Ultimate MAT Guide 2022

M Ahsan Al Mahir

July 26, 2022

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Contents

1 Introduction to the MAT 2

1.1 What is the MAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2 Preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

2 Strategies for problem solving 14

2.1 Where to begin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

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2.2 Methods of Argument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2.3 Walkthrough: MAT 2010 Question 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

3 Algebra
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3.1 Logarithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.2 Solving Inequalities . . . . . . . . . .
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3.3 Bounding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.4 Walkthrough: MAT 2021 Question 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
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3.5 Common traps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

4 Geometry 38
4.1 Lines and Vectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
4.2 Walkthrough: MAT 2009 Question 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
4.3 Circles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
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4.4 Walkthrough: MAT 2015 Question 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

5 Trigonometry 57
5.1 Definitions of Trigonometric Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
5.2 Basic Identities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
5.3 Plots of Trigonometric Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
5.4 Solving equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
5.5 Walkthrough: MAT 2010 Question P3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

6 Polynomials 68
6.1 Polynomials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
6.2 Factorization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
6.3 Walkthrough, Specimen B Question 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
6.4 Common traps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

7 Functions 77

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CONTENTS v

7.1 Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
7.2 Functional equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
7.3 Walkthrough: MAT 2007 Question 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

8 Differentiation 83
8.1 Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
8.2 Differentiation and Monotonicity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
8.3 Turning Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
8.4 Walkthrough: MAT Specimen B Question 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
8.5 Common traps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

9 Integration 93
9.1 Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
9.2 Trapezium Rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
9.3 Indefinite Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
9.4 Walkthrough: MAT 2011 Question 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

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10 Graph Transformation 100
10.1 Different graph shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
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10.2 Relation between f (x) and f 0 (x) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
10.3 Common traps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

11 Squences and Series 110

11.1 Arithmetic and Geometric Series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
11.2 Recursion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
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11.3 Walkthrough: MAT 2016 Question 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

12 Algorithms and Games 116

12.1 Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
12.2 Winning Games Mathematically . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
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12.3 Walkthrough: MAT 2018 Question 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

12.4 Walkthrough: MAT 2012 Question 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

13 Number Theory 125

13.1 Divisibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
13.2 Walkthrough: MAT 2015 Question 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

14 Combinatorics and Probabilities 130

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CHAPTER 1
Introduction to the MAT

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1.1. WHAT IS THE MAT 2

§1.1 What is the MAT

MAT stands for Mathematics Admissions Test. It is one of the aptitude tests used
for the admissions process in the University of Oxford, Imperial College London
and the University of Warwick. The MAT is also taken into consideration by other
universities in the UK, including Bath and Durham for particular courses.

It’s a 2-hour and 30-minute long written test on mathematics. Candidates take the
MAT exam as part of their initial application to Oxford, Imperial or Warwick. The
courses that require MAT as part of the application are as followed:

University of Oxford If you’re applying for one of the following courses at the
University of Oxford, you’ll need to sit the MAT:

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1. Mathematics
2. Mathematics and Statistics
3. Mathematics and Philosophy
4. Computer Science
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5. Mathematics and Computer Science
6. Computer Science and Philosophy
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The university then makes a shortlist of candidates based on their results in
MAT and their UCAS application, and invites them for a couple interviews. The
interviews are the last stage of the admission process, after which the university
send out their admission offers to successful students.

Imperial College London If you’re applying for the following courses at the Im-
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perial College London, it is required that you sit the MAT:

Mathematics Courses Three-year courses:

1. BSc Mathematics
2. BSc Mathematics
3. BSc Mathematics with Applied Mathematics/Mathematical Physics
4. BSc Mathematics with Mathematical Computation
5. BSc Mathematics with Statistics
6. BSc Mathematics with Statistics for Finance
Four-year courses
1. MSci Mathematics
2. MSci Mathematics with a Year Abroad
Joint Mathematics and Computing courses Three-year course:
1. BEng Mathematics and Computer Science
1.1. WHAT IS THE MAT 3

Four-year course:
1. MEng Mathematics and Computer Science
University of Warwick If you’re applying to any of the following courses at the
University of Warwick, you’ll need to sit the MAT:
1. Mathematics BSc
2. Master of Mathematics

Additionally, the University of Bath and Durham University will have access to
your MAT score. The MAT scores are automatically sent to these universities with
encryption, preventing them from viewing your score without your permission. If you
wish that university to take your MAT score into consideration, you must provide
them with your MAT registration number. Your MAT score will be taken into
consideration if you apply to the following courses at these universities:

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Durham University Mathematics courses:
1. Mathematics BSc
2. Mathematics MMath
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3. Mathematics and Statistics BSc
4. Mathematics and Statistics MMath
University of Bath Your MAT score will be considered for the following courses:
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1. BSc Mathematics
2. MMath Mathematics
3. BSc Mathematical Sciences
4. BSc Mathematics & Statistics
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5. BSc Computer Science & Mathematics

6. MComp Computer Science & Mathematics
7. BSc Economics & Mathematics

The details of this information can be found on the website of the Department of
Mathematics of the University of Oxford in the following link:
https://www.maths.ox.ac.uk/study-here/undergraduate-study/maths-admissions-test

Format of MAT

MAT is a 2 hours and 30 minutes written test take at official authorised test centres
all over the world. The test has two sections, the first being a multiple-choice answer-
based section, and the latter being a proof-based section. Let’s find out what they
are:
1.1. WHAT IS THE MAT 4

Question 1: Multiple-choice questions

In this section, there are 10 multiple-choice questions, each worth 4 points. Marks
are given solely for the correct answers, though students are encouraged to show any
working out. The questions themselves range over all the topics in the MAT syllabus
which we will discuss shortly. Every candidate must attempt this section.

