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2 CONTENTS
4. Construct a right triangle with hypotenuse c such that the median drawn to the
hypotenuse is the geometric mean of the two legs of the triangle.
5. An arbitrary point M is selected in the interior of the segment AB. The squares
AM CD and M BEF are constructed on the same side of AB, sith the segments AM
and M B as their respective bases. The circles circumscribed abut these squares,
8
1.2. 2N D IMO, ROMANIA, 1960 9
with centers P and Q intersect at M and also at another point N . Let N 0 denote the
intersection of the straight lines AF and BC.
6. Two planes, P and Q, intersect along the line p. The point A is given in the plane
P , and the point C in the plane Q; neither of these points lies on the straight line p.
Construct an isosceles trapezoid ABCD (with AB parallel to CD) in which a circle
can be inscribed, and with vertices B and D lying in the planes P and Q respectively.
2. For what values of the variable x does the following inequality hold?
4x2
√ 2 < 2x + 9
1 − 1 + 2x
3. In a given right triangle 4ABC, the hypotenuse BC, of lenght a, is dividen into n
equal parts (n an odd integer). Let α be the acute angle subtending, from A, that
segment which contains the middle point of the hypotenuse. Let h be the lenght of
the altitude to the hypotenuse of the triangle. Prove:
4nh
tan α =
(n2− 1) a
4. Construct a triangle 4ABC, given ha , hb (the altitudes fron A and B) and ma , the
median from vertex A.
5. Consider the cube ABCDA0 B 0 C 0 D 0 (whith face ABCD directly above face A0 B 0 C 0 D 0 ).
(a) Find the locus of the midpoints of segment XY , where X is any point of AC
and Y is any point of B 0 D 0 .
10 CHAPTER 1. INTERNATIONAL MATHEMATICS OLYMPIAD
(b) Find the locus of points Z which lie on the segment XY of part (a) with ZY =
2XZ.
6. Considere a cone of revolution with an inscribed sphere tangent to the base of the
cone. A cylinder is circumscribed about this sphere so that one of its bases lies in
the base of the cone. Let V1 be the volume of the cone and V2 the volumen of the
cilinder.
(a) Prove that V1 6= V2 .
(b) Find the smallest number k for which V1 = kV2 , for this case, construct the
angle subtended by a diameter of the base of the cone at the vertex of the cone.
7. An isosceles trapezoid with bases a and c, and altitude h is given.
(a) On the axis of symmetry of this trapezoid, find all points P such that both legs
of the trapezoid subtended right angles at P .
(b) Calculate the distance of P from either base.
(c) Determine under what conditions such points P actually exist. (Discuss varius
case that might arise)
x+y+z = a
x + y 2 + z 2 = b2
2
xy = z 2
where a and b are constants. Give the conditions that a and b must satisfy so that
x, y, z (the solutions of the system) are distinct positive numbers.
√
2. Let a, b, c the sides of a triangle, and T its area. Prove: a2 + b2 + c2 ≥ 4 3T . In
what case does the equality hold?
3. Solve the equation cosn x − sinn x = 1, where n is a natural number.
4. Consider the triangle 4P1 P2 P3 and a point P within the triangle. Lines P P1 , P P2 ,
P P3 intersect the opposite side in points Q1 , Q2 , Q3 respectively. Prove that, of the
numbers PP1QP1 , PP2QP2 , PP3QP3 at least one is less than or equal to 2 and at least one is
grater than or equal to 2.
1.4. 4T H IMO, CZECHOSLOVAKIA, 1962 11
1. Find the smallest natural number n which has the following properties:
3. Consider the cube ABCDA0 B 0 C 0 D 0 (ABCD and A0 B 0 C 0 D 0 are the upper and lower
bases, respectively, and edges AA0 , BB 0 , CC 0 , DD 0 are parallel) The point X moves
at constant speed along the perimeterof the square ABCD in the direction ABCDA,
and the point Y moves at the same rate along the perimeter of the square B 0 C 0 CB
in the direction B 0 C 0 CBB 0 . Points X and Y begin their motion at the same instant
from the starting position A and B 0 , respectively. Determine and draw the locus of
the midpoints of the segment XY .
5. On the circle K there are given three distinct points A, B, C. Construct (using only
straightedge and compasses) a fourth point D on K such that a circle can be inscribed
in the cuadrilateral thus obtained.
12 CHAPTER 1. INTERNATIONAL MATHEMATICS OLYMPIAD
6. Considere an isosceles triangle. let r be the radius of its circumscribed circle and ρ
the radius of its inscribed circle. Prove that the distance d between the centers of
these two circles is q
d = r (r − 2ρ)
7. The tetrahedon SABC has the following propoerty: there exists five spheres, each
tangent to the edges SA, SB, SC, BC, CA, AB or their extentions.
2. Point A and segment BC are given. Determine the locus of points in space which
are vertices of right angles with one side passing throught A, and the other side
intersecting the segment BC.
3. In an n−gon all of whose interior angles are equal, the lenght of consecutive sides
satisfy the relation a1 ≥ a2 ≥ · ≥ an . Prove that a1 = a2 = · = an .
(1) x 5 + x2 = yx1
(2) x 1 + x3 = yx2
(3) x 2 + x4 = yx3
(4) x 3 + x5 = yx4
(5) x 4 + x1 = yx5
where y is a parameter
5. Prove that
π 2π 3π 1
cos − cos + cos =
7 7 7 2
6. Five students, A, B, C, D, E, took part in a contest. One prediction was that
contestants would finish in the order ABCDE. This prediction was very poor. In fact
no contestant finished in the position predicted, and no two contestants predicted to
finish consecutively actually did so. A second prediction has the contestants finishing
1.6. 6T H IMO, USSR, 1964 13
in the order DAECB. This prediction was better. Exactly two of the contestants
finished in the places predicted, and two disjoint pairs of students predicted to finish
consecutively actually did so. Determine the order in which the contestants finished.
3. Given the tetrahedron ABCD whose edges AB and CD have lenght a and b respec-
tively. The distance between the skew lines AB and CD is d, and the angle between
them is ω. Tetrahedron ABCD is divided into two solid by plane ε, parallel to lines
AB and CD. The ratio of the distances of ε from AB and CD is equal to k. Compute
the ratio of the volumes of the two solids obtained.
4. Find all sets of four real numbers x1 , x2 , x3 , x4 such that the sum of any one and
the product of the other three is equal to 2.
contestants who did not solve problem A, the number who solved B was twice the
number who solved C. The number of students who solved only problem A was one
more than the number of students who solved A and at least one other problem. How
many students solved only problem B?
3. Prove: The sum of the distances of the vertices of a regular tetrahedron from the
centre of its circumscribed sphere is less than the sum of the distances of these vertices
from any other poin in space.
kπ
4. Prove that for every natural number n, and for every real number x 6= 2t
(t any
non-negative integer and k any integer),
1 1 1
+ +···+ = cot x − cot 2n x
sin 2x sin 4x sin 2n x
6. In the interior of sides BC, CA, AB of triangle 4ABC, any points K, L, M , respec-
tively, are selected. Prove that the area of at least one of the triangle 4AM L, 4BKM , 4CLK
is less than or equal to one quarter of the area of 4ABC
2. Prove that if one and only one edge of a tetrahedron is greater than 1, then its volume
is smaller than or equal to 81
16 CHAPTER 1. INTERNATIONAL MATHEMATICS OLYMPIAD
4. Let 4A0 B0 C0 and 4A1 B1 C1 be any two acute-angled triangles. Consider all triangles
4ABC that are similar to 4A1 B1 C1 and circumscribed about triangle 4A0 B0 C0
(where A0 lies on BC, B0 on CA and C0 on AB) Of all such triangles, determine the
one with maximum area, and construct it.
c1 = a 1 + a 2 + · · · + a 8
c2 = a21 + a22 + · · · + a28
..
.
cn = an1 + an2 + · · · + an8
..
.
in which a1 , a2 , . . . , a8 are real numbers not all equal to zero. Suppose that an infinite
number of terms of the sequence {cn } are equal to zero. Find all natural numbers for
which cn = 0.
6. In a sport contest, there were m medals awarded on n successive days (n > 1). On
the first day, one medal and 71 of the remaining medals were awarded. On the second
day, two medals and 71 of the now remaining medals were awarded; and so on. On
the n-th and last day, the remaining n medals were awarded. How many days did
the contest last. and how many medals were awarded altogether?
1. Prove that there is one and only one triangle whose side lengths are consecutive
integers, and one of whose angles is twice as large as another.
2. Find all natural numbers x such that the product of their digits (in decimal notation)
is equal to x2 − 10x − 22.
1.10. 10T H IMO, USSR, 1968 17
ax21 + bx1 + c = x2
ax22 + bx2 + c = x3
..
.
ax2n−1 + bxn−1 + c = xn
ax2n + bxn + c = x1
4. Prove than in every tetrahedon there is a vertex such that the three edges meeting
there have lengths which are the sides of a triangle.
5. Let f be a real-valued function defined for all real numbers x such that, for some
positive constant a, the equation
1 q
f (x + a) = + f (x) − [f (x)]2
2
(a) Prove that the function f is periodic (i.e. there exists a positive number b such
that f (x + b) = f (x) for all x)
(b) For a = 1, give an example of a non-constant function with the requiered prop-
erties.
∞
$ % $ %
n + 2k n + 2k
X n+1 n+2
= + + · · · + +···
k=0 2k+1 2 4 2k+1
(the symbol bxc denotes the greatest integer not exceding x).
18 CHAPTER 1. INTERNATIONAL MATHEMATICS OLYMPIAD
6. Prove that for all real numbers x1 , x2 , y1 , y2 , z1 , z2 with x1 > 0, x2 > 0, x1 y1 − z12 >
0, x2 y2 − z22 > 0, the inequality
8 1 1
2 ≤ +
(x1 + x2 ) (y1 + y2 ) − (z1 + z2 ) x1 y1 − z1 x2 y2 − z22
2
2. Let a, b and n be integers greater than 1, and let a and b be the two bases of two
number systems. An−1 and An are numbers in the system with base a and Bn−1 and
Bn are numbers in the system with base b; these are related as follows:
An−1 Bn−1
< ⇐
⇒a > b
An Bn
4. Find the set of all positive integers n with the property that the set {n, n + 1, n +
2, n + 3, n + 4, n + 5} can be partitioned into sets such that the product of the
numbers in one set equals the product of the numbers in the other set
5. In the tetrahedron ABCD, the angle ^BDC is a right angle. Suppose that the foot
H of the perpendicular from D to the plane ABC is the intersection of the altitudes
of 4ABC. Prove that
(AB + BC + CA)2 ≤ 6 AD 2 + BD 2 + CD 2
6. In the plane are 100 points, no three of them are collinear. Consider all posible
triangles having these points as vertices. Prove that no more than 70% of these
triangles are acute-angled.
1
The xi ’s are the digits in the respective bases, and of course, all of them are lower than the lowest base
20 CHAPTER 1. INTERNATIONAL MATHEMATICS OLYMPIAD
2. Consider a convex polyhedron P1 with nine vertices A1 A2 , ..., A9 ; let Pi be the poly-
hedron obtained from P1 by a translation that moves vertex A1 to Ai (i = 2, 3, ..., 9).
Provethat at least two of the polyhedra P1 , P2 , ..., P9 have an interiorpoint in common.
3. Prove that the set of integers of the form 2k − 3(k = 2, 3, ...) contains an infinite
subset in which every two members are relatively prime.
4. All the faces of tetrahedron ABCD are acute-angled triangles. We consider all closed
polygonal paths of the form XY ZT X defined as follows: X is a point on edge AB
distinct from A and B; similarly, Y, Z, T are interior points of edges BCCD, DA,
respectively. Prove:
(a) If ^DAB + ^BCD 6= ^CDA + ^ABC, then among thepolygonal paths, there is
none of minimal length.
(b) If ^DAB + ^BCD = ^CDA + ^ABC, then there areinfinitely many shortest
polygonal paths, their common length being 2AC sin(α/2), where α = ^BAC +
^CAD + ^DAB.
5. Prove that for every natural number m, there exists a finite set S of points in a plane
with the following property: For every point A in S, there are exactly m points in S
which are at unit distance from A.
6. Let A = (aij )(i, j = 1, 2, ..., n) be a square matrix whose elements are non-negative
integers. Suppose that whenever an element aij = 0, the sum of the elements in the
ith row and the jth column is ≥ n. Prove that the sum of all the elements of the
matrix is ≥ n2 /2.
is an integer. (0! = 1)
(x21 − x3 x5 )(x22 − x3 x5 ) ≤ 0
(x22 − x4 x1 )(x23 − x4 x1 ) ≤ 0
(x23 − x5 x2 )(x24 − x5 x2 ) ≤ 0
(x24 − x1 x3 )(x25 − x1 x3 ) ≤ 0
(x25 − x2 x4 )(x21 − x2 x4 ) ≤ 0
5. Let f and g be real-valued functions defined for all real values of xand y, and satisfying
the equation
f (x + y) + f (x − y) = 2f (x)g(y)
for all x, y. Prove that if f (x) is not identically zero, and if |f (x)| ≤ 1 for all x, then
|g(y)| ≤ 1 for all y.
6. Given four distinct parallel planes, prove that there exists a regular tetrahedron with
a vertex on each plane.
−−→ −−→
Here OM denotes the length of vector OM .
22 CHAPTER 1. INTERNATIONAL MATHEMATICS OLYMPIAD
2. Determine whether or not there exists a finite set M of points in spacenot lying in
the same plane such that, for any two points A and B of M,one can select two other
points C and D of M so that lines AB and CD are parallel and not coincident.
x4 + ax3 + bx2 + ax + 1 = 0
has at least one real solution. For all such pairs (a, b), find the minimum value of
a2 + b 2 .
6. Let a1 , a2 , ..., an be n positive numbers, and let q be a givenreal number such that
0 < q < 1. Find n numbers b1 , b2 , ..., bn forwhich
(a) ak < bk for k = 1, 2, · · · , n,
bk+1 1
(b) q < bk
< q
for k = 1, 2, ..., n − 1,
1+q
(c) b1 + b2 + · · · + bn < 1−q
(a1 + a2 + · · · + an ).
This process (shuffling, dealing, giving out counters) takes place for at least two
rounds. After the last round, A has 20 counters in all, B has 10 and C has 9. At the
last round B received r counters. Who received q counters on the first round?
2. In the triangle 4ABC prove that there is a point D on side AB suchthat CD is the
geometric mean of AD and DB if and only if
C
sin A sin B ≤ sin2 .
