two shapes, using one straight cut not through any of the
paper’s corners. The second student cut one of the resulting shapes,
using one straight cut not through any of that shape’s corners, and so
on. After ten students had made their cuts, there were eleven shapes,
including seven triangles, two quadrilaterals, and a pentagon. How
many sides were in the remaining shape?

12 Say that a whole number is “five-important” if it is a multiple of 5

and/or contains the digit 5. For instance, the numbers 55, 120, and
456 are five-important, but the number 2019 is not. How many
different five-important numbers are there between 1 and 2019?
ID ____________________________________________
Name ________________________________________
Grade __________________________________________
RSM Affiliation _________________________________
Test Location __________________________________
ID ____________________________________________
Name ________________________________________
Grade __________________________________________
RSM Affiliation _________________________________
Test Location __________________________________

 FINAL ROUND
First Name _____________________________________
Last Name _____________________________________ Grades
Grade __________________________________________
School __________________________________________ 5-6
City ___________________________________________
RSM Branch____________________________________

1 Today Alice ate 3 fewer candies than yesterday, and twice as many
cookies as yesterday. But the total number of candies and cookies
she ate today was the same as yesterday. How many cookies did
Alice eat today?

2 A ring is a flat shape formed by an inner

circle and an outer circle, as shown in
the first diagram. How many rings of all
sizes and types are there in the second
diagram containing five circles?

3 John took two different digits and using them wrote two different
2-digit numbers (each number uses both digits). The sum of these

Please fold over on line. Write answers on back.

2-digit numbers is also a 2-digit number. What is the greatest
possible value of the smaller of the written numbers?

4 A metal letter R weighs 2 pounds, a metal letter S weighs 1 pound,

and a metal letter M weighs 4 pounds. A certain 10-letter “word”
containing only the metal letters R, S, and M can be split into three
groups of letters weighing 9 pounds per group. How many letters M
are in this word?

5
In a very long toy train, the first and last cars were blue. After each
blue car (except the last one), there were two yellow cars. After each
pair of yellow cars, there was a red car. After each red car, there was a
blue car. The first five train cars are shown in the picture. Oleg picked
a car and recolored all cars in front of it green. Then Joyce picked
a car and recolored all cars behind it green. What is the greatest
possible number of non-green cars in the recolored toy train if it
contains 7 more yellow cars than blue cars?

6
Find the largest 6-digit multiple of 11 such that the sum of all its
digits equals 40.
 FINAL ROUND
First Name _____________________________________
Last Name _____________________________________ Grades
Grade __________________________________________
School __________________________________________ 5-6
City ___________________________________________
RSM Branch____________________________________

7 The Treasury wants to reduce usage of coins and is considering

several silly proposals: devalue a quarter by X% compared to a
penny, raise a dollar by X% compared to a penny, and make a dollar
worth 6 quarters. If it decides to implement all three proposals,
without any other explicit changes (so a penny is still worth 1 cent,
and a dime is still worth 10 cents), how many dimes would be in a
dollar?
8 Anna really likes numbers and decided to collect them. She started
her collection from the number 1001, which was a birthday gift from
RSM. After that, every week Anna added one more new number to
the collection by selecting the smallest counting number not yet in
the collection that was relatively prime to all the numbers already
in the collection. What number was added to Anna's collection

Please fold over on line. Write answers on back.

on week 10? Note that after 10 weeks the collection contained 11
different numbers.

93 How many different ways are there to place six

different digits from 1 to 6 inside the six square
cells of a 2-by-3 grid (one digit per cell) such that
for every pair of consecutive digits (such as 3 and
4) their square cells share a side?

10 All possible diagonals drawn from the two adjacent vertices A and B
of a regular hectogon divide the hectogon’s interior into a number of
non-overlapping shapes – triangles and quadrilaterals (without any
part of a line inside them). How many of these shapes are triangles?
(A hectogon is a polygon with 100 sides.)

11 There are eight different cards (four red and four blue) with the digits
2, 0, 1, 7 on them. Each card has exactly one digit, and each of these
digits is on exactly two cards (one red and one blue). How many
different ways are there to put all eight cards in a row with digits face
up and right-side up such that every card appears right next to another
card with the same digit?