Question 2-7: Proof-based questions

In this section, each candidate must attempt 4 proof-based questions from 6 questions
depending on the courses they are applying to. Each question is divided into smaller
parts which usually are arranged in increasing order of difficulty. Each question is
worth a total of 15 points. If you did not arrive at the correct answer but still have
some correct working, partial marks will be awarded for this.

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Depending on the course the candidate is applying to, they are required to attempt
different questions. The details of which can be found below:
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Oxford If you are applying to the University of Oxford, you have to attempt the
following questions:

1. Mathematics, Mathematics and Philosophy, Mathematics and Statistics: 2, 3, 4,

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2. Mathematics and Computer Science: 2, 3, 5, 6

3. Computer Science, Computer Science and Philosophy: 2, 5, 6, 7

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Imperial and Warwick If you are applying to any of the Mathematics and joint
courses to the University of Warwick or the Imperial College London, you should
attempt the questions: 2, 3, 4, 5

Syllabus of MAT

According to the CAAT website: “The MAT aims to test the depth of mathematical
understanding of a student in the fourth term of their A-levels (or equivalent) rather
than a breadth of knowledge. It is set with the aim of being approachable by all
students, including those without Further Mathematics A-level, and those from other
educational systems (e.g. Baccalaureate and Scottish Highers).”

As all the candidates will be students of A-levels or equivalents, the universities want
to make sure you are comfortable with all the topics in A level maths. That’s why
1.1. WHAT IS THE MAT 5

the MAT syllabus is based on the first year A level Maths, and a few topics from
the fourth term of A level Maths. Below is the full list of topics on the syllabus for
MAT:

• Polynomials: The quadratic formula. Completing the square. Discriminant.

Factorization. Factor Theorem.
• Algebra: Simple simultaneous equations in one or two variables. Solution of sim-
ple inequalities. Binomial Theorem with positive whole exponent. Combinations
and binomial probabilities.
• Differentiation: Derivative of xa , including for fractional exponents. Derivative
of ekx . Derivative of a sum of functions. Tangents and normals to graphs. Turning
points. Second order derivatives. Maxima and minima. Increasing and decreasing
functions. Differentiation from first principles.

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• Integration: Indefinite integration as the reverse of differentiation. Definite
integrals and the signed areas they represent. Integration of xa (where a 6= 1)
and sums thereof. pl
• Graphs: The graphs of quadratics and cubics. Graphs of
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sin x, cos x, tan x, x, ax , loga x

Solving equations and inequalities with graphs.

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• Logarithms and powers: Laws of logarithms and exponentials. Solution of the
equation ax = b.
• Transformations: The relations between the graphs

y = f (ax), y = af (x), y = f (x a), y = f (x) + a

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and the graph of y = f (x).

• Geometry: Co-ordinate geometry and vectors in the plane. The equations of
straight lines and circles. Basic properties of circles. Lengths of arcs of circles.
• Trigonometry: Solution of simple trigonometric equations. The identities
sin x
tan x = , sin2 x + cos2 x = 1, sin (90 x) = cos x.
cos x
Periodicity of sine, cosine and tangent. Sine and cosine rules for triangles.
• Sequences and series: Sequences defined iteratively and by formulae. Arith-
metic and geometric progressions. Their sums. Convergence condition for infinite
geometric progressions.

Besides the aforementioned topics, for computer science students it is useful to have
familiarities with the following topics:
1.1. WHAT IS THE MAT 6

• Induction: Weak induction, strong induction, proving with induction.

• Graph Theory: Definition of nodes/vertices, edges, paths, cycles. Theorems on

trees and cycles. Graph algorithms like breath-first search, depth-first search etc.

• Linear Recursions: Solving systems of linear recursive sequences.

Where can I take the MAT?

You will sit the test in either your school or college or a local test centre. Any
school or college can register to become a test centre, following the instructions on
the following website:

http://www.admissionstesting.org/for-test-takers/mat/how-to-register/

Although your school has to register for the test, it is your responsibility to make

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sure your school knows that you should be sitting the MAT.

If your school or college cannot register to become a test centre, you will instead sit
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the test at a local test centre. You can use the following link to locate eligible test
centres nearby: http://www.admissionstesting.org/find-a-centre/

Important dates
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Below are the important dates of MAT 2022:

Date Event
1 September 2022 Registration opens. Test centres can register candidates
from this date
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30 September 2022 Registration deadline

2 November 2022 Test date

Cost of the MAT

Cambridge Assessment Admissions Testing does not charge candidates who have
applied to a course requiring the MAT at the University of Oxford.

Some centres charge an administration fee to candidates sitting the MAT which
covers the cost of invigilation, despatch costs and room hire which are essential for
running the test: contact your centre for details.
1.2. PREPARATION 7

Can I retake the MAT?

There is only one MAT testing date per year, so you won’t be able to retake the exam
until next year. You take MAT as part of your application to the universities, so if
you do re-take the exam as part of your new application, your chosen universities
won’t know you’ve taken the test before.

§1.2 Preparation

The MAT is very different from the high school exams that you’ve encountered till
now. Getting yourself familiar with the topics and the test format is crucial for
you to succeed in the test. In the following sections, we’ll guide you through the

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significant steps of the preparation process for the MAT.