2
Pn 2n+1
3. Prove that the number k=0 2k+1
23k is not divisible by 5 for any integer n ≥ 0.
x1 ≥ x2 ≥ · · · ≥ xn and y1 ≥ y2 ≥ · · · ≥ yn
2. Let a1 , a2 , a3, · · · be an infinite increasing sequence of positive integers. Prove that for
every p ≥ 1 there are infinitely many am which can be written in the form
am = xap + yaq
3. On the sides of an arbitrary triangle ABC, triangles ABR, BCP, CAQ areconstructed
externally with ^CBP = ^CAQ = 45◦ , ^BCP = ^ACQ = 30◦ , ^ABR = ^BAR =
15◦ . Prove that ^QRP = 90◦ and QR = RP.
4. When 44444444 is written in decimal notation, the sum of its digits is A. Let B be
the sum of the digits of A. Find the sum of the digits of B. (A and B are written in
decimal notation.)
5. Determine, with proof, whether or not one can find 1975 points on the circumference
of a circle with unit radius such that the distance between any two of them is a
rational number.
P (b + c, a) + P (c + a, b) + P (a + b, c) = 0
(iii) P (1, 0) = 1.
2. Let P1 (x) = x2 − 2 and Pj (x) = P1 (Pj−1 (x)) for j = 2, 3, · · ·.Show that, for any
positive integer n, the roots of the equation Pn (x) = x are real and distinct.
1.19. 19T H IMO, YUGOSLAVIA, 1977 25
3. A rectangular box can be filled completely with unit cubes. If one places as many
cubes as possible, each with volume 2, in the box, so that their edges are parallel
to the edges of the box, one can fill exactly 40% ofthe box. Determine the possible
dimensions of all such boxes.
4. Determine, with proof, the largest number which is the product of positiveintegers
whose sum is 1976.
with every coefficient aij member of the set {−1, 0, 1}. Prove that the system has a
solution (x1 , x2 , · · · , xq ) such that
(a) all xj (j = 1, 2, ..., q) are integers,
(b) there is at least one value of j for which xj 6= 0,
(c) |xj | ≤ q(j = 1, 2, ..., q).
2. In a finite sequence of real numbers the sum of any seven successive terms is nega-
tive, and the sum of any eleven successive terms is positive.Determine the maximum
number of terms in the sequence.
3. Let n be a given integer > 2, and let Vn be the set of integers 1+kn, where k = 1, 2, ....
A number m ∈ Vn is called indecomposable in Vn if there do not exist numbers
p, q ∈ Vn such that pq = m. Prove that there exists a number r ∈ Vn that can be
expressed as the product of elements indecomposable in Vn in more than one way.
(Products which differ only in the order of their factors will be considered the same.)
a2 + b2 ≤ 2 and A2 + B 2 ≤ 1.
6. Let f (n) be a function defined on the set of all positive integers and having all its
values in the same set. Prove that if f (n + 1) > f (f (n)) for each positive integer n,
then f (n) = n for each n.
2. P is a given point inside a given sphere. Three mutually perpendicular rays from P
intersect the sphere at points U, V, and W ; Q denotes the vertex diagonally opposite
to P in the parallelepiped determined by P U, P V, and P W. Find the locus of Q for
all such triads of rays from P .
3. The set of all positive integers is the union of two disjoint subsets {f (1), f (2), ..., f (n), ...},
{g(1), g(2), ..., g(n), ...}, where
5. Let {ak }(k = 1, 2, 3, ..., n, ...) be a sequence of distinct positive integers. Prove that
for all natural numbers n,
n n
X ak X 1
2
≥
k=1 k k=1 k
6. An international society has its members from six different countries. The list of
members contains 1978 names, numbered 1, 2, ..., 1978. Prove that there is at least
one member whose number is the sum of thenumbers of two members from his own
country, or twice as large as the numberof one member from his own country.
3. Two circles in a plane intersect. Let A be one of the points of intersection. Starting
simultaneously from A two points move with constant speeds, each point travelling
along its own circle in the same sense. The two points return to A simultaneously
after one revolution. Prove that there is a fixed point P in the plane such that, at
any time, the distances from P to the moving points are equal.
28 CHAPTER 1. INTERNATIONAL MATHEMATICS OLYMPIAD
4. Given a plane π, a point P in this plane and a point Q not in π, find all points R in
π such that the ratio (QP + P A)/QR is a maximum.
5. Find all real numbers a for which there exist non-negative real numbers x1 , x2 , x3 , x4 , x5
satisfying the relations
5
X 5
X 5
X
kxk = a, k 3 xk = a 2 , k 5 xk = a 3
k=1 k=1 k=1
2. Let 1 ≤ r ≤ n and consider all subsets of r elements of theset {1, 2, ..., n}. Each
of these subsets has a smallest member. Let F (n, r) denote the arithmetic mean of
these smallest numbers; prove that
n+1
F (n, r) =
r+1
1.23. 23RD IMO, BUDAPEST, HUNGARY, 1982 29
4. (a) For which values of n > 2 is there a set of n consecutive positive integers such
that the largest number in the set is a divisor of the least common multiple of the
remaining n − 1 numbers?
(b) For which values of n > 2 is there exactly one set having the stated property?
5. Three congruent circles have a common point O and lie inside a given triangle. Each
circle touches a pair of sides of the triangle. Prove that the incenter and the circum-
center of the triangle and the point O are collinear.
f (m + n) − f (m) − f (n) = 0 or 1
3. Consider the infinite sequences {xn } of positive real numbers with the following prop-
erties:
x0 = 1, and for all i ≥ 0, xi+1 ≤ xi
30 CHAPTER 1. INTERNATIONAL MATHEMATICS OLYMPIAD
(a) Prove that for every such sequence, there is an n ≥ 1 such that
x20 x21 x2
+ + · · · + n−1 ≥ 3.999
x1 x2 xn
(b) Find such a sequence for which
x20 x21 x2
+ + · · · + n−1 < 4
x1 x2 xn
4. Prove that if n is a positive integer such that the equation x3 − 3xy 2 + y 3 = n has
a solution in integers (x, y), then it has at least three suchsolutions. Show that the
equation has no solutions in integers when n = 2891
5. The diagonals AC and CE of the regular hexagon ABCDEF are divided by the
inner points M and N , respectively, so that
AM CN
= =r
AC CE
Determine r if B, M, and N are collinear.
6. Let S be a square with sides of length 100, and let L be a path within S which does
not meet itself and which is composed of line segments A0 A1 , A1 A2 , · · · , An−1 An with
A0 6= An . Suppose that for every point P of the boundary of S there is a point of L
at a distance from P not greater than 1/2. Prove that there are two points X and Y
in L such that the distance between X and Y is not greater than 1, and the length
of that part of L which lies between X and Y is not smaller than 198.
3. Let a, b and c be positive integers, no two of which have a common divisor greater
than 1. Show that 2abc − ab − bc − ca is the largest integer which cannot be expressed
in the form xbc + yca + zab,where x, y and z are non-negative integers.
4. Let ABC be an equilateral triangle and E the set of all points contained in the three
segments AB, BC and CA (including A, B and C). Determine whether, for every
partition of E into two disjoint subsets, at least one of the two subsets contains the
vertices of a right-angled triangle. Justify your answer.
5. Is it possible to choose 1983 distinct positive integers, all less than or equal to 10 5 ,
no three of which are consecutive terms of an arithmetic progression? Justify your
answer.
3. In the plane two different points O and A are given. For each point X of the plane,
other than O, denote by a(X) the measure of the angle between OA and OX in
radians, counterclockwise from OA(0 ≤ a(X) < 2π). Let C(X) be the circle with
center O and radius of length OX + a(X)/OX. Each point of the plane is colored by
one of a finite number ofcolors. Prove that there exists a point Y for which a(Y ) > 0
such that its color appears on the circumference of the circle C(Y ).
32 CHAPTER 1. INTERNATIONAL MATHEMATICS OLYMPIAD
4. Let ABCD be a convex quadrilateral such that the line CD is a tangent to the circle
on AB as diameter. Prove that the line AB is a tangent to the circle on CD as
diameter if and only if the lines BC and AD are parallel.
5. Let d be the sum of the lengths of all the diagonals of a plane convex polygon with
n vertices (n > 3), and let p be its perimeter. Prove that
2d n n+1
n−3< < −2
p 2 2
where [x] denotes the greatest integer not exceeding x.
6. Let a, b, c and d be odd integers such that 0 < a < b < c < d and ad = bc. Prove that
if a + d = 2k and b + c = 2m for some integers k and m, then a = 1.
2. Let n and k be given relatively prime natural numbers, k < n. Each number in the
set M = {1, 2, ..., n − 1} is colored either blue or white. It is given that
(i) for each i ∈ M, both i and n − i have the same color;
(ii) for each i ∈ M, i 6= k both i and |i − k| have the same color. Prove that all
numbers in M must have the same color.
4. Given a set M of 1985 distinct positive integers, none of which has a prime divisor
greater than 26. Prove that M contains at least one subset of four distinct elements
whose product is the fourth power of an integer.
5. A circle with center O passes through the vertices A and C of triangle ABC and
intersects the segments AB and BC again at distinct points K and N, respectively.
The circumscribed circles of the triangles 4ABC and 4EBN intersect at exactly
two distinct points B and M. Provethat angle ^OM B is a right angle.
1.27. 27T H IMO, WARSAW, POLAND, 1986 33
for every n.
2. A triangle 4A1 A2 A3 and a point P0 are given in the plane. We define As = As−3 for
all s ≥ 4. We construct a set of points P1 , P2 , P3 , . . . , such that Pk+1 is the image
of Pk under a rotation withenter Ak+1 through angle 120◦ clockwise (for k = 0, 1,
2,ldots). Prove that if P1986 = P0 , then the triangle 4A1 A2 A3 equilateral.
3. To each vertex of a regular pentagon an integer is assigned in such a way that the sum
of all five numbers is positive. If three consecutive vertices are assigned the numbers
x, y, z respectively and y < 0 then the following operation is allowed: the numbers
x, y, z are replaced by x + y, −y, z + y respectively. Such an operation is performed
repeatedly as long as at least one of the five numbers is negative. Determine whether
this procedure necessarily comes to and end after a finite number of steps.
5. Find all functions f , defined on the non-negative real numbers and taking non-
negative real values, such that:
6. One is given a finite set of points in the plane, each point having integeroordinates.
Is it always possible to color some of the points in the set rednd the remaining points
white in such a way that for any straight line Larallel to either one of the coordinate
axes the difference (in absolutealue) between the numbers of white point and red
points on L is not greaterhan 1?
3. Let x1 , x2 , . . . , xn be real numbers satisfying x21 + x22 + · · · + x2n = 1. Prove that for
every integer k ≥ 2 there are integers a1 , a2 , . . . , an , not all 0, such that |ai | ≤ k − 1
For all i and √
(k − 1) n
|a1 x1 + a1 x2 + · · · + an xn | ≤
kn −
4. Prove that there is no function f from the set of non-negative integers into itself such
that f (f (n)) = n + 1987 for every n.
5. Let n be an integer greater than or equal to 3. Prove that there is a set of n points
in the plane such that the distance between any two points is irrational and each set
of three points determines a non-degenerate triangle with rational area.
5. Prove that for each positive integer n there exist n consecutive positive integers none
of which is an integral power of a prime number.
1.30. 30T H IMO, BRAUNSCHWEIG, WEST GERMANY, 1989 37
a2 − a1 = a3 − a2 = · · · = ak − ak−1 > 0
5. Let 4ABC be a triangle and P an interior point of 4ABC. Show that at least one
of the angles ^P AB, ^P BC, ^P CA is less than or equal to 30◦ .
6. An infinite sequence x0 , x1 , x2 , . . . of real numbers is said to be bounded if there is a
constant C such that |xi | ≤ C for every i ≥ 0.
Given any real number a > 1, construct a bounded infinite sequence x0 , x1 , x2 , . . .
such that
|xi − xj ||i − j|a ≥ 1
for every pair of distinct nonnegative integers i, j.
2. Let R denote the set of all real numbers. Find all functions f : R → R such that
f x2 + f (y) = y + (f (x))2 forall x, y ∈ R
3. Consider nine points in space, no four of which are coplanar. Each pair of points is
joined by an edge (that is, a line segment) and each edge is either colored blue or red
or left uncolored. Find the smallest value of n such that whenever exactly n edges
are colored, the set of colored edges necessarily contains a triangle all of whose edges
have the same color.
4. In the plane let C be a circle, L a line tangent to the circle C, and M a point
on L. Find the locus of all points P with the following property: there exists two
points Q, R on L such that M is the midpoint of QR and C is the inscribed circle
of triangle 4P QR.
5. Let S be a finite set of points in three-dimensional space. Let Sx , Sy , Sz be the
sets consisting of the orthogonal projections of the points of S onto the yz-plane,
zx-plane, xy -plane, respectively. Prove that
6. For each positive integer n, S(n) is defined to be the greatest integer such that, for
every positive integer k ≤ S(n), n2 can be written as the sum of k positive squares.
2. Let D be a point inside acute triangle ABC such that ∠ADB = ^ACB + π/2 and
AC · BD = AD · BC.
4. For three points P, Q, R in the plane, we define m(P QR) as the minimum length of
the three altitudes of 4P QR. (If the points are collinear, we set m(P QR) = 0.)
Prove that for points A, B, C, X in the plane,
5. Does there exist a function f : N → N such that f (1) = 2, f (f (n)) = f (n) + n for
all n ∈ N, and f (n) < f (n + 1) for all n ∈ N?
42 CHAPTER 1. INTERNATIONAL MATHEMATICS OLYMPIAD
6. There are n lamps L0 , . . . , Ln−1 in a circle (n > 1), where we denote Ln+k = Lk . (A
lamp at all times is either on or off.) Perform steps s0 , s1 , . . . as follows: at step si , if
Li−1 is lit, switch Li from on to off or vice versa, otherwise do nothing. Initially all
lamps are on. Show that:
(a) There is a positive integer M (n) such that after M (n) steps all the lamps are
on again;
(b) If n = 2k , we can take M (n) = n2 − 1;
(c) If n = 2k + 1, we can take M (n) = n2 − n + 1.
a1 + a 2 + · · · + a m n+1
≥
m 2
(a) M is the midpoint of BC and O is the point on the line AM such that OB is
perpendicular to AB;
(b) Q is an arbitrary point on the segment BC different from B and C;
(c) E lies on the line AB and F lies on the line AC such that E , Q, F are distinct
and collinear.
