High school math students shine at annual Nevins Competition

Nevins mathematics Competition winners gather after the competition last week, from left: Felix Jiang, Allendale-Columbia School; Paul Lee, Corning-Painted Post High School: Matthew Han, Corning-Painted Post High School; William Deninger, Alfred-Almond Central School; Garrett Johnson, Wayland-Cohocton Central School; Alex Kim, Corning-Painted Post High School; Derek Guo, Corning-Painted Post High School; Daniel Cao, Allendale-Columbia School.

Alfred University's Division of Mathematics and Computer Science, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, last week conducted the annual W. Varick Nevins III High School Mathematics Competition, hosting nearly 150 high school students and teachers from across western New York. The primary goal of the Nevins Competition is to inspire and promote excellence in mathematics.

The Corning-Painted Post School District took team honors, while students from four school districts won first, second, and third-place honors.

Founded as an event for regional math students to shine, the Nevins Competition is also a chance for high school math faculties and students to visit Alfred University. Participants take the math exam while their math teachers and additional accompanying adults visit with Alfred University math faculty.

The 75-minute exam consists of 25 multiple-choice questions, which are based on the first three years of the high school mathematics curriculum. The exam stresses original thinking and creative problem solving, and calculators are not allowed.

Exam scores are separated into two categories: The Senior Competition grades 11 and 12, while the Sophomore Competition includes grade 10 and below. The top three scorers from each category are awarded prizes, and the high school whose top three individual scores add up to the highest total is the winner of the Team Competition.

The individual winners:

First-place Senior Category (tied): Daniel Cao (Allendale-Columbia School) and Derek Guo (Corning-Painted Post High School)

Second-place Senior Category: Alex Kim (Corning-Painted Post High School)

Third-place Senior Category (tied): Garrett Johnson (Wayland-Cohocton Central School) and William Deninger (Alfred-Almond Central School)

First-place Sophomore Category: Matthew Han (Corning-Painted Post High School)

Second-place Sophomore Category: Paul Lee (Corning-Painted Post High School)

Third-place Sophomore Category: Felix Jiang (Allendale-Columbia School)

In addition to award honors, students who place in the Senior or Sophomore Competition receive a waiver of the application fee should they decide to apply for admission to Alfred University. There are also cash awards.

The Corning-Painted Post math team traditionally has excelled in the competition. Beginning in 1968, the top senior winner was Tim Frawley of Corning, who later became a math teacher in that school district and subsequently brought several hundred students to the Competition.

So, how are your own math skills?

Following are a few problems from the exam. See how minutes you need to solve them.

A carnival has two different games in which you can win money. The prize for winning Game is and the prize for winning Game is . Each time you play Game there is a chance of winning, while Game has a chance of winning. If you play Game four times and Game twice, what is the probability that your total prize money will be exactly ?

Jasmine and Rachel are running counterclockwise around a circular track. Rachel is running in a lane exactly 7 feet to the right of Jasmine. If they are both running at a speed of 5 feet/second, approximately how much longer will it take Rachel to run a lap round the track?

A circle with radius intersects the center of a circle with radius . What is the distance between the intersection points of the two circles?

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