Before the exam

Preparing for the Journey

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The first thing you need to do to start preparing for MAT is to make sure you know
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all the topics on the MAT syllabus. Make sure you can comfortably answer all the
questions on the following paper:

https://www.maths.ox.ac.uk/system/files/attachments/mat_syllabus_practice.pdf

If you are unclear about any of the topic, read more on it from textbooks, practice
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more problems. In short, it’s not a good idea to leave out any of the topics hoping
it might not appear on the test. As the universities want to make sure you are
comfortable with ALL of the topics on the syllabus, they will make sure to include
at least one question on each topic. So get your pen and paper ready and start
ticking off topics off the list as done!

Getting a taste of MAT

So you’re confident you know the syllabus by heart. Now it’s time to try out some
actual challenge. You can find all the past MAT papers and solutions in the following
link:

https://www.maths.ox.ac.uk/study-here/undergraduate-study/maths-admissions-test

Open up a past paper from before 2009 (You don’t want to use up the new papers
just yet!) and try out a few questions just to get a feel for the test. The past papers
1.2. PREPARATION 8

can easily be found online. It’s better not to time these attempts, as at first you want
to make sure you can solve the problems without any pressure. It’s recommended
that you attempt all the MCQ questions from the paper, as the questions will be
from a large variety of topics, and attempting all of them will give you a better
picture of the different types of questions that appear on the MAT.

Studying the solutions

As you practice with the past papers, go over the official solutions which can be
found on the internet. Oftentimes the official solutions answer the questions in more
efficient ways, so whether you succeeded in answering the question correctly or you
got stuck at some point, there should be something new for you to learn from the
official solutions. If you find some new technique in the solutions that you didn’t
know before, you should spend some time trying to include it into your arsenal!

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Concise solution writing
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Since MAT is a written exam where you have to justify all your answers, you need
to learn to write clear and concise solutions. This doesn’t come naturally to most of
us, and it takes practice. When you write proofs,
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1. Focus on making your arguments clear to read.

2. If there’s any important point of your argument, mark it clearly. Use underlines
and boxes to highlight important points.

3. Use a lot of space between your arguments, so they don’t become a huge jumble
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of words.

4. Figures and graphs not only help you solve the question, but also are very helpful
to the readers of your proof.

5. If you aren’t sure about any statement you’re making, don’t give wrong expla-
nation. If you can’t prove a statement, leave it unexplained. Do not write wrong
math, the tutors won’t appreciate it.

It goes beyond saying that if your examiner doesn’t understand your solution, you
will not get the marks for it. Again, reviewing official solutions will be useful here.
You should refer to the official solutions to learn their structure and the amount of
rigor they expect from the students.

The following article is an excellent guide to writing better solutions:

https://artofproblemsolving.com/blog/articles/how-to-write-a-solution
1.2. PREPARATION 9

Taking timed mock exams

After you’ve gained a fair amount of confidence with MAT style questions, you should
see how you perform under exam conditions. You should take at least a couple timed
mock exams, where you sit for 2-hour and 30-minute without distraction and try to
simulate an actual exam. This will give you a better sense of how to utilize your
time during the exam. After taking the first mock exam, you should spend some
time asking yourself the following questions and finding answers to them:

1. Did I waste valuable time at any point in this exam? If so, how could I prevent
this in future?

2. Did I get spend more time on a question than I should have?

3. Was there any type of question I particularly struggled with?

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4. Should I allocate more time to this section/question than I am doing now?

This is why taking a few mock exams is helpful, as it will give you chances to test
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out different strategies, and learn from your mistakes.

Grading and setting expectations

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After each mock exam, you must check the solutions and grade yourself and compare
your score to the score distribution published by the universities. You might find
your score to be inadequate in the first few mock exams. But that’s okay. Firstly,
you will improve over time. And secondly, you should keep in mind that the scores
published are averages among the successful candidates. Which means, half of the
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successful candidates got below the average successful mark! This is quite easy to
overlook when you compare yourself to those mean scores.

Also bear in mind that MAT is only one element of the overall admission process.
So if you got above average scores in the mock exams then amazing! But if you
did not, don’t get disheartened, keep practicing more, and try to improve where you
lack, and your scores will hopefully improve as well!

Time management on problems

At this point of preparation, you probably have a solid understanding of your weak-
nesses and strengths. You probably know which questions are more time consuming,
and which you can get correct fairly quickly. Now its time for you to start strategiz-
ing how you utilize your time during the actual exam. Obviously, there is no best
way to take an exam. The strategy depends on you, which you should come up
with yourself by trial-and-error. If you want to compare your strategy with someone
1.2. PREPARATION 10

else’s, then here’s what I did in MAT 2020. I applied for Mathematics and Computer
Science, so I attempted the questions 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6.

1. I first glaceed over all the questions I had to answer, and realized that I might
need to spend more time on Q3 and Q5.
2. Then I began with Q1, as that’s where I used to make a lot of calculation mistakes
in my mock exams. I spent on average 5 minutes on the MCQ questions. I got
stuck on a few of them, so instead of wasting time, I moved on, and left them for
later.
3. Then I did Q2, did two parts on Q3, and I realized I didn’t know how to solve
the other parts. So I moved on to the next questions.
4. After solving both Q5 and Q6, I returned to Q3. This time I was lucky enough
to get the idea quite easily, and was able to solve the question. After finishing
all the parts on Q3, I went back to the MCQ questions I left for later, and tried

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them again.
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So that was my strategy: try the hard ones first, if you get stuck, move on, come back
to them later. The MAT gives you 2.5 hours to attempt 10 MCQ and 4 long-answer
questions. We suggest splitting your time as follows:

1. 5 minutes per short question, totalling 50 minutes on Question 1.

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2. 25 minutes per long question.