3. For any positive integer k, let f (k) be the number of elements in the set {k + 1, k +
2, . . . , 2k} whose base 2 representation has precisely three 1s.
(a) Prove that, for each positive integer m, there exists at least onepositive integer
k such that f (k) = m.
(b) Determine all positive integers m for which there exists exactly one k with
f (k) = m.
1.36. 36T H IMO, TORONTO, CANADA, 1995 43
n3 + 1
mn − 1
is an integer.
5. Let S be the set of real numbers strictly greater than −1. Find all functions f : S → S
satisfying the two conditions:
6. Show that there exists a set A of positive integers with the following property: For
any infinite set S of primes there exist two positive integers m ∈ A and n ∈
/ A each
of which is a product of k distinct elements of S for some k ≥ 2.
3. Determine all integers n > 3 for which there exist n points A1 , . . . , An in the plane,
no three collinear, and real numbers r1 , . . . , rn such that for 1 ≤ i < j < k ≤ n, the
area of 4Ai Aj Ak is ri + rj + rk .
4. Find the maximum value of x0 for which there exists a sequence x0 , x1 . . . , x1995 of
positive reals with x0 = x1995 , such that for i = 1, . . . , 1995,
2 1
xi−1 + = 2xi +
xi−1 xi
44 CHAPTER 1. INTERNATIONAL MATHEMATICS OLYMPIAD
6. Let p be an odd prime number. How many p-element subsets A of {1, 2, . . . 2p} are
there, the sum of whose elements is divisible by p?
3. Let S denote the set of nonnegative integers. Find all functions f from S to itself
such that
f (m + f (n)) = f (f (m)) + f (n) ∀m, n ∈ S
4. The positive integers a and b are such that the numbers 15a + 16b and 16a − 15b are
both squares of positive integers. What is the least possible value that can be taken
on by the smaller of these two squares?
Prove that
P
RA + R C + R E ≥
2
6. Let p, q, n be three positive integers with p + q < n. Let (x0 , x1 , . . . , xn ) be an (n + 1)-
tuple of integers satisfying the following conditions:
(a) x0 = xn = 0.
(b) For each i with 1 ≤ i ≤ n, either xi − xi−1 = p or xi − xi−1 = −q.
Show that there exist indices i < j with (i, j) 6= (0, n), such that xi = xj .
(a) Calculate f (m, n) for all positive integers m and n which are eitheroth even or
both odd.
1
(b) Prove that f (m, n) ≤ 2
max{m, n} for all m and n.
(c) Show that there is no constant C such that f (m, n) < C for all m and n.
endenumerate
2. The angle at A is the smallest angle of triangle 4ABC. The points B and C divide
the circumcircle of the triangle into two arcs. Let U be an interior point of the arc
between B and C which does not contain A. The perpendicular bisectors of AB and
AC meet the line AU at V and W , respectively. The lines BV and CW meet at T .
Show that
AU = T B + T C
|x1 + x2 + · · · + xn | = 1
46 CHAPTER 1. INTERNATIONAL MATHEMATICS OLYMPIAD
and
n+1
|xi | ≤ i = 1, 2, . . . , n
2
Show that there exists a permutation y1 , y2 , . . . , yn of x1 , x2 , . . . , xn such that
n+1
|y1 + 2y2 + · · · + nyn | ≤
2
6. For each positive integer n , let f (n) denote the number of ways of representing n as
a sum of powers of 2 with nonnegative integer exponents.epresentations which differ
only in the ordering of their summands are considered to be the same. For instance,
f (4) = 4, because the number 4 can be represented in the following four ways:
4; 2 + 2; 2 + 1 + 1; 1 + 1 + 1 + 1.
3. For any positive integer n, let d(n) denote the number of positive divisors of n (in-
cluding 1 and n itself). Determine all positive integers k such that d(n2 )/d(n) = k
for some n.
4. Determine all pairs (a, b) of positive integers such that ab2 + b + 7 divides a2 b + a + b.
5. Let I be the incenter of triangle ABC. Let the incircle of ABC touch the sides BC,
CA, and AB at K, L, and M , respectively. The line through B parallel to M K
meets the lines LM and LK at R and S, respectively. Prove that angle RIS is acute.
6. Consider all functions f from the set N of all positive integers into itself satisfying
f (t2 f (s)) = s(f (t))2 for all s and t in N . Determine the least possible value of
f (1998).
for any two distinct points A and B in S, the perpendicular bisector of the
line segment AB is an axis of symmetry for S.
3. Consider an n × n square board, where n is a fixed even positive integer. The board
is divided into n2 unit squares. We say that two different squares on the board are
adjacent if they have a common side.
N unit squares on the board are marked in such a way that every square (marked or
unmarked) on the board is adjacent to at least one marked square.
Determine the smallest possible value of N .
48 CHAPTER 1. INTERNATIONAL MATHEMATICS OLYMPIAD
3. Let n ≥ 2 be a positive integer. Initially, there are n fleas on a horizontal line, not
all at the same point.
Determine all the values of λ such that for any point M on the line and any initial
position of the n fleas, there is a sequence of moves that will take all the fleas to the
position to the right of M .
1.42. 42N D IMO, WASHINGTON DC, USA, 2001 49
4. A magician has one hundred cards numbered 1 to 100. He puts them into three boxes,
a red one, a white one and a blue one, so that each box contain at least one card.
A member of the audience selects two of the three boxes, choose one card from each
and announces the sum of the numbers on the chosen cards. Given this sum, the
magician identifies the box from which no card has been choosen.
How many ways are there to put all the cards into the boxes so that this trick always
works? (Two ways are considered diferent if at least one of card is put nto a different
box)
5. Determine whether or not there exists a positive integer n such that:
n is divisible by exactely 2000 different prime numbers, and
2n + 1 is divisible by n.
6. Let AH1 , BH2 , CH3 be the altitudes of an acute-angled triangle 4ABC. The incircle
of the triangle 4ABC touches the sides BC, CA, AB at T1 , T2 , T3 , respectively. Let
the lines `1 , `2 , `3 be the reflections of the lines H2 H3 , H3 H1 H1 H2 in the lines T2 T3 ,
T3 T1 , T1 T2 , respectively.
Prove that `1 , `2 , `3 determine a triangle whose vertices lie on the incircle of the
triangle 4ABC.
4. Let n be an odd integer greater than 1, and let k1 , k2 , . . . , kn be given integers. For
each of the n! permutations a = (a1 , a2 , . . . , an ) of 1, 2, . . . , n, let
n
X
S (a) = ki ai
i=1
Prove that there are two permutations b and c, such that n! is a divisor of S (b)−S (c).
5. In a triangle 4ABC, let AP bisect ^BAC, with P on BC, and let BQ bisect ^ABC,
with Q on CA. It is known that ^BAC = 60◦ and that AB + BP = AQ + QB.
What are the possible angles of triangle 4ABC?
ac + bd = (b + d + a − c) (b + d − a + c)
2. BC is a diameter of a circle center O. A is any point on the circle with ∠AOC >
60o . EF is the chord which is the perpendicular bisector of AO. D is the midpoint of
the minor arc AB. The line through O parallel to AD meets AC at J. Show that J
is the incenter of triangle CEF .
3. Find all pairs of integers m > 2, n > 2 such that there are infinitely many positive
integers k for which k n + k 2 − 1 divides k m + k − 1.
4. The positive divisors of the integer n > 1 are d1 < d2 < . . . < dk , so that d1 = 1, dk =
n. Let d = d1 d2 + d2 d3 + · · · + dk−1 dk .
5. Find all functions f from the set R of real numbers to itself such that
(f (x) + f (z))(f (y) + f (t)) = f (xy − zt) + f (xt + yz)
for all x, y, z, t in R.
6. n > 2 circles of radius 1 are drawn in the plane so that no line meets more than two
of the circles. Their centers are O1 , O2 , · · · , On . Show that 1≤i<j≤n Oi1Oj ≤ (n−1)π
P
4
(b) Show that the equality holds if and only if x1 , x2 , . . . , xn form an arithmetic
sequence.
6. Show that for each prime p, there exists a prime q such that np − p is not divisible
by q for any positive integer n.
Chapter 2
Iberoamerican Mathematics
Olympiad
a + b + c = 24
a + b2 + c2 = 210
2
abc = 440
2. Let P be a point in the interior of the equilateral triangle 4ABC such that P A = 5,
P B = 7, P C = 8. Find the length of the side of the triangle 4ABC.
3. Find all the roots r1 , r2 , r3 y r4 of the equation 4a4 − ax3 + bx2 − cx + 5 = 0 knowing
that they are real, positive and that
r1 r2 r3 r4
+ + + = 1.
2 4 5 8
4. If x 6= 1, y 6= 1, and
yz − x2 xz − y 2
=
1−x 1−y
show that both fractions are equal to x + y + z.
52
2.2. 2N D IBEROAMERICAN OLYMPIAD, SALTO Y PAYSANDÚ, URUGUAY, 198753
5. To each positive integer n it is assigned a non-negative integer f (n) such that the
following conditions are satisfied:
6. Given an acute triangle ABC, let D, E and F be points in the lines BC, AC and AB
respectively. If the lines AD, BE and CF Pass al by O the center of the circumference
circumscrite to the triangle ABC, whose radio is R, show that
1 1 1 2
+ + =
AB BE CF R
.
2. In a triangle ABC, M and N are the midpoints of the sides AC and AB respectively,
and P is the point of interesection of BM and CN . Show that if it is posible to inscribe
a circumference in the cuadrilateral AN P M , then the triangle ABC is isosceles.
ad − bc = 1
a
b
> pq > c
d
Show that:
(a) q ≥ b + d
(b) Si q = b + d, then p = a + c.
3. Show that between all triangles such that the distance from their vertices to a given
point P are 3, 5 and 7, the one with the greatest perimeter has P as incenter.
4. Let ABC a triangle with sides length a, b, c. Each side of ABC is divided in n equal
segments. Let S the sum of the squares of the distance of each vertex to each one of
the points of division of the opositive side. Show that a2 +bS2 +c2 is a rational number.
5. Consider all the expression of the form x + yt + zt2 with x, y, z rational numbers and
t3 = 2. Show that if x + yt + zt2 6= 0 then there exist ratinal numbers u, v, w such
that
x + yt + zt2 u + vt + wt2 = 1
6. Consider the sets of n natural numbers diferent from zero in which there is no three
elements in arithmetic progresion. Show that in one of those sets the sum is maximal.
2.4. 4T H IBEROAMERICAN OLYMPIAD, LA HABANA, CUBA, 1989 55
1. Find all triples if real numbers that satisfy the following equation system:
x + y − z = −1
x2 − y 2 + z 2 = 1
−x3 + y 3 + z 3 = −1
2. Let x, y, z three real numbers such that 0 < x < y < z < π2 . Show that
π
+ 2 sin x cos y + 2 sin y cos z > sin 2x + sin 2y + sin 2z
2
4. The inscrite circumference in the triangle ABC, is tangente to the sides AC and BC
in the points M y N respectively. The angle bisectors of the angles A and B intersect
to M N in the points P and Q respectively. Let O be the incenter of the triangle
ABC. Show that M P · OA = BC · OQ.
5. Let f be a function defined on the set of al positive integer numbers {1, 2, 3, . . .} by:
f (1) = 1
f (2n + 1) = f (2n) + 1
f (2n) = 3f (n).
6. Show that there are infinite many pairs of natural numbers (x, y) solutions of the
equation
2x2 − 3x − 3y 2 − y + 1 = 0.
56 CHAPTER 2. IBEROAMERICAN MATHEMATICS OLYMPIAD
(a) Show that for every nonnegative integer n there exists a nonnegative integer k
such that f (n) + n = 2k − 1.
(b) Calculate f (21990 ).
2. Let ABC a triangle, and let I be the center of the circumference inscrite and D, E,
F its tangent points with BC, CA and AB respectively. Let P be the other point
of intersection of the line AD with the circumference inscrite. If M is the mid point
of EF , show that the for points P , I, M , D are either on the same circumference or
they are colinear.
(a) If p is a prime number such that p divides c and p2 do not divide c, show that
for any integer number n, p2 do not divide to f (n).
(b) Let q be a prime number distict from 2 such that q do not divide to c. If q divide
to f (n) for some integer n, show that for every positive integer r there exists an
positive integer number n0 such that q r divide to f (n0 ).
(a) Find the point of tangency P to t and C2 , and find the locus of the centers of
the circumferences C2 when M varies.
(b) Show that there exists a circumference ortogonal to all the circumferences C2 .
Note: Two circumferences are ortogonal one to the other if they intersect and the respective
tangents to the point of intersection are ortogonal.
2.6. 6T H IBEROAMERICAN OLYMPIAD, CÓRDOBA, ARGENTINA, 1991 57
6. Let f (x) be a polynomial of degree 3 with rational coeficients. Show that if the
graphic of f is tangente to the x-axis, then f (x) has all its roots rational.
2. Two perpendicular lines divide a square in for parts, three of them has area equal to
1. Show that the area of the full square is four.
3. Let F be an increasing function defined for all real number x such that 0 ≤ x ≤ 1,
and
F (0) = 0
x F (x)
F 3
= 2
18
Find F 1991
.
4. Find a number N of five diferent, non zero digits, such that it is equal to the sum of
all the numbers of three diferent digits that can be formed with the digits of N (in
any order).
6. Given three non colinear points M, N, P , if M and N are the middle points of the
sides of a triangle and P is the intersection point of the highs of such triangle. Show
that such triangle is constructible with compas and ruler.
1+2+···+n
. Calculate
a1 + a2 + · · · + a1992
2. Given n real numbers a1 , . . . , an such that 0 < a1 < a2 < · · · < an and given the
function
a1 a2 an
f (x) = + +···+
x + a1 x + a2 x + an
find the sum of the lengths of the disjoint intervals formed for al the values x such
that f (x) > 1.
(a) Show that for all point P of Γ the sum of the squares of the distance of the
vertices A, B and C is 5.
(b) Show that for all point P of Γ it is possible to construct a triangle such√that its
sides has the length of the segments AP , BP and CP , and its area is 43 .
4. Let (an ) and (bn ) be two sequences of integer numbers such that:
(a) a0 = 0, b0 = 8
(b) an+2 = 2an+1 − an + 2, bn+2 = 2bn+1 − bn
(c) a2n + b2n is a perfect square for all n.
5. Let Γ be a circumference and let h, m positive numbers such that there exists a
trapecious ABCD inscrite in Γ, of high h and such that the sum of the bases AB+CD
es m. Construct the trapecious ABCD.