12 A teacher asked her students to find a 2-digit whole number which

has as many as possible different positive factors. Jen realized that
there was more than one such number, and listed each of them
once. Find the sum of all of Jen’s numbers.
Answers:
Problem No. Answer

1 6

2 10

3 45

4 5

5 34

6 999922

7 12

8 37

9 16

10 292

11 384

12 402
 FINAL ROUND
First Name _____________________________________
Last Name _____________________________________ Grades
Grade __________________________________________
School __________________________________________ 5-6
City ___________________________________________
RSM Branch____________________________________

1 Jane’s mother left some cherries for her children. Jane ate 10
cherries, which was exactly 25 of all the cherries that her mother left.
Her brother Sam ate all the remaining cherries. How many cherries
did he eat?

2 From a big piece of paper Steve cut out 2016 shapes – squares and
regular pentagons. Then Michael cut each pentagon along one of its
diagonals. How many quadrilaterals were there at the end? (A regular
pentagon has five equal sides and five equal angles. A diagonal of
a pentagon is a segment which connects two corners that are not
already connected by a side.)

3 There are 30 puppies, kittens, and mice altogether in the RSM

Please fold over on line. Write answers on back.

Pet Hotel. There are twice as many kittens' ears as puppies' tails.
There are twice as many puppies' paws as mice's eyes. How many
kittens are there in the RSM Pet Hotel (if every animal has the usual
number of body parts)?

4 The diagram shows a 4-by-7

rectangle composed of unit squares,
where parts of some lines have been
erased. How many squares of all
sizes and positions are there in this
diagram, including squares that are
made up of other squares?

5
Stan bought several pizza pies. He cut the first pie into 2 slices, the
second pie into 3 slices, the third pie into 4 slices, and so forth. Then
he ate one slice from each pie and counted that only 21 slices were
left. How many slices did Stan eat?

6
The RSM Seed Company sells seeds for the Rare Rose, which
blooms every 12 years; the Seldom Sunflower, which blooms
every 7 years; and the Miracle Magnolia, which blooms every 50
years. If all three plants bloom in 2016, in what year will all three
of them bloom again the next time?
 FINAL ROUND
First Name _____________________________________
Last Name _____________________________________ Grades
Grade __________________________________________
School __________________________________________ 5-6
City ___________________________________________
RSM Branch____________________________________

7 In 1st grade Bob and Pete were the same height. By 6th grade, Bob
grew 20% whereas Pete grew 20 cm. By 11th grade, compared with
6th grade, Pete grew 20% whereas Bob grew 20 cm. By how many
centimeters is Pete taller than Bob in 11th grade?

8 On Monday, Matthew folded a paper rectangle once to get another

rectangle. On Tuesday, he folded this new rectangle once to get
another rectangle. Mattew continued to do so daily until he got
(after the fifth folding) a 2 cm-by-3 cm rectangle on Friday.
What is the greatest possible perimeter (in centimeters) of the
original rectangle?

93 There are four pens (black, blue, red, and green) and four pen

Please fold over on line. Write answers on back.

caps (blue, blue, red, and green). How many ways are there to put
all four caps on all four pens (exactly one cap per pen) with the
restriction that pen’s and cap’s colors should be different for each
pen? Note that the two blue caps are identical.

10 Ravi wrote (using white chalk) the number 123,456,789 on the board.
Then he wrote (using yellow chalk) the number 20 near every white
odd digit on the board, and the number 16 near every white even
digit on the board. Then he wrote (using pink chalk) the number 20
near every non-pink odd digit on the board, and the number 16 near
every non-pink even digit on the board. Finally, he wrote (using grey
chalk) the number 20 near every non-grey odd digit on the board,
and the number 16 near every non-grey even digit on the board.
How many even digits are on the board now?

11 Ben thought of four different positive numbers. Exactly two of his

numbers are multiples of 2, exactly two of his numbers are multiples of
3, and exactly two of his numbers are multiples of 5. What is the least
possible value of the sum of the four numbers Ben thought of?

12 Say that a pair of numbers X and Y (X may equal Y) is “special” if their

sum and their product have the same units digit. How many different
special pairs of two-digit whole numbers are there? Count pairs
(X, Y) and (Y, X) as one pair.
 2016 RSM Olympiad 5-6

1. Jane’s mother left some cherries for her children. Jane ate 10 cherries, which was exactly
2
5
of all the cherries that her mother left. Her brother Sam ate all the remaining cherries.
How many cherries did he eat?
Answer: 15
2
Solution 1. Since the 10 cherries Jane ate were exactly 5 of all the cherries, then 10÷2 = 5
1
cherries were 5 of all the cherries. Jane’s brother Sam ate all the remaining cherries,
2 3
which was exactly 1 − 5
= 5
of all the cherries, so he ate 3×5 = 15 cherries.

