The Contest Problem Book VII: American Mathematics Competitions 1995-2000

For over 50 years, the MAA has sponsored the American High School Mathematics Exam (AHSME) and its successor, the American Mathematics Competitions (AMC 10/12.) These contests involve thousands of students throughout the country. Students who do well at this level can move on to higher level competition in the American Invitational Mathematics Exam (AIME) and the USA and International Mathematical Olympiads. In order to simplify the grading process, the exam is given in a multiple choice format, with penalties for incorrect answers.

This volume is the seventh in a series of books containing problems and solutions from the AHSME and AMC 10/12 contests. The book contains 275 multiple choice problems and complete solutions with explanations. The problems are taken from the 1995 through 1999 AHSME exams and the 2000 AMC 10/12 exams. In addition to the AHSME and AMC problems, the book includes a collection of 23 additional open ended problems that are not in the multiple choice format. The editor has also included a detailed classification that makes it easy to find problems on particular topics.

This book is an important reference for high school students and their coaches preparing for the AMC. Although the problems are generally much less challenging than problems in other mathematics competitions, this book may also be of some use to students preparing for other mathematics competitions.

Brian Borchers is a professor of Mathematics at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. His interests are in optimization and applications of optimization in parameter estimation and inverse problems.