2.8. 8T H IBEROAMERICAN OLYMPIAD, CIUDAD DE MÉXICO, MÉXICO, 1993 59
a a
A c
c b C2
b a C
B1 B c
b
B2 C1
2. Show that for every convex poligon with area less than or equal to one there exists a
paralelogram with area equal to two that contains it.
4. Let ABC an equilateral triangle and Γ its inscribed circle. If D and E are points in the
AD AE
sides AB and AC respectively, such that DE is tangent to Γ, show that DB + EC = 1.
5. Let P and Q be two distinct points in the plane. Let us denote by m(P Q) the segment
bisector of P Q. Let S be a finite subset of the plane, with more than one element,
that satisfies the following porpoerties:
(b) If P1 Q1 , P2 Q2 , P3 Q3 are three diferent segments such that its endpoints are points
of S, then, there is non point in S such that it intersects the three lines m(P1 Q1 ),
m(P2 Q2 ), and m(P3 Q3 )
6. Two non negative integers a and b are tuanis if the decimal expresion of a+b contains
only 0 and 1 as digits. Let A and B be two infinite sets of non negative integers such
that B is the set of all the tuanis numbers to elements of the set A and A the set of
all the tuanis numbers to elements of the set B. Show that in at least one of the sets
A and B there is an infinite number of pairs (x, y) such that x − y = 1.
3. In each sqare of an n × n grid there is a lamp. If the lamp is touched it changes its
state every lamp in the same row and every lamp in the same column (the one that
are on are turned off and viseversa). At the begining, all the lamps are off. Show that
always is posible, with an appropiated sequence of touches, that all the the lamps on
the board end on and find, in function of n the minimal number of touches that are
necesary to turn on evey lamp.
4. Let A, B and C be given points on a circumference K such that the triangle 4ABC
is acute. Let P be a point in the interior of K. X, Y and Z be the other intersection
of AP, BP and CP with the circumference. Determine the position of P to obtain
4XY Z equilateral
2.10. 10T H IBEROAMERICAN OLYMPIAD, REGION V, CHILE, 1995 61
x = x1 + x2 + · · · + x r
such that for all i = 1, 2, . . . , k there exist r, s with 0 ≤ r ≤ s < i such that
xi = x r + x s .
x1 +x2 +···+xn
ii n
= xn+1
3. Let r and s two orthogonal lines that does not lay on the same plane. Let AB be their
common perpendicular, where A ∈ r and B ∈ s2 . Consider the sphere of diameter
AB. The points M ∈ r and N ∈ s varies with the condition that M N is tangent to
the sphere on the point T . Find the locus of T .
1
Sorry for the coment, but I translated this problem as good as I could. This is the problem worst
redacted that I have ever seen, and it says the same in Spanish and Portuges. After I looked on the
solution, I would rewrite it as follows: Let f : N → N such that f (n) is the sum of all the digits of the
number n2 . Find the image of f (where, by image it is understood the set of all x such that exists an n
with f (n) = x)
2
The plane that contains B and r is perpendicular to s
62 CHAPTER 2. IBEROAMERICAN MATHEMATICS OLYMPIAD
4. In a m × n grid are there are token. Every token dominates every square on its
same row (↔), its same column (l), and diagonal (&-)(Note that the token does not
.), determine the lowest number of tokens that must be on
dominate the diagonal (%
the board to dominate all the squares on the board.
2. Let 4ABC be a triangle, D the midpoint of BC, and M be the midpoint of AD.
The line BM intersects the side AC on the point N . Show that AB is tangent to the
circumference circunscrite to the triangle 4N BC if and only if the following equality
is true
BM (BC)2
=
MN (BN )2
a<b≤n
3
Here bxc is the integer part of x
2.11. 11T H IBEROAMERICAN OLYMPIAD, LIMON, COSTA RICA, 1996 63
a+b>n
. Show that for each n, the sum of all this fractions are 21 .
B A
Initially, all the lines of the figure are painted blue. The tokens are moving along the
lines painting them of red, following the next two rules:
(a) First A moves, after that B moves, and then C, by turns. On each turn, the
token moves over exactly one line of one of the little triangles, form one side to
the other.
(b) Non token moves over a line that is already painted red, but it can rest on one
endpoint of a side that is already red, even if there is another token there wating
its turn.
Show that for every positive ingeter n it is possible to paint red all the sides of the
little triangles.
6. There are n diferent points A1 , . . . , An in the plain and each point Ai it is assigned a
real number λi distinct from zero in such way that
Show that
(a) n ≤ 4
1 1 1 1
(b) If n = 4, then λ1
+ λ2
+ λ3
+ λ4
= 0.
64 CHAPTER 2. IBEROAMERICAN MATHEMATICS OLYMPIAD
2. Let n ≥ 2 be an integer number and Dn the set of all the points (x, y) in the plane
such that its coordinates are integer numbers with −n ≤ x ≤ n and −n ≤ y ≤ n.
There are three posible colors in which the points of Dn are painted with (each point
has a unique color). Show that with any distribution of the colors, there are always
two points of Dn with the same color such that the line that contains them does not
go thrue any other point of Dn .
Find a way to paint the points of Dn with 4 colors such that if a line contains exactly
two points of Dn , then, this points have diferent colors.
P (n) 2n + 1
= n
I(n) 2 −1
4. In an acute triangle 4ABC, let AE and BF be highs of it, and H its orthocenter.
The symetric line of AE with respect to the angle bisector of ^A and the symetric
4
If x is a real number, bxc is the greatest integer lower than or equal to x
2.13. 13T H IBEROAMERICAN OLYMPIAD, PUERTO PLATA, REPÚBLICA DOMINCANA, 199865
line of BF with respect to the angle bisector of ^B intersect each other on the point
O. The lines AE and AO intersect again the circumscrite circumference to 4ABC
on the points M and N respectively.
Let P be the intersection of BC with HN ; R the intersection of BC with OM ; and
S the intersection of HR with OP .
Show that AHSO is a paralelogram.
5. Let P = {P1 , P2 , ..., P1997 } be a set of 1997 points in the interior of a circle of radius
1, where P1 is the center of the circle. For each k = 1. . . . , 1997, let xk be the distance
of Pk to the point of P closer to Pk , but diferent from it. Show that
2. The circumference inscribed on the triangle ABC is tangent to the sides BC, CA
and AB on the points D, E and F , respectively. AD intersect the circumference on
the point Q. Show that the line EQ intersect the segment AF on its midpoint if and
only if AC = BC.
3. Find the minimum natural number n with the following property: between any col-
lection of n distinct natural numbers in the set {1, 2, . . . , 999} it is possible to choose
four diferent a, b, c, d such that a + 2b + 3c = d.
4. There are representants from n diferent contries sit around a circular talbe (n ≥ 2),
in such way that if two representants are from the same country, then, their neighbors
to the right are not from the same country. Find, for every n, the maximal number
of people that can be sit around the table.
5. Find the maximal posible value of n such that there exist points P1 , P2 , P3 , . . . , Pn
in the plane and real numbers r1 , r2 , . . . , rn such that the distance between any two
diferent points Pi and Pj is ri + rj .
66 CHAPTER 2. IBEROAMERICAN MATHEMATICS OLYMPIAD
6. Let λ the positive root of the equation t2 − 1998t − 1 = 0. It is defined the sequence
x0 , x1 , x2 , . . . , xn , . . . by
2. Given two circumferences M and N , we say that M bisects N if they intersect in two
points and the common chord is a diameter of N .
Consider two fixed circumferences C1 and C2 not concentric.
(a) Show that there exists infinite many circumferences B such that B bisects both
C1 and C2
(b) Find the locus of the centers of such circumferences B.
3. Let P1 , P2 , . . . , Pn be n disctinct points over a line in the plane (n ≥ 2). Consider all
the circumferences with diameters Pi Pj (1 ≤ i, j ≤ n) and they are painted with k
given colors. Lets call this configuration a (n, k)-cloud.
For each positive integer k, find all the positive integers n such that every posible
(n, k)-cloud has two mutually exterior tangent circumferences of the same color.
4. Let B be an integer greater than 10 such that everyone of its digits belongs to the
set {1, 3, 7, 9}. Show that B has a factor greater than or equal to 11.
6. Let A and B points in the plane and C a point in the segment bisector of AB. It
is constructed a sequence of points C1 , C2 , . . . , Cn , . . . in the following way: C1 = C
and for n ≥ 1, if Cn does not belongs to AB, then Cn+1 is the circumcenter of the
triangle 4ABCn .
Find all the points C such that the sequence C1 , C2 , . . . is defined for all n and turns
eventually periodic5
(a) The number assigned to each side or diagonal is diferent to the number assigned
to any of the vertices that is endpoint of it.
(b) For each vertex, all the sides and diagonals that have it as an endpoint, have
diferent number assigned.
2. Let S1 and S2 be two circumferences, with centers O1 and O2 respectively, and secants
on M and N . The line t is the common tangent to S1 and S2 closer to M . The points
A and B are the intersection points of t with S1 and S2 , C is the point such that BC is
a diameter of S2 , and D the intersection point of the line O1 O2 with the perpendicular
line to AM thru B. Show that M , D and C are colinear
(x + 1)y − xz = 1
5. There are a buch of 2000 stones. Two players play alternatively, following the next
rules:
(a) On each turn, the player can take 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 stones or the bunch.
(b) On each turn, the player has forbiden to take the exact same amount of stones
that the other player took just before of him in the last play.
The player that on its turn can not do a valid play. Determine which player has
winning strategy and give such strategy.
6. A convex hexagon is called pretty if it has for diagonals of length 1, such that their
endpoints are all the vertex of the hexagon.
(a) Given any real number k with 0 < k < 1 find a pretty hexagon with area equal
to k
(b) Show that the area of any pretty hexagon is less than 1.
Show that every natural number k there exists a bogus number with more than k
digits.
2. The inscrite circumference of the triangle 4ABC has center at O and it is tangent
to the sides BC, AC and AB at the points X, Y and Z, respectively. The lines BO
and CO intersect the line Y Z at the points P and Q, respectively.
Show that if the segments XP and XQ has the same lenght, then the triangle 4ABC
is isosceles.
4. Find the maximum number or increasing arithmetic progresions that can have a finite
sequence of real numbers a1 < a2 < · · · < an of n real numbers.
Note: Three terms on ai , aj , ak of a sequence of real numbers are in increasing arith-
metic progresion if i < j < k, ai < aj < ak and aj − ai = ak − aj
5. In a board of 2000 × 2001 squares with integer coordinates (x, y), 0 ≤ x ≤ 1999 and
0 ≤ y ≤ 2000. An ship in the table moves in the next way: before each movement,
the ship is in position (x, y) and has a velocity of (h, v) where h and v are integers.
The ship choosea new velocity (h0 , v 0 ) such that h0 − h is either -1, 0 or 1, and v 0 − v is
either -1, 0 or 1. The new position of the ship will be (x0 , y 0 ) where x0 is the remainder
of the division of x + h0 by 2000 and y 0 is the remainder of the division of y + v 0 by
2001.
There are two ships in the board: The Martian ship and the Terrestrian ship. The
Terrestrian ship wants to catch the Martian ship. Initially each ship is in a different
square and has velocity (0, 0). The first ship to move is the Terrestrian, and they
continue moving alternatively.
There exists a strategy such that the Terrestrian ship always catch to the Martian
ship, whatever are the initial positions?
Note: The Terrestrial ship always see the Martian ship and it catch it if after a
movement it reaches the same position of the Martian ship.
6. Show that it is impossible to cover a unit sqare with five equal squares with side
s ≤ 21 .
2. Given any set of 9 points in the plane such that there is no 3 of them colinear, show
that for each point P of the set, the number of triangles with its vertices on the other
8 points and that contain P on its interior is even.
3. Let P be a point in the interior of the equilateral triangle 4ABC such that ^AP C =
120◦ . Let M be the intersection of CP with AB, and N the intersection of AP and
BC. Find the locus of the circumcenter of the triangle 4M BN when P varies.
4. In a triangle 4ABC with all its sides of diferent length, D is on the side AC, such
that BD is the angle bisector of ^ABC. Let E and F , respectively, be the feet of
the perpendicular drawn from A and C to the line BD and let M be the point on
BC such that DM is perpendicular to BC. Show that ^EM D = ^DM F .
6. A policeman try to catch a rober in a board of 2001 × 2001 squares. They play
alternatively, and each one of them on its turn should move a space on each one of
the next directions: ↓(down); → (right); - (up-left diagonal).
If the policeman is on the square in the right-down corner, he can go directly to the
square in the left-up corner (the rober can not do this). Initially the pliceman is in the
central square, and the rober is in the square over the diagonal from the right-up to
the left-down corners, that is contiguos (right-up) to the square where the policeman
is. Show that:
(a) The rober may move at least 10000 times before the policeman catch it.
(b) The policeman has an strategy such that he will eventually catch the rober
Note: The policeman catch the rober if he reaches the square where the rober is. If
the rober reaches the policeman square, there is not catch.
Say if it is always positive to distribut the numbers on the first sequence in the
first row and the second sequence in the second row, such that the sequence
obtained of the 2003 columnwise sums form a new sequence of 2003 consecutive
integers.
(b) Same question, if 2003 is replaced with 2004?
In both cases, if the answer is affirmative, explain how are the numbers distributed,
and if the answer is negative, explain why.
2. Let C and D be two points on the semicircumference with diameter AB such that B
and C are in distinct semiplanes with respect to the line AD. Denote by M , N and P
the midpoints of AC, BD and CD respectively. Let OA and OB the circumcenters of
the triangles 4ACP and 4BDP . Show that the lines OA OB and M N are parallel.
Consider all the sequences of 2004 real numbers (x1 , x2 , . . . , x2003 ) such that
x0 = 1
0 ≤ x1 ≤ 2x0
0 ≤ x2 ≤ 2x1
..
.
0 ≤ x2003 ≤ 2x2002
From all this sequences, determine that one where the next expression reach-
es its maximum value
S = ···
When Pablo was going to copy the expression, it was erased from the board. The
only thing that he could remember was that S was of the form
where the last term had coeficient +1 and the others has coeficients either +1 or -1.
Show that, even when Pablo does not have the complete statement, he can determine
the solution of the problem.
72 CHAPTER 2. IBEROAMERICAN MATHEMATICS OLYMPIAD
4. Let M = {1, 2, . . . , 49} the set of the first 49 positive integers. Determine the maxi-
mum integer k such that the set M has a subset of k elements such that there is no
6 consecutive integers in such subset. For that value of k, calculate the amount of
subset of M with k elements and the given property.
an+1 = a2001
n + bn , bn+1 = b2001
n + an
Show that 2003 is not divisor of any of the terms in these two sequences.
