Subtract the first equation from the second one, term by term, to get a nice simple expression for x + y. Rearrange this to get y in terms of x and substitute the result back into one of the two original equations.
Use the fact that
(x+y+z)2=x2+y2+z2+2(xy+xz+yz)
3 s.f. means 3 significant figures.
Divide 3x2+4x−12=0 by 3: x2+43x−4=0 ...(1)
Quadratic with roots r and s: (x−r)(x−s)=0 or x2−(r+s)x+rs=0 ...(2)
Compare (1) and (2) to see that r+s=−43 ...(3)
Note that r2+s2+2rs=(r+s)2
Now it should be easy to answer the question.
I've just run a Monte-Carlo simulation with 20000 trials and get a probability of 0.32125 (this will vary slightly each time it's calculated because of the use of random numbers of course). This is close to 9/28 (≈0.32143).
Use conservation of momentum: m1*v1+m2*v2 = 0 (assuming they were at rest to start with).
So: 30*v1 + 25*1 = 0;
Find v1 (the velocity of the girl) from this.
If abc represents the number 100a + 10b +c, then a, b and c must be integers.
Set a + 5b + 15c = 100a + 10b + c
Manipulate this to get c in terms of a and b, then see what the minimum values of a and b must be for c to be the smallest possible positive integer.
Here's a helping hand:
The following graphs should help:
Notice that the numerator of each term cancels with the denominator of the next term, so that overall you are left with a2=9
Hence a = 18. The denominator of each term is just 1 less than the numerator, so b = a-1 = 17.