But you might find some questions easier than others, and some significantly harder,
so you should be flexible with how you distribute your time on different problems.
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During the exam

This 2-hour and 30-minute is what you’ve prepared for for so long! But don’t let
the pressure get to you. Relax and enjoy the questions! After all, enjoying math is
what led you here. Here are our suggestions for approaching the exam.

Before you start working

Before you start thinking about the questions, do glance over the questions and just
have a quick look to see if there’s something interesting like that one automaton
problem you did previously, or if there’s something really nasty like a complicated
integration problem. Then make an ordering of the questions according to which one
you should attempt first. Knowing what lies ahead will give you a sense of confidence
that helps a lot during exams like this!
1.2. PREPARATION 11

So once you get the questions,

1. Glance over all the questions quickly

a) scan for questions that look familiar
b) try to identify questions that you might struggle with
2. Sort the questions in the increasing order of difficulty
3. Form a time-management strategy for the questions, based on their difficulty.
4. Start with the short questions.

What to do if you get stuck

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Should you to get stuck, which I believe almost everyone gets at some point during
the exam, its better to move on to the next question instead of spending more time
on the troubling parts. In my experience, when you get stuck on a question, it’s
because your mind can’t come up with new ideas, and so you get into a loop of the
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same few ideas none of which work. So not only you save time by moving on to
a new question, you also get a way to escape the loop. And when you go back to
question, you’ll see that you can come up with new ideas almost always!

It is common to find yourself attempting approaches that do not yield any logical
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answers. In these cases, we suggest maximising your score by doing the following.
So,

1. If you get stuck on problem, don’t spend more time on it. Move on.
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2. Try to save time in other questions so that you can go back to it at the end of
the exam.

Often, candidates get stuck on a question due to unilateral thought. By moving

on and attempting other questions, you give yourself a chance to re-approach the
problematic question with renewed ideas.

Check your paper before the time runs out.

So 2 hours 20 minutes have passed! Now it’s time to take a little one minute gap and
go back to see what you’ve written so far and if you have missed any question you
have skipped accidentally. Redoing a whole question at this point is impractical, but
if you notice any easily fixable error in your solutions, this is the time to fix them.

Also, even if you don’t know the correct solution to any of the MCQ questions, do
not leave them blank, as there is no penalty for incorrect answers!
1.2. PREPARATION 12

1. If you are done with most of the paper except for the ones that you skipped over,
now is the time to go back to those problems.

2. If you are done with all the questions and there’s still a couple of minutes left,
go over your solution script to check for potential mistakes. You should pay
attention to:

a) Whether you have answered all of the questions

b) Whether you wrote down the correct answer, specially in the short questions

3. If time is up, then it’s time to relax! Take a deep breath and congratulate yourself!

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CHAPTER 2
Strategies for problem solving

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 THIS PDF IS A SAMPLE

2023 ENTRY
MASTER THE

MAT
Comprehensive Lessons
Practice Questions
Expert Tips and Advice
BUY THE FULL VERSION
NOW!
Scan the QR code or
click the link
http://bit.ly/3ivVpYd
2.1. WHERE TO BEGIN 14

§2.1 Where to begin

Questions on MAT will not be your average exercises from A-levels (or equivalent)
exams. You can be certain that almost all the time when you read the question
statement, you won’t know how to answer it immediately. How do you then go from
reading the statement to solving the question?

Enters the art of problem solving! The following section is an excerpt from Chapter
2, Section 2 of “The Art and Craft of Problem Solving” by Paul Zeitz , which we
strongly recommend to the reader. It’s an amazing book that introduces all the
essential approaches and methods to solving mathematical (and other) problems.

Getting oriented

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When you first read the question statement, you should:

ative, etc.
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• Read the question carefully, paying attention to details such as positive vs. neg-

• Begin to classify: is it a “to find” or “to prove” problem? Is the problem similar
to others you have seen?
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• Carefully identify the hypothesis and the conclusion.

• Try some quick preliminary brainstorming:

– Think about convenient notation.

– Does a particular method of argument seem plausible?
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– Can you guess a possible solution? Trust your intuition!

– Are there key words or concepts that seem important?

When you finish this (and don’t rush!), go back and do it again. It pays to reread
a problem several times. As you rethink classification, hypothesis and conclusion,
ask yourself if you can restate what you have already formulated. For example, it
may seem that the hypothesis is really trivial, and you just repeat it verbatim from
the statement of the problem. But if you try to restate it, you may discover new
information.

When looking at the conclusion of the problem, especially of a “to find” problem,
sometimes it helps to “fantasize” an answer. Just make something up, and then
reread the problem. Your fantasy answer is most likely false, and rereading the
problem with this answer in mind may help you to see why the answer is wrong,
which may point out some of the more important constraints of the problem.
2.1. WHERE TO BEGIN 15

Don’t spend too much time on orientation. You are done once you have a clear idea
of what the problem asks and what the given is. Promising guesses about answers
or methodology are bonuses, and nothing you should expect. Usually they require
more intensive investigation.

I’m oriented, now what?

Get your hands dirty

This is easy and fun to do. Stay loose and experiment. Plug in lots of numbers.
Keep playing around until you see a pattern. Then play around some more, and try
to figure out why the pattern you see is happening. It is a well-kept secret that much
high-level mathematical research is the result of low-tech “plug and chug” methods.

e
The great Carl Gauss, widely regarded as one of the greatest mathematicians in
history, was a big fan of this method. In one investigation, he painstakingly computed
the number of integer solutions to x2 + y 2 < 90000.