Chapter 3
73
74 CHAPTER 3. WILLIAM LOWELL PUTNAM COMPETITION
4. Define a sequence {ai } by a1 = 3 and ai+1 = 3ai for i ≥ 1. Which integers between
00 and 99 inclusive occur as the last two digits in the decimal expansion of infinitely
many ai ?
R 2π
5. Let Im = 0 cos(x) cos(2x) · · · cos(mx) dx. For which integers m, 1 ≤ m ≤ 10 is
Im 6= 0?
Let F (x) = 3x2 + 7x + 2. Find, with proof, a polynomial g(x) with real coefficients
such that
7. Let k be the smallest positive integer for which there exist distinct integers m1 , m2 , m3 , m4 , m5
such that the polynomial
9. Let
a1,1 a1,2 a1,3 ...
a2,1 a2,2 a2,3 ...
a3,1 a3,2 a3,3 ...
.. .. .. ..
. . . .
be a doubly infinite array of positive integers, and suppose each positive integer
appears exactly eight times in the array. Prove that am,n > mn for some pair of
positive integers (m, n).
3.2. 47T H ANUAL WILLIAM LOWELL PUTNAM COMPETITION, 1986 75
10. Let C be the unit circle x2 +y 2 = 1. A point p is chosen randomly on the circumference
C and another point q is chosen randomly from the interior of C (these points are
chosen independently and uniformly over their domains). Let R be the rectangle with
sides parallel to the x and y-axes with diagonal pq. What is the probability that no
point of R lies outside of C?
R R ∞ −x2 √
11. Evaluate 0∞ t−1/2 e−1985(t+t ) dt. You may assume that −∞
−1
e dx = π.
12. Let G be a finite set of real n × n matrices {Mi }, 1 ≤ i ≤ r, which form a group
P
under matrix multiplication. Suppose that ri=1 tr(Mi ) = 0, where tr(A) denotes the
Pr
trace of the matrix A. Prove that i=1 Mi is the n × n zero matrix.
P
3. Evaluate ∞ 2
n=0 Arccot(n + n + 1), where Arccot t for t ≥ 0 denotes the number θ in
the interval 0 < θ ≤ π/2 with cot θ = t.
Find a simple expression (not involving any sums) for f (1) in terms of b1 , b2 , . . . , bn
and n (but independent of a1 , a2 , . . . , an ).
7. Inscribe a rectangle of base b and height h in a circle of radius one, and inscribe
an isosceles triangle in the region of the circle cut off by one base of the rectangle
(with that side as the base of the triangle). For what value of h do the rectangle and
triangle have the same area?
8. Prove that there are only a finite number of possibilities for the ordered triple T =
(x − y, y − z, z − x), where x, y, z are complex numbers satisfying the simultaneous
equations
x(x − 1) + 2yz = y(y − 1) + 2zx + z(z − 1) + 2xy,
and list all such triples T .
9. Let Γ consist of all polynomials in x with integer coefficienst. For f and g in Γ and
m a positive integer, let f ≡ g (mod m) mean that every coefficient of f − g is an
integral multiple of m. Let n and p be positive integers with p prime. Given that
f, g, h, r and s are in Γ with rf + sg ≡ 1 (mod p) and f g ≡ h (mod p), prove
that there exist F and G in Γ with F ≡ f (mod p), G ≡ g (mod p), and F G ≡ h
(mod pn ).
3.3. 48T H ANUAL WILLIAM LOWELL PUTNAM COMPETITION, 1987 77
√
10. For a positive real number r, let G(r) be the minimum value of |r − m2 + 2n2 | for
all integers m and n. Prove or disprove the assertion that limr→∞ G(r) exists and
equals 0.
11. Let f (x, y, z) = x2 + y 2 + z 2 + xyz. Let p(x, y, z), q(x, y, z), r(x, y, z) be polynomials
with real coefficients satisfying
Prove or disprove the assertion that the sequence p, q, r consists of some permutation
of ±x, ±y, ±z, where the number of minus signs is 0 or 2.
12. Suppose A, B, C, D are n × n matrices with entries in a field F , satisfying the condi-
tions that AB T andCD T are symmetric and AD T − BC T = I. Here I is the n × n
identity matrix, and if M is an n × n matrix, M T is its transpose. Prove that
AT D + C T B = I.
Prove that A ∩ B = C ∩ D.
123456789101112131415161718192021 . . .
is obtained by writing the positive integers in order. If the 10n -th digit in this sequence
occurs in the part of the sequence in which the m-digit numbers are placed, define
f (n) to be m. For example, f (2) = 2 because the 100th digit enters the sequence in
the placement of the two-digit integer 55. Find, with proof, f (1987).
78 CHAPTER 3. WILLIAM LOWELL PUTNAM COMPETITION
y 00 − 2y 0 + y = 2ex .
(a) If f (x) > 0 for all real x, must f 0 (x) > 0 for all real x? Explain.
(b) If f 0 (x) > 0 for all real x, must f (x) > 0 for all real x? Explain.
5. Let !
~ −y x
G(x, y) = , ,0 .
x2 + 4y 2 x2 + 4y 2
Prove or disprove that there is a vector-valued function
(i) M, N, P have continuous partial derivatives for all (x, y, z) 6= (0, 0, 0);
(ii) Curl F~ = ~0 for all (x, y, z) 6= (0, 0, 0);
(iii) F~ (x, y, 0) = G(x,
~ y).
6. For each positive integer n, let a(n) be the number of zeroes in the base 3 represen-
tation of n. For which positive real numbers x does the series
∞
X xa(n)
3
n=1 n
converge?
7. Evaluate q
Z 4 ln(9 − x) dx
q q .
2 ln(9 − x) + ln(x + 3)
3.4. 49T H ANUAL WILLIAM LOWELL PUTNAM COMPETITION, 1988 79
9. Let F be a field in which 1 + 1 6= 0. Show that the set of solutions to the equation
x2 + y 2 = 1 with x and y in F is given by (x, y) = (1, 0) and
!
r 2 − 1 2r
(x, y) = ,
r2 + 1 r2 + 1
10. Let (x1 , y1 ) = (0.8, 0.6) and let xn+1 = xn cos yn − yn sin yn and yn+1 = xn sin yn +
yn cos yn for n = 1, 2, 3, . . .. For each of limn→∞ xn and limn→∞ yn , prove that the
limit exists and find it or prove that the limit does not exist.
(Note: if C is a matrix of complex numbers, re(C) is the matrix whose entries are
the real parts of the entries of C.)
12. Let F be the field of p2 elements, where p is an odd prime. Suppose S is a set of
(p2 − 1)/2 distinct nonzero elements of F with the property that for each a 6= 0 in F ,
exactly one of a and −a is in S. Let N be the number of elements in the intersection
S ∩ {2a : a ∈ S}. Prove that N is even.
2. A not uncommon calculus mistake is to believe that the product rule for derivatives
2
says that (f g)0 = f 0 g 0 . If f (x) = ex , determine, with proof, whether there exists an
open interval (a, b) and a nonzero function g defined on (a, b) such that this wrong
product rule is true for x in (a, b).
converges.
4. (a) If every point of the plane is painted one of three colors, do there necessarily
exist two points of the same color exactly one inch apart?
(b) What if three is replaced by nine?
5. Prove that there exists a unique function f from the set R+ of positive real numbers
to R+ such that
f (f (x)) = 6x − f (x)
and
f (x) > 0
for all x > 0.
8. Prove or disprove: If x and y are real numbers with y ≥ 0 and y(y + 1) ≤ (x + 1)2 ,
then y(y − 1) ≤ x2 .
9. For every√n in the set N = {1, 2, . . .} of positive integers, let rn be the minimum value
of |c − d 3| for all nonnegative integers c and d with c + d = n. Find, with proof,
the smallest positive real number g with rn ≤ g for all n ∈ N.
P
10. Prove that if ∞ n=1 an is a convergent series of positive real numbers, then so is
P∞ n/(n+1)
(a
n=1 n ) .
3.5. 50T H ANUAL WILLIAM LOWELL PUTNAM COMPETITION, 1989 81
12. Prove that there exist an infinite number of ordered pairs (a, b) of integers such that
for every positive integer t, the number at + b is a triangular number if and only if t
is a triangular number. (The triangular numbers are the tn = n(n + 1)/2 with n in
{0, 1, 2, . . .})
3. Prove that if
11z 10 + 10iz 9 + 10iz − 11 = 0,
then |z| = 1. (Here z is a complex number and i2 = −1.)
4. If α is an irrational number, 0 < α < 1, is there a finite game with an honest coin
such that the probability of one player winning the game is α? (An honest coin is one
for which the probability of heads and the probability of tails are both 12 . A game is
finite if with probability 1 it must end in a finite number of moves.)
82 CHAPTER 3. WILLIAM LOWELL PUTNAM COMPETITION
5. Let m be a positive integer and let G be a regular (2m + 1)-gon inscribed in the unit
circle. Show that there is a positive constant A, independent of m, with the following
property. For any points p inside G there are two distinct vertices v1 and v2 of G such
that
1 A
| |p − v1 | − |p − v2 | | < − 3.
m m
Here |s − t| denotes the distance between the points s and t.
8. Let S be a non-empty set with an associative operation that is left and right can-
cellative (xy = xz implies y = z, and yx = zx implies y = z).ssume that for every a
in S the set {an : n = 1, 2, 3, . . .} is inite. Must S be a group?
9. Let f be a function on [0, ∞), differentiable and satisfying
a) Express µn in terms of µ0 .
n
b) Prove that the sequence {µn 3n! } always converges, and that the limit is 0 only
if µ0 = 0.
3.6. 51T H ANUAL WILLIAM LOWELL PUTNAM COMPETITION, 1990 83
10. Can a countably infinite set have an uncountable collection of non-empty subsets such
that the intersection of any two of them is finite?
11. Label the vertices of a trapezoid T (quadrilateral with two parallel sides) inscribed
in the unit circle as A, B, C, D so that AB is parallel to CD and A, B, C, D are
in counterclockwise order. Let s1 , s2 , and d denote the lengths of the line segments
AB, CD, and OE, where E is the point of intersection of the diagonals of T , and O
is the center of the circle. Determine the least upper bound of s1 −s d
2
over all such T
for which d 6= 0, and describe allases, if any, in which it is attained.
12. Let (x1 , x2 , . . . xn ) be a point chosen at random from the n-dimensional region defined
by 0 < x1 < x2 < · · · < xn < 1. Let f be a continuous function on [0, 1] with f (1) = 0.
Set x0 = 0 and xn+1 = 1. Show that the expected value of the Riemann sum
n
X
(xi+1 − xi )f (xi+1 )
i=0
R
is 01 f (t)P (t) dt, where P is a polynomial of degree n, independent of f , with 0 ≤
P (t) ≤ 1 for 0 ≤ t ≤ 1.
Find, with proof, a formula for Tn of the form Tn = An + Bn , where {An } and {Bn }
are well-known sequences.
√ √ √
2. Is 2 the limit of a sequence of numbers of the form 3 n − 3 m (n, m = 0, 1, 2, . . .)?
3. Prove that any convex pentagon whose vertices (no three of which are collinear) have
integer coordinates must have area greater than or equal to 25 .
84 CHAPTER 3. WILLIAM LOWELL PUTNAM COMPETITION
4. Consider a paper punch that can be centered at any point of the plane and that,
when operated, removes from the plane precisely those points whose distance from
the center is irrational. How many punches are needed to remove every point?
5. If A and B are square matrices of the same size such that ABAB = 0, does it follow
that BABA = 0?
6. If X is a finite set, let X denote the number of elements in X. Call an ordered pair
(S, T ) of subsets of {1, 2, . . . , n} admissible if s > |T | for each s ∈ S, and t > |S| for
each t ∈ T . How many admissible ordered pairs of subsets of {1, 2, . . . , 10} are there?
Prove your answer.
7. Find all real-valued continuously differentiable functions f on the real line such that
for all x, Z x
2
(f (x)) = [(f (t))2 + (f 0 (t))2 ] dt + 1990.
0
where Pj is
(1 − z)(1 − zx)(1 − zx2 ) · · · (1 − zxj−1 )
.
(z − x)(z − x2 )(z − x3 ) · · · (z − xj )
9. Let S be a set of 2 × 2 integer matrices whose entries aij (1) are all squares of integers
and, (2) satisfy aij ≤ 200. Show that if S has more than 50387 (= 154 − 152 − 15 + 2)
elements, then it has two elements that commute.
10. Let G be a finite group of order n generated by a and b. Prove or disprove: there is
a sequence
g1 , g2 , g3 , . . . , g2n
such that
(1) every element of G occurs exactly twice, and
(2) gi+1 equals gi a or gi b for i = 1, 2, . . . , 2n. (Interpret g2n+1 as g1 .)
11. Is there an infinite sequence a0 , a1 , a2 , . . . of nonzero real numbers such that for n =
1, 2, 3, . . . the polynomial
pn (x) = a0 + a1 x + a2 x2 + · · · + an xn
has exactly n distinct real roots?
3.7. 52T H ANUAL WILLIAM LOWELL PUTNAM COMPETITION, 1991 85
12. Let S be a nonempty closed bounded convex set in the plane. Let K be a line and t
a positive number. Let L1 and L2 be support lines for S parallel to K1 , and let L be
the line parallel to K and midway between L1 and L2 . Let BS (K, t) be the band of
points whose distance from L is at most (t/2)w, where w is the distance between L1
and L2 . What is the smallest t such that
\
S∩ BS (K, t) 6= ∅
K
3. Find all real polynomials p(x) of degree n ≥ 2 for which there exist real numbers
r1 < r2 < · · · < rn such that
4. Does there exist an infinite sequence of closed discs D1 , D2 , D3 , . . . in the plane, with
centers c1 , c2 , c3 , . . ., respectively, such that
for 0 ≤ y ≤ 1.
a1 + a 2 + · · · + a r
a1 > a 2 + a 3 , a2 > a 3 + a 4 , . . .
(a) b1 ≥ b2 ≥ . . . ≥ bs ,
(b) each bi is in the sequence 1, 2, 4, . . . , gj , . . . defined by g1 = 1, g2 = 2, and
gj = gj−1 + gj−2 + 1, and
(c) if b1 = gk then every element in {1, 2, 4, . . . , gk } appears at least once as a bi .
7. For each integer n ≥ 0, let S(n) = n − m2 , where m is the greatest integer with
m2 ≤ n. Define a sequence (ak )∞ k=0 by a0 = A and ak+1 = ak + S(ak ) for k ≥ 0. For
what positive integers A is this sequence eventually constant?