2
Solution 2. Since the 10 cherries Jane ate were exactly 5 of all the cherries, then Jane’s
2 5
mother left 10 ÷ 5 = 10 × 2 = 25 cherries for her children. So Sam ate 25 – 10 = 15
remaining cherries.

2. From a big piece of paper Steve cut out 2016 shapes – squares and regular pentagons.
Then Michael cut each pentagon along one of its diagonals. How many quadrilaterals
were there at the end? (A regular pentagon has five equal sides and five equal angles. A
diagonal of a pentagon is a segment which connects two corners that are not already
connected by a side.)
Answer: 2016
Solution. Cutting a regular pentagon along one of its diagonals leaves one triangle and
one quadrilateral. Squares are also quadrilaterals. Thus there will be one quadrilateral at
the end for each shape Steve cut out, or 2016, no matter how many of these shapes were
squares or regular pentagons.

3. There are 30 puppies, kittens, and mice altogether in the RSM Pet Hotel. There are twice
as many kittens' ears as puppies' tails. There are twice as many puppies' paws as mice's
eyes. How many kittens are there in the RSM Pet Hotel (if every animal has the usual
number of body parts)?
Answer: 10
Solution. Since kittens have two ears each, there are twice as many kittens’ ears as
kittens. Since puppies have one tail each, there are as many puppies’ tails as puppies. So
the number of kittens equals half the number of kittens’ ears, and therefore the number of
kittens equals the number of puppies’ tails which equals the number of puppies. Since
puppies have four paws each, there are four times as many puppies’ paws as puppies.
Since mice have two eyes each, there are twice as many mice’s eyes as mice. So the
number of puppies equals a quarter of the number of puppies’ paws, and therefore the
number of puppies equals half the number of mice’s eyes which equals the number of
mice. This means that the RSM Pet Hotel has the same number of puppies, kittens, and
mice for a total of 30 tenants. Thus there are 10 (one third of 30) kittens in the RSM Pet
Hotel.

4. The diagram shows a 4-by-7 rectangle composed of unit squares,

where parts of some lines have been erased. How many squares of
all sizes and positions are there in this diagram, including squares
that are made up of other squares?
 2016 RSM Olympiad 5-6

Answer: 34
Solution. The diagram contains only squares that are 1×1, 2×2, 3×3, and 4×4. There are
20 1×1 squares, 8 2×2 squares, 4 3×3 squares, and 2 4×4 squares, for a total of 20 + 8 + 4
+ 2 = 34 squares of all sizes and positions in the diagram.

5. Stan bought several pizza pies. He cut the first pie into 2 slices, the second pie into 3
slices, the third pie into 4 slices, and so forth. Then he ate one slice from each pie and
counted that only 21 slices were left. How many slices did Stan eat?
Answer: 6
Solution. After Stan ate one slice from each pie, there remained 1 slice from the first pie,
2 slices from the second pie, 3 slices from the third pie, and so forth. Since 21 = 1 + 2 + 3
+ 4 + 5 + 6, Stan must have bought 6 pizza pies, and therefore he ate 6 slices.

6. The RSM Seed Company sells seeds for the Rare Rose, which blooms every 12 years; the
Seldom Sunflower, which blooms every 7 years; and the Miracle Magnolia, which
blooms every 50 years. If all three plants bloom in 2016, in what year will all three of
them bloom again the next time?
Answer: 4116
Solution. The prime factorization of number 12 is 2×2×3, number 7 is prime, and the
prime factorization of number 50 is 2×5×5. Therefore the least common multiple of 12, 7,
and 50 is 2×2×3×7×5×5 = (3×7)×(2×5)×(2×5) = 21×10×10 = 2100. Thus it will take
2100 years until the next time all three plants bloom in the same year, so the answer is
2016 + 2100 = 4116.