Penultimate step
pl
Once you know what the desired conclusion is, ask your- self, “What will yield the
conclusion in a single step?” Sometimes a penultimate step is “obvious,” once you
m
start looking for one. And the more experienced you are, the more obvious the steps
are.

For example, suppose that A and B are weird, ugly expressions that seem to have
no connection, yet you must show that A = B. One penultimate step would be to
argue separately that A > B AND B > A. Perhaps you want to show instead that
A 6= B. A penultimate step would be to show that A is always even, while B is
Sa

always odd.

Always spend some time thinking very explicitly about possible penultimate steps.
Of course, sometimes, the search for a penultimate step fails, and sometimes it helps
one instead to plan a proof strategy.

Wishful thinking and Make it easier

These strategies combine psychology and mathematics to help break initial impasses
in your work. Ask yourself, “What is it about the problem that makes it hard?”
Then, make the difficulty disappear! You may not be able to do this legally, but
who cares? Temporarily avoiding the hard part of a problem will allow you to make
progress and may shed light on the difficulties.
2.2. METHODS OF ARGUMENT 16

For example, if the problem involves big, ugly numbers, make them small and pretty.
If a problem involves complicated algebraic fractions or radicals, try looking at a
similar problem without such terms. At best, pretending that the difficulty isn’t
there will lead to a bold solution. At worst, you will be forced to focus on the key
difficulty of your problem, and possibly formulate an intermediate question, whose
answer will help you with the problem at hand. And eliminating the hard part of a
problem, even temporarily, will allow you to have some fun and raise your confidence.
If you cannot solve the problem as written, at least you can make progress with its
easier cousin!

§2.2 Methods of Argument

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Contradiction

pl
Instead of trying to prove something directly, we start by assuming that it is false,
and show that this assumption leads us to an absurd conclusion. A contradiction
argument is usually helpful for proving that something cannot happen. Here is a
simple example from number theory.

p
Example 1. 2 is irrational.
m
p
Proof: Seeking a contradiction, let us suppose that 2 is rational, that is there
are coprime integers p, q such that
p p
Sa

= 2 =) p2 = 2q 2
q

Now that means 2 divides p2 , meaning p is even. So 4 divides p2 . That means 4

divides 2q 2 , implying q is also even. But we assumed that p, q are coprime.
p
So this is a contradiction, and 2 is not a rational number. ⇤

When you start investigating a problem, always ask yourself if you could proceed by
the way of contradiction. Check if you get important information when you negate
the problem statement that might help with the investigation. In some questions,
assuming the contrary to the statement provides more information than the original
statement. Keep a vigilante eye out for these scenarios.
2.2. METHODS OF ARGUMENT 17

Standard Induction

Suppose we have a statement P (n) that depends on the integer n. We want to prove
the following assertion:

P (n) is true for all integers n n0

We prove the assertion with standard induction by showing the following:

Base case Establish the truth of P (n0 ). This is is usually an easy exercise.
Inductive hypothesis Assume that P (n) is true for some arbitrary integer n.

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Inductive step Show that the inductive hypothesis implies that P (n + 1) is also
true. This is usually the crucial part of the proof.

This is like the domino effect: the inductive step represents the fact that if one

the first domino.

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domino falls, the next will fall as well, and the base case represents knocking down

Example 2. Prove that if n is an integer greater than 3, then n! > 2n .

m
Proof: Base Case: The base case is when n = 4. Which is obviously true:

4! = 24 > 16 = 24

Inductive hypothesis: For some integer n 4, n! > 2n .

Sa

Inductive step: We want to show (n + 1)! > 2n+1 .

We already have (by our inductive hypothesis): n! > 2n . Then,

(n + 1)! = (n + 1)n! > (n + 1)2n

Now, as (n + 1) > 4 > 2, we have, (n + 1)2n > 2n+1 , hence

(n + 1)! > 2n+1

And by induction, we have that the result holds for all values of n. ⇤
Remark. The previous solution also shows how you usually structure your inductive
arguments:

1. Prove the base case first.

2. State inductive hypothesis, and the inductive step.
2.2. METHODS OF ARGUMENT 18

3. Prove the inductive step.

You should also notice that the inductive step is where the main work of the proof is
being done. Which is not surprising as this is the crucial step that makes the whole
argument work.

Also, remember to always show the base case. Often it might seem like the base case
is too trivial to bother writing it down – a perfect way to lose a point! Remember, no
inductive argument is complete without the base case, and you should never neglect
it.

Strong Induction

e
In weak induction, we assumed that the P (n) holds for some n and showed that
P (n + 1) also holds. But we can actually assume a stronger hypothesis, giving us
the Strong induction:

pl
Base case Establish the truth of P (n0 ) in the usual manner.
Inductive step Assume that P (n0 ), P (n0 + 1), . . . P (n 1), P (n) are all true for
some arbitrary integer n. This is called the strong inductive hypothesis.
Then show that the inductive hypothesis implies that P (n + 1) is also true.
m
Convince yourself that the two hypotheses of the weak and strong induction are
equivalent. Therefore, it’s never a bad idea to assume the strong induction hypothesis
when arguing by induction. Having more information on your side can never go
wrong!
Sa

Example 3. Let the sequence a0 , a1 , a2 , . . . satisfy a0 = 0, a1 = 1 and

1
am+n + am n = (a2m + a2n )
2
Prove that an = n2 .

Proof: Base Case: a0 = 02 = 0.

Strong inductive hypothesis : For all k = 0, 1, 2, . . . u, ak = k 2 .