9. Does there exist a real number L such that, if m and n are integers greater than L,
then an m × n rectangle may be expressed as a nion of 4 × 6 and 5 × 7 rectangles,
any two of which intersect at most along their boundaries?
3.8. 53T H ANUAL WILLIAM LOWELL PUTNAM COMPETITION, 1992 87
11. Let p be an odd prime and let Zp denote (the field of) integers modulo p. How many
elements are in the set
{x2 : x ∈ Zp } ∩ {y 2 + 1 : y ∈ Zp }?
12. Let a and b be positive numbers. Find the largest number c, in terms of a and b, such
that
sinh ux sinh u(1 − x)
ax b1−x ≤ a +b
sinh u sinh u
for all u with 0 < |u| ≤ c and for all x, 0 < x < 1. (Note: sinh u = (eu − e−u )/2.)
2. Define C(α) to be the coefficient of x1992 in the power series about x = 0 of (1 + x)α .
Evaluate !
Z 1 1992
X 1
C(−y − 1) dy.
0 k=1 y + k
3. For a given positive integer m, find all triples (n, x, y) of positive integers, with n
relatively prime to m, which satisfy
(x2 + y 2 )m = (xy)n .
88 CHAPTER 3. WILLIAM LOWELL PUTNAM COMPETITION
5. For each positive integer n, let an = 0 (or 1) if the number of 1’s in the binary
representation of n is even (or odd), respectively. Show that there do not exist
positive integers k and m such that
for 0 ≤ j ≤ m − 1.
6. Four points are chosen at random on the surface of a sphere. What is the probability
that the center of the sphere lies inside the tetrahedron whose vertices are at the
four points? (It is understood that each point is independently chosen relative to a
uniform distribution on the sphere.)
7. Let S be a set of n distinct real numbers. Let AS be the set of numbers that occur
as averages of two distinct elements of S. For a given n ≥ 2, what is the smallest
possible number of elements in AS ?
9. For any pair (x, y) of real numbers, a sequence (an (x, y))n≥0 is defined as follows:
a0 (x, y) = x,
(an (x, y))2 + y 2
an+1 (x, y) = , for n ≥ 0.
2
Find the area of the region
10. Let p(x) be a nonzero polynomial of degree less than 1992 having no nonconstant
factor in common with x3 − x. Let
!
d1992 p(x) f (x)
=
dx1992 x3 − x g(x)
for polynomials f (x) and g(x). Find the smallest possible degree of f (x).
11. Let Dn denote the value of the (n − 1) × (n − 1) determinant
3 1 1 1 ··· 1
1 4 1 1 ··· 1
1 1 5 1 ··· 1
1 1 1 6 ··· 1 .
.. .. .. .. .. ..
. . . . . .
1 1 1 1 ··· n+1
n o
Dn
Is the set n!
bounded?
n≥2
3. Let Pn be the set of subsets of {1, 2, . . . , n}. Let c(n, m) be the number of functions
f : Pn → {1, 2, . . . , m} such that f (A ∩ B) = min{f (A), f (B)}. Prove that
m
X
c(n, m) = j n.
j=1
4. Let x1 , x2 , . . . , x19 be positive integers each of which is less than or equal to 93. Let
y1 , y2 , . . . , y93 be positive integers each of which is less than or equal to 19. Prove
that there exists a (nonempty) sum of some xi ’s equal to a sum of some yj ’s.
5. Show that
!2 !2 !2
x2 − x x2 − x x2 − x
Z Z 1 Z 11
−10 11 10
dx + dx + dx
−100 x3 − 3x + 1 1
101
x3 − 3x + 1 101
100
x3 − 3x + 1
is a rational number.
2, 3, 3, 2, 3, 3, 3, 2, 3, 3, 3, 2, 3, 3, 2, 3, 3, 3, 2, 3, 3, 3, 2, 3, 3, 3, 2, 3, 3, 2, 3, 3, 3, 2, . . .
as the property that, if one forms a second sequence that records the number of 3’s
between successive 2’s, the result is identical to the iven sequence. Show that there
exists a real number r such that, for ny n, the nth term of the sequence is 2 if and
only if n = 1 + brmc for some nonnegative integer m. (Note: bxrf loor denotes the
largest integer less than or equal to x.)
7. Find the smallest positive integer n such that for every integer m with 0 < m < 1993,
there exists an integer k for which
m k m+1
< < .
1993 n 1994
8. Consider the following game played with a deck of 2n cards numbered from 1 to 2n.
The deck is randomly shuffled and n cards are dealt to each of two players. Beginning
with A, the players take turns discarding one of their remaining cards and announcing
its number. The game ends as soon as the sum of the numbers on the discarded cards
is divisible by 2n + 1. The last person to discard wins the game. Assuming optimal
strategy by both A and B, what is the probability that A wins?
9. Two real numbers x and y are chosen at random in the interval (0,1) with respect
to the uniform distribution. What is the probability that he closest integer to x/y is
even? Express the answer in the form r + sπ, where r and s are rational numbers.
3.10. 55T H ANUAL WILLIAM LOWELL PUTNAM COMPETITION, 1994 91
10. The function K(x, y) is positive and continuous for 0 ≤ x ≤ 1, 0 ≤ y ≤ 1, and the
functions f (x) and g(x) are positive and continuous for 0 ≤ x ≤ 1. Suppose that for
all x, 0 ≤ x ≤ 1, Z 1
f (y)K(x, y) dy = g(x)
0
and Z 1
g(y)K(x, y) dy = f (x).
0
Show that f (x) = g(x) for 9 ≤ x ≤ 1.
11. Show there do not exist four points in the Euclidean plane such that the pairwise
distances between the points are all odd integers.
12. Let S be a set of three, not necessarily distinct, positive integers. Show that one can
transform S into a set containing 0 by a finite number of applications of the following
rule: Select two of the three integers, say x and y, where x < y and replace them
with 2x and y − x.
2. Find the positive value of m such that the area in the first quadrant enclosed by the
2
ellipse x9 + y 2 = 1, the x-axis, and the line y = 2x/3 is equal to the area in the first
2
quadrant enclosed by the ellipse x9 + y 2 = 1, the y-axis, and the line y = mx.
3. Prove that the points of an isosceles triangle of side length
√ 1 annot be colored in four
colors such that no two points at distance at least 2 − 2 from each other receive the
same color.
4. Let A and B be 2 × 2 matrices with integer entries such that each of A, A + B, A +
2B, A + 3B, A + 4B has an inverse with integer entries. Prove that the same must
be true of A + 5B.
5. Let (rn ) be a sequence of positive reals with limit 0. Let S be the set of all numbers
expressible in the form ri1 + . . . + ri1994 for positive integers i1 < i2 < . . . < i1994 .
Prove that every interval (a, b) contains a subinterval (c, d) whose intersection with
S is empty.
92 CHAPTER 3. WILLIAM LOWELL PUTNAM COMPETITION
6. Let f1 , . . . , f10 be bijections of the integers such that for every integer n, there exists
a sequence i1 , . . . , ik for some k such that fi1 ◦ . . . ◦ fik (0) = n. Prove that if A is
any nonempty finite set, there exist at most 512 sequences (e1 , . . . , e10 ) of zeroes and
ones such that f1e1 ◦ . . . ◦ f10e10
maps A to A. (Here f 1 = f and f 0 means the identity
function.)
7. Find all positive integers n such that |n − m2 | ≤ 250 for exactly 15 nonnegative
integers m.
8. Find all c such that the graph of the function x4 + 9x3 + cx2 + ax + b meets some line
in four distinct points.
9. Let f (x) be a positive-valued function over the reals such that f 0 (x) > f (x) for all x.
For what k must there exist N such that f (x) > ekx for x > N ?
!
3 2
10. Let A be the matrix and for positive integers n, define dn as the greatest
4 2
common divisor of the entries of An − I, where I = ((10)(01)). Prove that dn → ∞
as n → ∞.
11. Fix n a positive integer. For α real, define fα (i) as the greatest integer less than or
equal to αi, and write f k for the k-th iterate of f (i.e. f 1 = f and f k+1 = f ◦ f k ).
Prove there exists α such that fαk (n2 ) = fαk (n2 ) = n2 − k for k = 1, . . . , n.
12. Suppose a, b, c, d are integers with 0 ≤ a ≤ bleq99, 0 ≤ c ≤ d ≤ 99. For any integer i,
let ni = 101i + 1002i . Show that if na + nb is congruent to nc + nd mod 10100, then
a = c and b = d.
converge?
3. The number d1 d2 . . . d9 has nine (not necessarily distinct) decimal digits. The number
e1 e2 . . . e9 is such that each of the nine 9-digit numbers formed by replacing just one
of the digits di is d1 d2 . . . d9 by the corresponding digit ei (1 ≤ i ≤ 9) is divisible by 7.
The number f1 f2 . . . f9 is related to e1 e2 . . . e9 is the same way: that is, each of the nine
numbers formed by replacing one of the ei by the corresponding fi is divisible by 7.
Show that, for each i, di −fi is divisible by 7. [For example, if d1 d2 . . . d9 = 199501996,
then e6 may be 2 or 9, since 199502996 and 199509996 are multiples of 7.]
4. Suppose we have a necklace of n beads. Each bead is labeled with an integer and the
sum of all these labels is n − 1. Prove that we can cut the necklace to form a string
whose consecutive labels x1 , x2 , . . . , xn satisfy
k
X
xi ≤ k − 1 for k = 1, 2, . . . , n.
i=1
dx1
= a11 x1 + a12 x2 + · · · + a1n xn
dt
dx2
= a21 x1 + a22 x2 + · · · + a2n xn
dt
.. ..
. .
dxn
= an1 x1 + an2 x2 + · · · + ann xn
dt
for some constants aij > 0. Suppose that for all i, xi (t) → 0 as t → ∞. Are the
functions x1 , x2 , . . . , xn necessarily linearly dependent?
6. Suppose that each of n people writes down the numbers 1,2,3 in random order in
one column of a 3 × n matrix, with all orders equally likely and with the orders for
different columns independent of each other. Let the row sums a, b, c of the resulting
matrix be rearranged (if necessary) so that a ≤ b ≤ c. Show that for some n ≥ 1995,
it is at least four times as likely that both b = a + 1 and c = a + 2 as that a = b = c.
7. For a partition π of {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9}, let π(x) be the number of elements in the
part containing x. Prove that for any two partitions π and π 0 , there are two distinct
numbers x and y in {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9} such that π(x) = π(y) and π 0 (x) = π 0 (y).
[A partition of a set S is a collection of disjoint subsets (parts) whose union is S.]
94 CHAPTER 3. WILLIAM LOWELL PUTNAM COMPETITION
8. An ellipse,
whose
semi-axes have lengths a and b, rolls without slipping on the curve
x
y = c sin a . How are a, b, c related, given that the ellipse completes one revolution
when it traverses one period of the curve?
9. To each positive integer with n2 decimal digits, we associate the determinant of the
matrix obtained by writing the digits in order across
! the rows. For example, for
8 6
n = 2, to the integer 8617 we associate det = 50. Find, as a function of n,
1 7
the sum of all the determinants associated with n2 -digit integers. (Leading digits are
assumed to be nonzero; for example, for n = 2, there are 9000 determinants.)
10. Evaluate v
u
u 1
8
t 2207 − 1 .
2207 − 2207−...
√
a+b c
Express your answer in the form d
, where a, b, c, d are integers.
11. A game starts with four heaps of beans, containing 3,4,5 and 6 beans. The two players
move alternately. A move consists of taking either
a) one bean from a heap, provided at least two beans are left behind in that heap,
or
b) a complete heap of two or three beans.
The player who takes the last heap wins. To win the game, do you want to move first
or second? Give a winning strategy.
12. For a positive real number α, define
S(α) = {bnαc : n = 1, 2, 3, . . .}.
Prove that {1, 2, 3, . . .} cannot be expressed as the disjoint union of three sets S(α), S(β)
and S(γ). [As usual, bxc is the greatest integer ≤ x.]
2. Let C1 and C2 be circles whose centers are 10 units apart, and whose radii are 1 and
3. Find, with proof, the locus of all points M for which there exists points X on C1
and Y on C2 such that M is the midpoint of the line segment XY .
3. Suppose that each of 20 students has made a choice of anywhere from 0 to 6 courses
from a total of 6 courses offered. Prove or disprove: there are 5 students and 2 courses
such that all 5 have chosen both courses or all 5 have chosen neither course.
4. Let S be the set of ordered triples (a, b, c) of distinct elements of a finite set A.
Suppose that
Prove that there exists a one-to-one function g from A to R such that g(a) < g(b) <
g(c) implies (a, b, c) ∈ S. Note: R is the set of real numbers.
5. If p is a prime number greater than 3 and k = b2p/3c, prove that the sum
! ! !
p p p
+ +···+
1 2 k
7. Define a selfish set to be a set which has its own cardinality (number of elements)
as an element. Find, with proof, the number of subsets of {1, 2, . . . , n} which are
minimal selfish sets, that is, selfish sets none of whose proper subsets is selfish.
9. Given that {x1 , x2 , . . . , xn } = {1, 2, . . . , n}, find, with proof, the largest possible value,
as a function of n (with n ≥ 2), of
x1 x2 + x2 x3 + · · · + xn−1 xn + xn x1 .
96 CHAPTER 3. WILLIAM LOWELL PUTNAM COMPETITION
10. For any square matrix A, we can define sin A by the usual power series:
∞
X (−1)n
sin A = A2n+1 .
n=0 (2n + 1)!
Prove or disprove: there exists a 2 × 2 matrix A with real entries such that
!
1 1996
sin A = .
0 1
11. Given a finite string S of symbols X and O, we write ∆(S) for the number of X’s in
S minus the number of O’s. For example, ∆(XOOXOOX) = −1. We call a string
S balanced if every substring T of (consecutive symbols of) S has −2 ≤ ∆(T ) ≤ 2.
Thus, XOOXOOX is not balanced, since it contains the substring OOXOO. Find,
with proof, the number of balanced strings of length n.
12. Let (a1 , b1 ), (a2 , b2 ), . . . , (an , bn ) be the vertices of a convex polygon which contains
the origin in its interior. Prove that there exist positive real numbers x and y such
that
(a1 , b1 )xa1 y b1 + (a2 , b2 )xa2 y b2 + · · · + (an , bn )xan y bn = (0, 0)
2. Players 1, 2, 3, . . . , n are seated around a table, and each has a single penny. Player
1 passes a penny to player 2, who then passes two pennies to player 3. Player 3 then
passes one penny to Player 4, who passes two pennies to Player 5, and so on, players
alternately passing one penny or two to the next player who still has some pennies.