7. In 1st grade Bob and Pete were the same height. By 6th grade, Bob grew 20% whereas
Pete grew 20 cm. By 11th grade, compared with 6th grade, Pete grew 20% whereas Bob
grew 20 cm. By how many centimeters is Pete taller than Bob in 11th grade?
Answer: 4
Solution. In 6th grade Pete was 20 cm taller than he was in 1st grade. By 11th grade,
compared with 6th grade, Pete grew 20%, so in 11th grade he was taller than in 1st grade
by a total of 20 cm, plus 20% of his height in 1st grade, plus 20% of 20 cm (which is
0.2×20 = 4 cm). In 6th grade Bob was 20% taller than he was in 1st grade. By 11th grade,
compared with 6th grade, Bob grew 20 cm, so in 11th grade he was taller than in 1st grade
by a total of 20% of his height in 1st grade, plus 20 cm. Since Bob and Pete were the same
height in 1st grade, in 11th grade Pete is taller than Bob by 4 cm.

8. On Monday, Matthew folded a paper rectangle once to get another rectangle. On

Tuesday, he folded this new rectangle once to get another rectangle. Mattew continued to
do so daily until he got (after the fifth folding) a 2 cm-by-3 cm rectangle on Friday. What
is the greatest possible perimeter (in centimeters) of the original rectangle?
Answer: 196
Solution. Let’s consider only rectangles with vertical and horizontal sides. First, let’s
consider two rectangles, A and B, such that rectangle A is fully covered by rectangle B.
We “unfold” the rectangle A once (using any of the possible creases) to get rectangle C.
Then we can use the same crease (or its extension) to “unfold” rectangle B once to get
rectangle D. It is clear that rectangle D fully covers rectangle C, and therefore the
perimeter of rectangle D is not less than the perimeter of rectangle C.
 2016 RSM Olympiad 5-6

Let’s also designate the “after the fifth folding” 2 cm-by-3 cm rectangle Z as
having horizontal sides 3 cm long and vertical sides 2 cm long. Note that there are just
two possibilities for the “after the fourth folding” rectangle Y. The first one has a vertical
crease along the 2-cm side. In this case the longest possible adjacent side of rectangle Y is
2×3 = 6 cm long (twice the length of the folded side), and all other possible (for this case)
rectangles Y are fully covered by this 2 cm-by-6 cm rectangle Y 1 . The second possibility
has a horizontal crease along the 3-cm side. In this case the longest possible adjacent side
of rectangle Y is 2×2= 4 cm long (twice the length of the folded side), and all other
possible (for this case) rectangles Y are fully covered by this 4 cm-by-3 cm rectangle Y 2 .
Since each possible “after the fourth folding” rectangle Y is fully covered either by
rectangle Y 1 or by rectangle Y 2 , in order to get the original rectangle having the greatest
possible perimeter, we can continue to unfold only rectangles Y 1 and Y 2 . By applying
similar reasoning, we conclude that each possible “after the third folding” rectangle X is
fully covered either by 2 cm-by-12 cm rectangle X 1 , or by 4 cm-by-6 cm rectangle X 2 , or
by 8 cm-by-3 cm rectangle X 3 , so in order to get the original rectangle having the greatest
possible perimeter, we can continue to unfold only rectangles X 1 , X 2 , and X 3 . After
applying similar reasoning a few more times, we conclude that each possible original
rectangle U is fully covered either by 2 cm-by-96 cm rectangle U 1 , or by 4 cm-by-48 cm
rectangle U 2 , or by 8 cm-by-24 cm rectangle U 3 , or by 16 cm-by-12 cm rectangle U 4 , or
by 32 cm-by-6 cm rectangle U 5 , or by 64 cm-by-3 cm rectangle U 6 . Thus, to find the
greatest possible perimeter of the original rectangle, we can simply compute perimeters
of the six rectangles U 1 , U 2 , U 3 , U 4 , U 5 , and U 6 , and take the greatest of their values.
These six rectangles have perimeters of 2×(2 + 96) = 196 cm, 2×(4 + 48) = 104 cm, 2×(8
+ 24) = 64 cm, 2×(16 + 12) = 56 cm, 2×(32 + 6) = 76 cm, and 2×(64 + 3) = 134 cm, so
the answer is 196.