Inductive step : Show that au+1 = (u + 1)2

Let m = u, n = 1. Then we have,

1 1
au+1 + au 1 = (a2u + a2 ) = (4au + a2 ) = 2au + 2
2 2
2.2. METHODS OF ARGUMENT 19

Now our stronger inductive hypothesis allows us to use the truth of both P (u) and
P (u 1), so
au+1 + (u 1)2 = 2u2 + 2
And hence,
au+1 = 2u2 + 2 u2 2u + 1 = u2 + 2u + 1 = (u + 1)2
By strong induction, it follows that an = n2 for all n 0. ⇤

Extreme Principle

If possible, assume that the elements of your problem are “in order”. Focus on the
“largest” and “smallest” elements, as they may be constrained in interesting ways.

e
This might sound dull and not useful, this simple idea actually is the key to solving
problems in many situations, specially when proving a contradiction, or showing the
existence of something.

pl
Example 4. Let B and W be finite sets of black and white points, respec-
tively, in the plane, with the property that every line segment that joins two
points of the same color contains a point of the other color. Prove that both
sets must lie on a single line segment.
m
Proof: After experimenting, it seems that if the points do not all lie on a single
line, that there cannot be finitely many of them.

Assume that the points do not all lie on a line (Argument by contradiction!)

Then they form at least one triangle. Consider the triangle of smallest area.
Sa

At least two of its vertices have the same color, so between them is a point of the
other color, but this forms a smaller triangle – a contradiction! Hence all the points
must lie on a single line. ⇤

Extreme principle is specially useful in proving a contradiction, or constructing an

example. The rule of thumb is, if there’s too much information in the statement,
focus on what’s important: the extreme elements.

Invariants and Monovariants

Invariants

An invariant, as the name suggests, is merely some aspect of a problem-usually a

numerical quantity-that does not change, even if many other properties do change.
2.2. METHODS OF ARGUMENT 20

Here are a few examples of invariants:

1. The distance between two points on a number line is not changed by adding the
same quantity to both numbers.

2. Let s(n) be the sum of the digits of the base-ten representation of the positive
integer n. Then n s(n) is always divisible by 9.

3. The ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle is invariant, that is ⇡.

Invariants are very important in situations where at each step some complicated
actions are being made, and we want to show some assertion about the result.

Example 5. At first, a room is empty. Each minute, either one person enters

e
or two people leave. After exactly 31999 minutes, could the room contain
31000 + 2 people?

pl
Solution: If there are n people in the room, after one minute, there will be either
n + 1 or n 2 people. The difference between these two possible outcomes is 3.
Continuing for longer times, we see that

At any fixed time t, all the possible values for the population of the room differ from
one another by multiples of 3.
m
In 31999 minutes, then, one possible population of the room is just 31999 people.
This is a multiple of 3, so all the possible populations for the room have to also be
multiples of 3. Therefore 31000 + 2 will not be a valid population. ⇤
Sa

Monovariants

A monovariant is a quantity that may or may not change at each step of a problem,
but when it does change, it does so monotonically: either it increases or decreases.

Monovariants are specially useful in showing that a process terminates:

If we can find a positive integer monovariant of a process that strictly decreases with
every move, then we know it will eventually stop, because a positive integer can’t
decrease infinitely!

Example 6. In an elimination-style tournament of a two-person game, once

you lose, you are out, and the tournament proceeds until only one person
is left. Find a formula for the number of games that must be played in an
elimination-style tournament starting with n contestants.
2.3. WALKTHROUGH: MAT 2010 QUESTION 6 21

Solution: The number of people who are left in the tournament is clearly a mono-
variant over time. This number decreases by one each time a game is concluded.

So if we start with n people, the tournament must end after exactly n 1 games! ⇤

MAT Specific Tips

On the MAT, you’ll encounter questions that take the A-level syllabus, and adds the
problem solving aspect to it. MAT questions have a very distinctive pattern that
you can easily recognize, and strategies for. Here are some tips for just that:

1. In the MCQ section, process of elimination can be a powerful tool. Try to cancel
out options that are obviously wrong. In some questions, you might be able to

e
plug in the options into the statement to test if they are correct or not. This
might potentially save you the trouble of lots of computation.

2. In MAT long questions, the questions are broken into parts, and the parts always
pl
somehow build up on the parts preceding them:

a) Either by directly using a result from a previous part, or

b) by using the previous part as a hint

3. In either case, always try to apply the techniques used in solving the previous
parts of the questions.
m
4. If you can’t give full solution to a part of the question, that doesn’t effect the
other parts. So even if you haven’t proved some part, you can use it’s result in
later parts.

5. Each part of a question is graded separately, but the score assigned to each part
Sa

is not always an indicative of the difficulty of the part.

§2.3 Walkthrough: MAT 2010 Question 6

Now let’s use the methods we learned to tackle an actual question from the MAT.
Before reading the solution, we expect you to spend at least half an hour behind this
question.
2.3. WALKTHROUGH: MAT 2010 QUESTION 6 22

Question

In the questions below, the people involved make statements about each other.
Each person is either a saint (S) who always tells the truth or a liar (L) who always
lies.
Six people, P1 , P2 , . . . , P6 sit in order around a circular table with P1 sitting to P6 ’s
right, as shown in the diagram below.

i.a Suppose all six people say “the person directly opposite me is telling the truth”.
One possibility is that all six are lying. But, in total, how many different possi-
bilities are there? Explain your reasoning.

i.b Suppose now that all six people say “the person to my left is lying”. In how

e
many different ways can this happen? Explain your reasoning.
Now n people Q1 , Q2 , . . . , Qn sit in order around a circular table with Q1 sitting
to Qn ’s right.
pl
ii.a Suppose that all n people make the statement “the person on my left is lying
and the person on my right is telling the truth”. Explain why everyone is lying.

ii.b Suppose now that every person makes the statement “either the people to my
left and right are both lying or both are telling the truth”. If at least one person
is lying, show that n is a multiple of three.
m
Sa

Figure 2.1

Solution

(i.a) Suppose all six people say “the person directly opposite me is telling the truth”.
One possibility is that all six are lying. But, in total, how many different possibilities
are there? Explain your reasoning.