A player who runs out of pennies drops out of the game and leaves the table. Find
an infinite set of numbers n for which some player ends up with all n pennies.
3. Evaluate
! !
x3 x5 x7 x2 x4 x6
Z ∞
x− + − +··· 1 + 2 + 2 2 + 2 2 2 + · · · dx.
0 2 2·4 2·4·6 2 2 ·4 2 ·4 ·6
3.13. 58T H ANUAL WILLIAM LOWELL PUTNAM COMPETITION, 1997 97
12. The dissection of the 3–4–5 triangle shown below (into four congruent right triangles
similar to the original) has diameter 5/2. Find the least diameter of a dissection of
this triangle into four parts. (The diameter of a dissection is the least upper bound
of the distances between pairs of points belonging to the same part.)
for x > 0.
8. Given a point (a, b) with 0 < b < a, determine the minimum perimeter of a triangle
with one vertex at (a, b), one on the x-axis, and one on the line y = x. You may
assume that a triangle of minimum perimeter exists.
10. Find necessary and sufficient conditions on positive integers m and n so that
mn−1
X
(−1)bi/mc+bi/nc = 0.
i=0
11. Let N be the positive integer with 1998 decimal digits, all of them 1; that is,
N = 1111 · · · 11.
√
Find the thousandth digit after the decimal point of N.
√
12. Prove that, for any integers a, b, c, there exists a positive integer n such that n3 + an2 + bn + c
is not an integer.
2. Let p(x) be a polynomial that is nonnegative for all real x. Prove that for some k,
there are polynomials f1 (x), . . . , fk (x) such that
k
X
p(x) = (fj (x))2 .
j=1
a2n + a2n+1 = am .
5. Prove that there is a constant C such that, if p(x) is a polynomial of degree 1999,
then Z 1
|p(0)| ≤ C |p(x)| dx.
−1
7. Right triangle ABC has right angle at C and ∠BAC = θ; the point D is chosen on
AB so that |AC| = |AD| = 1; the point E is chosen on BC so that ∠CDE = θ. The
perpendicular to BC at E meets AB at F . Evaluate limθ→0 |EF |.
8. Let P (x) be a polynomial of degree n such that P (x) = Q(x)P 00 (x), where Q(x) is a
quadratic polynomial and P 00 (x) is the second derivative of P (x). Show that if P (x)
has at least two distinct roots then it must have n distinct roots.
where the sum ranges over all pairs (m, n) of positive integers satisfying the indicated
inequalities. Evaluate
10. Let f be a real function with a continuous third derivative such that f (x), f 0 (x), f 00 (x), f 000 (x)
are positive for all x. Suppose that f 000 (x) ≤ f (x) for all x. Show that f 0 (x) < 2f (x)
for all x.
11. For an integer n ≥ 3, let θ = 2π/n. Evaluate the determinant of the n × n matrix
I +A, where I is the n×n identity matrix and A = (ajk ) has entries ajk = cos(jθ+kθ)
for all j, k.
12. Let S be a finite set of integers, each greater than 1. Suppose that for each integer
n there is some s ∈ S such that gcd(s, n) = 1 or gcd(s, n) = s. Show that there exist
s, t ∈ S such that gcd(s, t) is prime.
102 CHAPTER 3. WILLIAM LOWELL PUTNAM COMPETITION
2. Prove that there exist infinitely many integers n such that n, n + 1, n + 2 are each the
sum of the squares of two integers. [Example: 0 = 02 + 02 , 1 = 02 + 12 , 2 = 12 + 12 .]
converges.
5. Three distinct points with integer coordinates lie in the plane on a circle of radius
r > 0. Show that two of these points are separated by a distance of at least r 1/3 .
10. Let f (x) be a continuous function such that f (2x2 − 1) = 2xf (x) for all x. Show that
f (x) = 0 for −1 ≤ x ≤ 1.
11. Let S0 be a finite set of positive integers. We define finite sets S1 , S2 , . . . of positive
integers as follows: the integer a is in Sn+1 if and only if exactly one of a − 1 or a is
in Sn . Show that there exist infinitely many integers N for which SN = S0 ∪ {N + a :
a ∈ S0 }.
n+1
12. Let B be a set of more than 2 n distinct points with coordinates of the form
(±1, ±1, . . . , ±1) in n-dimensional space with n ≥ 3. Show that there are three
distinct points in B which are the vertices of an equilateral triangle.
2. You have coins C1 , C2 , . . . , Cn . For each k, Ck is biased so that, when tossed, it has
probability 1/(2k+1) of falling heads. If the n coins are tossed, what is the probability
that the number of heads is odd? Express the answer as a rational function of n.
For what values of m is Pm (x) the product of two non-constant polynomials with
integer coefficients?
4. Triangle ABC has an area 1. Points E, F, G lie, respectively, on sides BC, CA, AB
such that AE bisects BF at point R, BF bisects CG at point S, and CG bisects AE
at point T . Find the area of the triangle RST .
5. Prove that there are unique positive integers a, n such that an+1 − (a + 1)n = 2001.
6. Can an arc of a parabola inside a circle of radius 1 have a length greater than 4?
Color the squares of the grid so that half of the squares in each row and in each column
are red and the other half are black (a checkerboard coloring is one possibility). Prove
that for each coloring, the sum of the numbers on the red squares is equal to the sum
of the numbers on the black squares.
8. Find all pairs of real numbers (x, y) satisfying the system of equations
1 1
x
+ 2y
= (x2 + 3y 2 )(3x2 + y 2 )
1 1
x
− 2y
= 2(y 4 − x4 ).
√
9. For any positive integer n, let hni denote the closest integer to n. Evaluate
∞
X 2hni + 2−hni
.
n=1 2n
10. Let S denote the set of rational numbers different from {−1, 0, 1}. Define f : S → S
by f (x) = x − 1/x. Prove or disprove that
∞
\
f (n) (S) = ∅,
n=1
11. Let a and b be real numbers in the interval (0, 1/2), and let g be a continuous real-
valued function such that g(g(x)) = ag(x) + bx for all real x. Prove that g(x) = cx
for some constant c.
12. Assume that (an )n≥1 is an increasing sequence of positive real numbers such that
lim an /n = 0. Must there exist infinitely many positive integers n such that an−i +
an+i < 2an for i = 1, 2, . . . , n − 1?
2. Given any five points on a sphere, show that some four of them must lie on a closed
hemisphere.
3.18. 63RD ANUAL WILLIAM LOWELL PUTNAM COMPETITION, 2002 105
5. Define a sequence by a0 = 1, together with the rules a2n+1 = an and a2n+2 = an +an+1
for each integer n ≥ 0. Prove that every positive rational number appears in the set
an−1 1 1 2 1 3
:n≥1 = , , , , ,... .
an 1 2 1 3 2
6. Fix an integer b ≥ 2. Let f (1) = 1, f (2) = 2, and for each n ≥ 3, define f (n) = nf (d),
where d is the number of base-b digits of n. For which values of b does
∞
X 1
n=1 f (n)
converge?
7. Shanille O’Keal shoots free throws on a basketball court. She hits the first and misses
the second, and thereafter the probability that she hits the next shot is equal to the
proportion of shots she has hit so far. What is the probability she hits exactly 50 of
her first 100 shots?
8. Consider a polyhedron with at least five faces such that exactly three edges emerge
from each of its vertices. Two players play the following game:
Show that the player who signs first will always win by playing as well as possible.
10. An integer n, unknown to you, has been randomly chosen in the interval [1, 2002]
with uniform probability. Your objective is to select n in an odd number of guesses.
After each incorrect guess, you are informed whether n is higher or lower, and you
must guess an integer on your next turn among the numbers that are still feasibly
correct. Show that you have a strategy so that the chance of winning is greater than
2/3.
11. A palindrome in base b is a positive integer whose base-b digits read the same back-
wards and forwards; for example, 2002 is a 4-digit palindrome in base 10. Note that
200 is not a palindrome in base 10, but it is the 3-digit palindrome 242 in base 9, and
404 in base 7. Prove that there is an integer which is a 3-digit palindrome in base b
for at least 2002 different values of b.
12. Let p be a prime number. Prove that the determinant of the matrix
x y z
p p
x y zp
p2 p2 p2
x y z
n = a1 + a2 + · · · + a k
|ax2 + bx + c| ≤ |Ax2 + Bx + B|
5. A Dyck n-path is a lattice path of n upsteps (1,1) and n downsteps (1,-2) that starts
at the origin O and never dips below the x-axis. A return is a maximal sequence of
contigouous downsteps that terminates on the x-axis. For example, the Dyck 5-path
illustrated has two returns, of length 3 and 1 respectively.
u u u
u u u u
u u u
O
Show that there is a one-to-one correspondence between the Dyck n-paths with no
returns of even length and the Dyck (n − 1)-paths.
6. For a set S of nonnegative integers, let rS (n) denote the number of ordered pairs
(s1 , s2 ) such that s1 ∈ S, s2 ∈ S, s1 6= s2 and s1 + s2 = n. Is it possible to partition
the nonnegative integers into two sets A and B in such way that rA (n) = rB (n) for
all n?
1 + xy + x2 y 2 = a(x)c(y) + b(x)d(y)
holds identically?
108 CHAPTER 3. WILLIAM LOWELL PUTNAM COMPETITION
by taking the average of two consecutive entries in the first sequence. Repeat the
averaging of neigbors on sthe second sequence to obtain a third sequence of n − 2
entries and continue until the final sequence produced consists of a single number xn .
Show that xn < n2 .
(Here lcm denotes the least common multiple and bxc denote the greatest integer
≤ x.)
10. Let f (z) = az 4 +bz 3 +cz 2 +dz +e = a(z −r1 )(z −r2 )(z −r3 )(z −r4 ) where a, b, c, d, e
are integers, a 6= 0. Show that if r1 + r2 is a rational number, and if r1 + r2 6= r3 + r4 ,
then r1 r2 is a rational number.
11. Let A, B and C be qeuidistant points on the circumference of a circle of unit radius
centered at O, and let P be any point in the circle’s interior. Let a, b, c be the
distances from P to A, B, C respectively. Show that there is a triangle with sides
lengths a, b, c, and that the area of this triangle depends only on the distance from
P to O.
12. Let f (x) be a continuous real-valued function defined on the interval [0, 1]. Show that
Z 1 Z 1 Z 1
|f (x) + f (y)|dx dy ≤ |f (x)|dx
0 0 0
Chapter 4
109
110 CHAPTER 4. ASIATIC PACIFIC MATHEMATICAL OLYMPIADS
triples (a, b, c) such that (a, b), (a, c), and (b, c) belong to S.
5. Determine all functions f from the reals to the reals for which
(1) f (x) is strictly increasing,
(2) f (x) + g(x) = 2x for all real x,
where g(x) is the composition inverse function to f (x). (Note: f and g are said to
be composition inverses if f (g(x)) = x and g(f (x)) = x for all real x.)
2. Let a1 , a2 , . . . , an be positive real numbers, and let Sk be the sum of the products of
a1 , a2 , . . . , an taken k at a time. Show that
!2
n
Sk Sn−k ≥ a1 a2 · · · an
k
for k = 1, 2, . . . , n − 1.
3. Consider all the triangles ABC which have a fixed base AB and whose altitude from
C is a constant h. For which of these triangles is the product of its altitudes a
maximum?
4. A set of 1990 persons is divided into non-intersecting subsets in such a way that:
a Prove that within each subset, every person has the same number of acquain-
tances.
b Determine the maximum possible number of subsets.
4.3. 3RD ASIATIC PACIFIC MATHEMATICAL OLYMPIAD, 1991 111
Note: It is understood that if a person A knows person B, then person B will know
person A; an acquaintance is someone who is known. Every person is assumed to
know one’s self.
5. Show that for every integer n ≥ 6, there exists a convex hexagon which can be
dissected into exactly n congruent triangles.
s = a+b+c
2
. Construct a triangle with sides s − a, s − b, and s − c. This process is
repeated until a triangle can no longer be constructed with the side lengths given.
For which original triangles can this process be repeated indefinitely?
2. In a circle C with centre O and radius r, let C1 , C2 be two circles with centres O1 ,
O2 and radii r1 , r2 respectively, so that each circle Ci is internally tangent to C at
Ai and so that C1 , C2 are externally tangent to each other at A.Prove that the three
lines OA, O1 A2 , and O2 A1 are concurrent.
3. Let n be an integer such that n > 3. Suppose that we choose three numbers from the
set {1, 2, . . . , n}. Using each of these three numbers only once and using addition,
multiplication, and parenthesis, let us form all possible combinations.
(a) Show that if we choose all three numbers greater than n/2, then thealues of
these combinations are all distinct.
√
(b) Let p be a prime number such that p ≤ n. Show that the number of ways
of choosing three numbers so that the smallest one is p and the values of the
combinations are not all distinct is precisely the number of positive divisors of
p − 1.
4. Determine all pairs (h, s) of positive integers with the following property: If one draws
h horizontal lines and another s lines which satisfy:
5. Find a sequence of maximal length consisting of non-zero integers in which the sum
of any seven consecutive terms is positive and that of any eleven consecutive terms
is negative.
3. Let (
f (x) = an xn + an−1 xn−1 + · · · + a0 and
g(x) = cn+1 xn+1 + cn xn + · · · + c0
be non-zero polynomials with real coefficients such that g(x) = (x + r)f (x) for some
real number r. If a = max(|an |, . . . , |a0 |) and c = max(|cn+1 |, . . . , |c0 |), prove that
a
c
≤ n + 1.
xn + (2 + x)n + (2 − x)n = 0
Prove that for some i, 0 ≤ i ≤ 1992, there exists a point Q with coordinates (qx , qy )
on the line segment joining Pi with Pi+1 such that both 2qx and 2qy are odd integers.
i For all x, y ∈ R,
and √
2 a1995 − 1994 ≥ a1 + 1.
3. Let P QRS be a cyclic quadrilateral such that the segments P Q and RS are not
parallel. Consider the set of circles through P and Q, and the set of circles through
R and S. Determine the set A of points of tangency of circles in these two sets.
4. Let C be a circle with radius R and centre O, and S a fixed point in the interior of
C. Let AA0 and BB 0 be perpendicular chords through S. Consider the rectangles
SAM B, SBN 0 A0 , SA0 M 0 B 0 , and SB 0 N A. Find the set of all points M , N 0 , M 0 , and
N when A moves around the whole circle.
