The School competed in the 29th Annual Invitational Mathematics Meet Tuesday, Oct. 18, at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Charles Li ’17, Katie Durocher ’18, Harry Tan ’18, and Peng Zhang ’18 faced off against 86 schools across New England. First, students took a 45-minute individual exam, consisting of 11 advanced math questions.

What is the coefficient of a^4bc^2 in the expansion of (a+2b+c)?

After a short break, the Gators entered into team competition, which consisted of even more advanced problems.

“We have this competition annually. And I think it is a good chance for our advanced math students to compete with other students in New England,” said Math Department Chair Nancy Bradley.

“The result of the competition is not the most important thing, ” said Li, who also attended the competition last year. “We tried our best and had a great experience. I think that is very valuable and helps me a lot.”

Ten turns of a wire are helically wrapped about a cylinder with an outer circumference of 4 inches and a length of 9 inches. The ends of the wire coincide with the ends of the same cylindrical element.  Find the length of the wire.

After the competition, students visited the campus and enjoyed lunch. In the afternoon, they took part in the award ceremony.

“The students were challenged and exited to see the college campus,” said Bradley. “And congratulations to Harry Tan for being the Brimmer and May top score.

Editors’ note: Feel free to send your solutions to [email protected].