9. There are four pens (black, blue, red, and green) and four pen caps (blue, blue, red, and
green). How many ways are there to put all four caps on all four pens (exactly one cap
per pen) with the restriction that pen’s and cap’s colors should be different for each pen?
Note that the two blue caps are identical.
Answer: 4
Solution. A cap on the blue pen could be either red or green. Let’s start from the case
when the blue pen is capped by the red cap, and other three pens are yet uncapped. In this
case the green cap could be put on any of the two yet-uncapped non-green pens (black or
red, 2 possibilities), and the remaining two blue caps must be put on the two yet-
uncapped pens (just 1 possibility, since the two blue caps are identical). In total, we
counted 2 ways to put all four caps on all four pens (exactly one cap per pen) with the red
cap on the blue pen. By symmetry, there are also 2 ways to put all four caps on all four
pens (exactly one cap per pen) with the green cap on the blue pen. Since no other cap can
be put on the blue pen, there are a total of 2 + 2 = 4 ways to put all four caps on all four
pens (exactly one cap per pen) with the restriction that pen’s and cap’s colors should be
different for each pen.

10. Ravi wrote (using white chalk) the number 123,456,789 on the board. Then he wrote
(using yellow chalk) the number 20 near every white odd digit on the board, and the
number 16 near every white even digit on the board. Then he wrote (using pink chalk) the
number 20 near every non-pink odd digit on the board, and the number 16 near every
non-pink even digit on the board. Finally, he wrote (using grey chalk) the number 20 near
 2016 RSM Olympiad 5-6

every non-grey odd digit on the board, and the number 16 near every non-grey even digit
on the board. How many even digits are on the board now?
Answer: 162
Solution 1. Ravi wrote (using white chalk) 5 odd (1, 3, 5, 7, 9) and 4 even (2, 4, 6, 8)
digits on the board. For each of the 5 (white) odd digits, he wrote the number 20 in
yellow near it. Since both digits 2 and 0 are even, Ravi wrote 10 yellow even digits (5
twos and 5 zeroes). For each of the 4 white even digits, he wrote the number 16 in yellow
near it. Since 1 is odd and 6 is even, Ravi wrote 4 yellow odd digits (1s) and 4 more
yellow even digits (6s). Thus the total number of even digits now is 4 (white even digits
from the original number) + 10 (yellow 2s and 0s) + 4 (yellow 6s) = 18. The total number
of odd digits now is 5 (white odd digits from the original number) + 4 (yellow 1s) = 9.
All of the digits on the board are non-pink.
Then Ravi wrote, all in pink, 9 twos (even), 9 zeroes (even), 18 ones (odd) and 18
sixes (even). This adds 9 + 9 + 18 = 36 more even digits (for a total of 18 + 36 = 54) and
18 more odd digits (for a total of 9 + 18 = 27). All of the digits on the board are non-grey.
Finally Ravi wrote, all in grey, 27 twos (even), 27 zeroes (even), 54 ones (odd) and 54
sixes (even). This adds 27 + 27 + 54 = 108 more even digits, bringing the total number of
even digits on the board to 54 + 108 = 162.

Solution 2. For each of the 9 white digits on the board, Ravi wrote two yellow digits near
it. After this there are 3 times as many digits on the board as white digits, for a total of
3×9 = 27 white/yellow digits. Similarly, there is a total of 3×27 = 81 white/yellow/pink
(non-grey) digits on the board. Each of these non-grey digits is either even or odd.
Ravi wrote the number 20 in grey near every non-grey odd digit on the board.
Both digits 2 and 0 are even, so each non-grey odd digit “owns” 2 even digits on the
board. Then Ravi wrote the number 16 in grey near every non-grey even digit on the
board. Only one of the digits 1 and 6 is even (6), so each non-grey even digit also “owns”
2 even digits on the board (one grey digit near it and itself). Thus, now there are twice as
many even digits on the board as non-grey digits, for a total of 2×81 = 162 even digits.

11. Ben thought of four different positive numbers. Exactly two of his numbers are multiples
of 2, exactly two of his numbers are multiples of 3, and exactly two of his numbers are
multiples of 5. What is the least possible value of the sum of the four numbers Ben
thought of?
Answer: 24
Solution. If Ben thought of the four positive numbers 3, 5, 6 = 2×3, and 10 = 2×5, their
sum would be 3 + 5 + 6 + 10 = 24, and exactly two of his numbers are multiples of 2,
exactly two of his numbers are multiples of 3, and exactly two of his numbers are
multiples of 5. Now let’s prove that if the four numbers Ben thought of satisfy all the
conditions of the problem, the sum of these four numbers is at least 24.
Exactly two of the four numbers are multiples of 5. If neither of them is exactly 5,
then the sum of these two different positive multiples of 5 is at least 10 + 15 = 25 > 24. If
one of them is 5 and the other one is at least 20, then their sum is at least 5 + 20 = 25 >
24. If one of them is 5 and the other one is 15, then both of them are odd, so the other two
of the four numbers must be the multiples of 2. The sum of these two different positive
multiples of 2 is at least 2 + 4 = 6, so the sum of the four numbers is at least 5 + 15 + 6 =
26 > 24.
 2016 RSM Olympiad 5-6

