Contest Problem Book VI

Contest Problem Book VI chronicles the high school competitions sponsored by the Mathematical Association of America. It contains 180 challenging problems from the six years of the American High School Mathematics Examination [AHSME], 1989 through 1994, as well as a selection of other problems. Many problem solving techniques for problems in this book show alternative approaches that appear in print for the first time.

Some aspects of mathematical problem solving unique to competitions are discussed. Useful tools are selected from important areas of high school mathematics.

A Problems Index classifies the 180 problems in the book into subject areas: Algebra (with 65 subclasses), Complex Numbers (with 11 subclasses), Discrete Mathematics (with 20 subclasses), Geometry (with 43 subclasses), Number Theory (with 24 subclasses), Statistics (with 5 subclasses), and Trigonometry (with 12 subclasses). Many subclasses have sub-subclasses, some with over a dozen. The Pigeon Hole Principle proves that some problems must appear in more than one class. That, in fact, is the case! Outstanding problems combine elementary techniques from diverse areas of mathematics, occasionally three or more. You will find many of them here.