Solution: The 6 people splits into 3 pairs sitting opposite to one another. For
consistency each pair has to be both lying or both telling the truth.
2.3. WALKTHROUGH: MAT 2010 QUESTION 6 23

Since one pair’s telling the truth or lying doesn’t effect the other pairs, every possible
combination of lies of truths are possible.

Hence there are a total of 23 = 8 possible ways in which the statements can be made,
considering two options for each of the three pairs. ⇤

(i.b) Suppose now that all six people say “the person to my left is lying”. In how
many different ways can this happen? Explain your reasoning.

Solution: If P1 is telling the truth then P6 is lying. If P6 is lying, then by their

statement, P5 is telling the truth.

So the only ways that the statements can be made is as SLSLSL or LSLSLS. That
is there are two ways. ⇤

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Now n people Q1 , Q2 , . . . , Qn sit in order around a circular table with Q1 sitting to
Qn ’s right.
(ii.a) Suppose that all n people make the statement “the person on my left is lying
pl
and the person on my right is telling the truth”. Explain why everyone is lying.

Solution: If a particular person is a saint, then the person to their left is a liar and
the person to the right is a saint, and we have an LSS situation, counting left-to-
right the saint and neighbours. If not then the person is a liar, and the possibilities
m
for their neighbours are LLL, SLS, SLL.

Let’s examine each possibility separately:

1. LSS situation: The left neighbour of the rightmost saint is a saint, which con-
tradicts with their statement.
Sa

2. SLS situation: similarly is impossible, as the right neighbor of a saint must also
be a saint.
3. SLL situation: is impossible as it only propagates by LLL and there is no means
to complete the circle.

Hence, the only possibility is LL . . . L (n times). ⇤

(ii.b) Suppose now that every person makes the statement “either the people to
my left and right are both lying or both are telling the truth”. If at least one person
is lying, show that n is a multiple of three.

Solution: If a person is a saint we are in a SSS or LSL situation; if not we are in

an LLS or SLL situation.
2.3. WALKTHROUGH: MAT 2010 QUESTION 6 24

1. SSS situation: can only consistently propagate as SSS . . . S and no-one would
be lying.

2. LLS situation: can propagate to a LSL, then to a SLL, then to LLS etc. So
the situation around the table can be LLSLLSLLS . . . LLS, that is any number
of repeats of LLS (or equivalently of LSL or SLL), provided of course that n is
a multiple of 3.

e
pl
m
Sa
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CHAPTER 3
Algebra

e
pl
m
Sa
3.1. LOGARITHM 26

§3.1 Logarithm

Logarithm is a very important topic on MAT syllabus. We write loga x = y if ay = x

and read it as “log of x with base a is y”. The following laws apply to log:

Exponentiation aloga x = x

Multiplication loga (xy) = loga x + loga y

⇣ ⌘
Division loga xy = loga x loga y
A special case occurs when x = 1 and loga 1
x
= loga x

e
Exponent loga (xc ) = c loga x
1
Inverse loga b =
logb a
pl
Change of base loga c = loga b · logb c

A special case of logarithms is when the base is e, and then we use the symbol
ln x = loge x. This is known as the natural log.
m
Some properties of logarithm

1. loga is a scaled function of ln: loga x = loga e ⇥ ln x = 1

ln a
ln x

2. Logarithm can be used to turn a long multiplication into addition:

Sa

a1 · a2 · . . . an = m , ln a1 + ln a2 + · · · + ln an = ln m

3. Logarithm is only defined for positive numbers! So be careful of the sign of x

before writing ln x.

4. Logarithm is an increasing function. So x < y , ln x , ln y.

5. log x takes values between ( 1, 1), and the only root of this function is 1.

6. When you see numbers like 2 and 8 together, you should be able to spot 8 = 23 .
Similarly, noticing 4 = 22 , 16 = 42 = 24 , 9 = 32 , 27 = 33 etc. will help you
simplify some equations.

Example 7 (Inspired from MAT 2015 Question 1.H). How many distinct so-
3.1. LOGARITHM 27

lutions does the following equation have?

logx2 1 1 6x2 5x3 = 2

Solution: We rewrite the equation in terms of exponents and get:

1 6x2 5x3 = (x2 1)2 = x4 2x2 + 1 =) x4 + 5x3 + 4x2 = 0

Now, factoring this polynomial gives us:

x2 (x2 + 5x + 4) = 0 =) x2 (x + 4)(x + 1) = 0

Which we solve to get the solutions 0, 1 and 4. ⇤

e
Example 8 (Inspired from MAT 2011 Question 1.H). What is the number of
positive values of x that satisfy the equation
1
pl
x2 = 8log2 x + 9log3 x+ 2

Solution: We can rewrite 8 = 23 , 9 = 32 , 14 =

1
2log2 x

12
2
,
log 1 ?
2 4

so we have,
3 1 2
m
8log2 x = 23 log2 x = 2log2 x = x3 , 9log3 x+ 2 = 32 log3 x+1 = 3 · 3log3 x = 3x2