Finally, if one of the two multiples of 5 is 5 and the other one is 10, then neither
of them is a multiple of 3, so the other two of the four numbers must be the multiples of
3. The sum of these two different positive multiples of 3 is at least 3 + 6 = 9, so the sum
of the four numbers is at least 5 + 10 + 9 = 24. Thus, the least possible value of the sum
of the four numbers Ben thought of is 24.

12. Say that a pair of numbers X and Y (X may equal Y) is “special” if their sum and their
product have the same units digit. How many different special pairs of two-digit whole
numbers are there? Count pairs (X, Y) and (Y, X) as one pair.
Answer: 171
Solution. If both whole numbers in a pair are odd, then their sum is even (and therefore
has an even units digit) and their product is odd (and therefore has an odd units digit), so
the sum and the product have different units digits and the pair cannot be special. If one
of the two whole numbers in a pair is even and the other one is odd, then their sum is odd
(and therefore has an odd units digit) and their product is even (and therefore has an even
units digit), so the sum and the product have different units digits and again the pair
cannot be special. Thus, both whole numbers making a special pair must be even. In other
words, each of them must have an even units digit. Note that for any two whole numbers,
the units digit of their sum and the units digit of their product depend only on the units
digits of the numbers themselves.
If one of the two whole numbers in a pair has units digit 0, the product of the two
numbers has units digit 0, and therefore for the pair to be special the sum of the two
numbers must also have units digit 0, so the other number in the pair must have units
digit 0. And vice versa, when both whole numbers have the same units digit 0, their sum
and their product have the same units digit (namely 0) and the pair is special. Checking
other possibilities for the units digits of two even whole numbers (2 and 2, 2 and 4, 2 and
6, 2 and 8, 4 and 4, 4 and 6, 4 and 8, 6 and 6, 6 and 8, 8 and 8) yields that only cases “2
and 2” and “4 and 8” produce special pairs. When both whole numbers have the same
units digit 2, their sum and their product have the same units digit (namely 4) and the pair
is special. When one of the two whole numbers has units digits 4 and the other one has
units digit 8, their sum and their product have the same units digit (namely 2) and the pair
is special.
Now let’s count how many different pairs of two-digit whole numbers satisfy the
following condition: either both numbers have the same units digit 0; or both numbers
have the same units digit 2; or one of the numbers has units digit 4 and the other one has
units digit 8. Remember that pairs (X, Y) and (Y, X) should be counted as only one pair.
There are 9 two-digit whole numbers with units digit 0 (the tens digit could be any of the
9 non-zero digits). These numbers produce 9×9 = 81 pairs, 9 pairs of type (X, X) and 81 –
9 = 72 pairs of type (X, Y) with X ≠ Y. But we need to count pairs (X, Y) and (Y, X) as one
pair, so we have to count 72 pairs (X, Y) with X ≠ Y as just 72÷2 = 36 different pairs.
Pairs (X, X) were already counted once each, so there are 9 + 36 = 45 different pairs of
two-digit whole numbers having units digit 0. Similarly, there are 45 different pairs of
two-digit whole numbers having units digit 2.
Finally, let’s count how many different pairs of two-digit whole numbers satisfy
the following condition: one of the numbers has units digit 4 and the other one has units
digit 8. To avoid counting duplicate pairs (like (14, 98) and (98, 14)), we can simply
assume that the first number in a pair has units digit 4, and the second number has units
digit 8. There are 9 two-digit whole numbers with units digit 4 (the tens digit could be
 2016 RSM Olympiad 5-6

any of the 9 non-zero digits). Similarly, there are 9 two-digit whole numbers with units
digit 8. Thus, there are 9×9 = 81 different pairs of two-digit whole numbers with one
number in a pair having units digit 4 and the other one having units digit 8. Altogether,
there are 45 + 45 + 81 = 171 special pairs of two-digit whole numbers.