2log2 x = 2log2 x = x

Putting these together in the equation gives us

x2 = x3 + 3x2 x+2
Sa

=) x3 + 2x2 x + 2 = x2 (x + 2) 1(x + 2) = (x + 1)(x 1)(x + 2) = 0

which has 1 positive solutions. (Careful! There was a trap here!) ⇤

Tips for solving equations involving exponents

1. When there are terms like abx , it is often useful to take logarithm of the terms,
so you get something like ln a + x ln b.
2. But be careful about additions of two terms! ln(a + b) 6= ln a + ln b
3. It is often useful to think about the sizes of the terms involved. For example, if
you have an equation like 2x = x2 + x, then you know for sure the solutions, if
there is any, will have to be quite small. This is because exponential functions
grow much faster than polynomial functions.
3.2. SOLVING INEQUALITIES 28

Example 9 (Inspired from MAT 2019 Question 1.I). How many pairs of
positive real numbers x and y satisfy 0 < x < y and

x ln x = y ln y?

Solution: First notice the condition about x, y. We are given 0 < x < y. So we
can write y = x + c for some positive number c. So this gives:
x ln x = (x + c) ln(x + c)

Now, notice that since ln is an increasing function, ln x < ln(x + c) as c is positive.

Also, x < x + c. So the right side is always strictly larger than the left side, hence
there is no solution to the equation. ⇤

e
§3.2 Solving Inequalities
pl
If x, y are two real numbers and x < y, then

Addition x + c < y + c for all real number c

m
Multiplication xc < yc for all c > 0, and xc > yc for all c < 0. (Be careful of
multiplication of inequalities by negative numbers)
Inverse If x 6= 0, y 6= 0, 1/x > 1/y

The last two laws are the most important, as students often multiply inequalities
Sa

by some negative number but forgets to change the sign, which makes the resulting
inequality wrong.

A few more useful rules to know: If x < y, then:

Integers xn < y n for all positive odd integers n. For the same to hold for positive
even integers, we must have |x| < |y|.
Logarithm If 0 < x < y, then ln x < ln y
Exponentiation If x < y, then ex < ey . Similarly for an a > 1, ax < ay , and for
0  a < 1, ax > ay .
Factorization If ab < 0, then either a < 0, b > 0 or a > 0, b < 0.
If ab > 0, then either a > 0, b > 0 or a < 0, b < 0.
Absolute value If |a| < c, then c < a < c. So we need to solve both of these
inequalities separately.
3.2. SOLVING INEQUALITIES 29

Tips

When solving questions involving inequalities, it’s often useful to:

1. Bring all the terms to one side of the inequality.

2. If the inequality involves fractions, try to rearrange it so that it doesn’t have

fractions.

3. Consider the inequalities as equations. This is because we can add any number
to inequalities and divide them by positive numbers without changing the sign.

4. In inequalities involving polynomials, usually the solution space will be an inter-

val. Thinking about the roots of the interval and the sign of the terms help in
solving these problems.

e
5. In inequalities involving trigonometric functions, it’s useful to plot the involved
functions. Bear in mind that solutions to inequalites of trigonometric functions
usually are intervals.
pl
Example 10. Solve the inequality 1
x
> x, where x 6= 0.

Solution: This example shows the danger of solving inequalities exactly in the
m
same way as we solve equations. If we were to multiply both sides by x and solve
1 > x2 , we would get the solution 1  x  1. But, if x is negative, multiplying both
sides would’ve flipped the sign of the inequality, and hence the range 1  x < 0 is
actually not a solution!

So we need to check both cases separately:

Sa

1. x > 0: This case we can solve by multiplying by x, and we get 0 < x < 1 since
x2 < 1

2. x < 0: We need to flip the sign of the inequality. Multiplying both sides by x,
we get: x2 > 1. Which holds for x < 1

Hence our solution: x < 1 or 0 < x < 1.

Alternatively, we could multiply both sides by x2 , which is always positive, to get

x > x3 =) x3 x < 0 =) x(x2 1) < 0. We have two cases:

1. x < 0 and x2 1 > 0: Gives x < 1

2. x > 0 and x2 1 < 0: Gives 0 < x < 1.

3.2. SOLVING INEQUALITIES 30

Alternatively, we could solve this by looking at the graph of x3 and x as well, which
is always a quick intuitive way of solving inequalities: ⇤

Figure 3.1: Solution is when the line of x is above the curve of x3

e
Example 11. When is the inequality x4 < 5x2 4 satisfied?

factorize the polynomial:

x4
pl
Solution: First we rearrange the inequality to bring everything to one side and

5x2 + 4 < 0 =) (x2 4)(x2

So we have either x2 4 < 0, x2 1 > 0 or x2 4 > 0, x2

1) < 0

1 < 0. Only one of these

m
cases can be true, that is, 1 < x2 < 4, and that gives us,
1 < x2 < 4 =) 2<x< 1 or 1 < x < 2
⇤

Example 12. Solve |x2 5x| < 4.

Sa

Solution: Expanding the absolute value, we get 4 < x2 5x < 4. Rearranging

the first inequality gives x2 5x + 4 > 0. Which rearranges to (x 4)(x 1) > 0.
So, either (x 4 < 0, x 1 < 0 =) x < 4, x < 1 or x 4 > 0, x 1 > 0 =) x >
1, x > 4. So the two solutions are x < 1 or x > 4.

The second inequality gives x2 5x 4 < 0. Which rearranges to (x p)(x q) < 0

where p p
5 41 5 + 41
p= and q =
2 2
Which gives the solution p < x < q.

Now, since the two inequalities need to hold simultaneously, we get the solution:
p < x < 1 or 4 < x < q.

⇤
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