5. Find the minimum positive integer k such that there exists a function f from the
set Z of all integers to {1, 2, . . . k} with the property that f (x) 6= f (y) whenever
|x − y| ∈ {5, 7, 12}.
3. Let P1 , P2 , P3 , P4 be four points on a circle, and let I1 be the incentre of the triangle
P2 P3 P4 ; I2 be the incentre of the triangle P1 P3 P4 ; I3 be the incentre of the triangle
P1 P2 P4 ; I4 be the incentre of the triangle P1 P2 P3 . Prove that I1 , I2 , I3 , I4 are the
vertices of a rectangle.
4. The National Marriage Council wishes to invite n couples to form 17 discussion groups
under the following conditions:
(a) All members of a group must be of the same sex; i.e. they are either all male or
all female.
(b) The difference in the size of any two groups is 0 or 1.
(c) All groups have at least 1 member.
(d) Each person must belong to one and only one group.
116 CHAPTER 4. ASIATIC PACIFIC MATHEMATICAL OLYMPIADS
Find all values of n, n ≤ 1996, for which this is possible. Justify your answer.
where the denominators contain partial sums of the sequence of reciprocals of trian-
gular numbers (i.e. k = n(n + 1)/2 for n = 1, 2, . . . , 1996). Prove that S > 1001.
where ma , mb , mc are the lengths of the angle bisectors (internal to the triangle) and
Ma , Mb , Mc are the lengths of the angle bisectors extended until they meet the circle.
Prove that
la lb lc
+ + ≥ 3,
sin A sin B sin2 C
2 2
(a) Prove that if this process is continued indefinitely, then one and only one point
P is interior to every triangle An−2 An−1 An , n ≥ 3.
4.10. 10T H ASIATIC PACIFIC MATHEMATICAL OLYMPIAD, 1998 117
where N is a positive integer. In order that each person has the same number of
objects, each person Ai is to give or to receive a certain number of objects to or from
its two neighbours Ai−1 and Ai+1 . (Here An+1 means A1 and An means A0 .) How
should this redistribution be performed so that the total number of objects transferred
is minimum?
1. Let F be the set of all n−tuples (A1 , . . . , An ) such that each Ai is a subset of
{1, 2, . . . , 1998}. Let |A| denote the number of elements of the set A. Find:
X
|A1 ∪ · · · ∪ An |
(A1 ,...,An )∈F
2. Show that for any positive integers a and b, (36a + b)(a + 36b) can not be a power of
2.
4. Let 4ABC be a triangle and D the foot of the altitude from A. Let E and F lie on
a line through D such that AE is perpendicular to BC, AF is perpendicular to CF ,
and E and F are different from D. Let M and N be the midpoint of the segments
BC and EF , respectively. Prove that AN is perpendicular to N M .
5. √
Find the largest integer n such that n is divisible by all positive integers less than
3
n.
118 CHAPTER 4. ASIATIC PACIFIC MATHEMATICAL OLYMPIADS
1. Find the smallest positive integer n with the following property: there does not exist
an arithmetic progression of 1999 real numbers containing exactly n integers.
3. Let Γ1 and Γ2 be two circles intersecting at P and Q. The common tangent, closer
to P , of Γ1 and Γ2 touches Γ1 at A and Γ2 at B. The tangent of Γ1 at P meets Γ2 at
C, which is different from P , and the extension of AP meets BC at R. Prove that
the circumcircle of triangle P QR is tangent to BP and BR.
4. Determine all pairs (a, b) of integers with the property that the numbers a2 + 4b and
b2 + 4a are both perfect squares.
5. Let S be a set of 2n + 1 points in the plane such that no three are collinear and no
four concyclic. A circle will be called good if it has 3 points of S on its circumference,
n − 1 points in its interior and n − 1 points in its exterior. Prove that the number of
good circles has the same parity as n.
for
i
xi =
101
Each of the numbers 1, . . . , 9 is to be written into one of these circles, so that each
circle contain exactly one of these numbers and:
i the sum of the four numbers on each side of the triangle are equal;
ii the sum of the squares of the four numbers on each side of the triangle are equal.
Find all ways in which this can be done.
3. Let 4ABC be a triangle. Let M and N be the points in which the median and the
angle bisector, respectively, at A meet the side BC. Let Q and P be the point in
which the perpendicular at N to N A meets M A and BA, respectively, and O the
point in which the perpendicular at P to BA meets AN produced. Prove that QO
is perpendicular to BC.
4. Let n, k be given positive integers with n > k. Prove that
1 nn n! nn
· < <
n + 1 k k (n − k)n−k k! (n − k)! k k (n − k)n−k
5. Given a permutation (a0 , a1 , . . . , an ) of the sequence 0, 1, . . . , n. A transposition of
ai with aj is called legal if ai = 0 for i > 0, and ai−1 + 1 = aj . The permu-
tation (a0 , . . . , an ) is called regular if after a number of transpositions it becomes
(1, 2, . . . , n, 0). For which numbers n is the permutation (1, n, n − 1, . . . , 3, 2, 0) reg-
ular?
2. Find the largest positive integer N so that the number of integers in the set {1, 2, . . . , N }
which are divisible by 3 is equal to the number of integers which are divisible by 5 or
7 (or both).
3. Let two equal regular n-gons S and T be located in the plane such that their inter-
section is a 2n-gon (n ≥ 3). The sides of the polygon S are coloured in red and the
sides of T in blue. Prove that the sum of the lengths of the blue sides of the polygon
S ∩ T is equal to the sum of the lengths of its red sides.
4. A point in the plane with a cartesian coordinate system is called a mixed point if one
of its coordinates is rational and the other one is irrational. Find all polynomials
with real coefficients such that their graphs do not contain any mixed point.
5. Find the greatest integer n, such that there are n+4 points A, B, C, D, X1 , . . . , Xn in
the plane with AB 6= CD that satisfy the following condition: for each i = 1, 2, . . . , n
triangles ABXi and CDXi are equal.
a2 + b b2 + a
and
b2 − a a2 − b
are both integers.
the orthocentre of triangle ABP and S be the orthocentre of triangle ACQ. Let T be
the point common to the segments BP and CQ. Find all possible values of ^CBP
and ^BCQ such that triangle 4T RS is equilateral.
4. Let x, y, z be positive numbers such that
1 1 1
+ + = 1.
x y z
Show that
√ √ √ √ √ √ √
x + yz + y + zx + z + xy ≥ xyz + x + y + z.
5. Let R denote the set of all real numbers. Find all functions f from R to R satisfying:
(i) there are only finitely many s in R such that f (s) = 0, and
(ii) f (x4 + y) = x3 f (x) + f (f (y)) for all x, y in R.
5. Given two positive integers m and n, find the smallest positive integer k such that
among any k people, either there are 2m of them who form m pairs of mutually
acquainted people or there are 2n of them forming n pairs of mutually unacquainted
people.
2. Let O be the circumcentre and H the orthocentre of an acute triangle 4ABC. Prove
that the area of one of the triangles 4AOH, 4BOH and 4COH is equal to the sum
of the areas of the other two.
3. Let a set S of 2004 points in the plane be given, no three of which are collinear. Let
L denote the set of all lines (extended indefinitely in both directions) determined by
pairs of points from the set. Show that it is possible to colour the points of S with at
most two colours, such that for any points p, q of S, the number of lines in L which
separate p from q is odd if and only if p and q have the same colour.
Note: A line ` separates two points p and q if p and q lie on opposite sides of ` with
neither point on `.
4. For a real number x, let bxc stand for the largest integer that is less than or equal to
x. Prove that $ %
(n − 1)!
n(n + 1)
is even for every positive integer n.
5. Prove that
(a2 + 2)(b2 + 2)(c2 + 2) ≥ 9(ab + bc + ca)
for all real numbers a, b, c > 0.
Chapter 5
2. The 20 members of a local tennis club have scheduled exactly 14 two-person games
among themselves, with each member playing in at least one game. Prove that within
this schedule there must be a set of 6 games with 12 distinct players.
4. Let ABC be an acute-angled triangle whose side lengths satisfy the inequalities AB <
AC < BC. If point I is the center of the inscribed circle of triangle ABC and point
O is the center of the circumscribed circle, prove that line IO intersects segments AB
and BC.
123
124 CHAPTER 5. USA MATHEMATICAL OLYMPIAD
(u + u2 + u3 + · · · + u8 ) + 10u9 = (v + v 2 + v 3 + · · · + v 10 ) + 10v 11 = 8.
3. Suppose that necklace A has 14 beads and necklace B has 19. Prove that for any
odd integer n ≥ 1, there is a way to number each of the 33 beads with an integer
from the sequence
{n, n + 1, n + 2, . . . , n + 32}
so that each integer is used once, and adjacent beads correspond to relatively prime
integers. (Here a “necklace” is viewed as a circle in which each bead is adjacent to
two other beads.)
4. Find, with proof, the number of positive integers whose base-n representation consists
of distinct digits with the property that, except for the leftmost digit, every digit
differs by ±1 from some digit further to the left. (Your answer should be an explicit
function of n in simplest form.)
5. An acute-angled triangle ABC is given in the plane. The circle with diameter AB
intersects altitude CC 0 and its extension at points M and N , and the circle with
diameter AC intersects altitude BB 0 and its extensions at P and Q . Prove that
the points M, N, P, Q lie on a common circle.
5.3. 20T H USA MATHEMATICAL OLYMPIAD, 1991 125
2. For any nonempty set S of numbers, let σ(S) and π(S) denote the sum and product,
respectively, of the elements of S . Prove that
X σ(S) 1 1 1
= (n2 + 2n) − 1 + + + · · · + (n + 1),
π(S) 2 3 n
is eventually constant.
[The tower of exponents is defined by a1 = 2, ai+1 = 2ai . Also ai (mod n) means the
remainder which results from dividing ai by n.]
4. Let a = (mm+1 + nn+1 )/(mm + nn ), where m and n are positive integers. Prove
that am + an ≥ mm + nn .
[You may wish to analyze the ratio (aN − N N )/(a − N ), for real a ≥ 0 and integer
N ≥ 1.]
where each factor has twice as many digits as the previous one.
126 CHAPTER 5. USA MATHEMATICAL OLYMPIAD
2. Prove
1 1 1 cos 1◦
+ + · · · + = .
cos 0◦ cos 1◦ cos 1◦ cos 2◦ cos 88◦ cos 89◦ sin2 1◦
3. For a nonempty set S of integers, let σ(S) be the sum of the elements of S. Suppose
that A = {a1 , a2 , . . . , a11 } is a set of positive integers with a1 < a2 < · · · < a11 and
that, for each positive integer n ≤ 1500, there is a subset S of A for which σ(S) = n.
What is the smallest possible value of a10 ?
4. Chords AA0 , BB 0 , CC 0 of a sphere meet at an interior point P but are not con-
tained in a plane. The sphere through A, B, C, P is tangent to the sphere through
A0 , B 0 , C 0 , P . Prove that AA0 = BB 0 = CC 0 .
5. Let P (z) be a polynomial with complex coefficients which is of degree 1992 and has
distinct zeros. Prove that there exist complex numbers a1 , a2 , . . . , a1992 such that
P (z) divides the polynomial
2 2
2
· · · (z − a1 ) − a2 · · · − a1991 − a1992 .
5. Let |U |, σ(U ) and π(U ) denote the number of elements, the sum, and the product,
respectively, of a finite set U of positive integers. (If U is the empty set, |U| =
0, σ(U ) = 0, π(U ) = 1.) Let S be a finite set of positive integers. As usual, let nk
n!
denote k! (n−k)! . Prove that
!
X
|U | m − σ(U )
(−1) = π(S)
U ⊆S |S|
128 CHAPTER 5. USA MATHEMATICAL OLYMPIAD
2. A calculator is broken so that the only keys that still work are the sin, cos, tan, sin −1 , cos−1 ,
and tan−1 buttons. The display initially shows 0. Given any positive rational num-
ber q, show that pressing some finite sequence of buttons will yield q. Assume that
the calculator does real number calculations with infinite precision. All functions are
in terms of radians.
3. Given a nonisosceles, nonright triangle ABC, let O denote the center of its cir-
cumscribed circle, and let A1 , B1 , and C1 be the midpoints of sides BC, CA, and
AB, respectively. Point A2 is located on the ray OA1 so that ∆OAA1 is similar
to ∆OA2 A. Points B2 and C2 on rays OB1 and OC1 , respectively, are defined
similarly. Prove that lines AA2 , BB2 , and CC2 are concurrent, i.e. these three lines
intersect at a point.
5. Suppose that in a certain society, each pair of persons can be classified as either
amicable or hostile. We shall say that each member of an amicable pair is a friend of
the other, and each member of a hostile pair is a foe of the other. Suppose that the
society has n persons and q amicable pairs, and that for every set of three persons,
at least one pair is hostile. Prove that there is at least one member of the society
whose foes include q(1 − 4q/n2 ) or fewer amicable pairs.
5.8. 25T H USA MATHEMATICAL OLYMPIAD, 1996 129
2. Let ABC be a triangle, and draw isosceles triangles BCD, CAE, ABF externally
to ABC, with BC, CA, AB as their respective bases. Prove that the lines through
←→ ←→ ←→
A, B, C perpendicular to the lines EF , F D, DE, respectively, are concurrent.
3. Prove that for any integer n, there exists a unique polynomial Q with coefficients in
{0, 1, . . . , 9} such that Q(−2) = Q(−5) = n.
4. To clip a convex n-gon means to choose a pair of consecutive sides AB, BC and to
replace them by the three segments AM, M N , and N C, where M is the midpoint of
AB and N is the midpoint of BC. In other words, one cuts off the triangle M BN
to obtain a convex (n + 1)-gon. A regular hexagon P6 of area 1 is clipped to obtain
a heptagon P7 . Then P7 is clipped (in one of the seven possible ways) to obtain an
octagon P8 , and so on. Prove that no matter how the clippings are done, the area of
Pn is greater than 1/3, for all n ≥ 6.
ai + aj ≤ ai+j ≤ ai + aj + 1
for all i, j ≥ 1 with i + j ≤ 1997. Show that there exists a real number x such that
an = bnxc (the greatest integer ≤ nx) for all 1 ≤ n ≤ 1997.
4. A computer screen shows a 98 × 98 chessboard, colored in the usual way. One can
select with a mouse any rectangle with sides on the lines of the chessboard and click
the mouse button: as a result, the colors in the selected rectangle switch (black
becomes white, white becomes black). Find, with proof, the minimum number of
mouse clicks needed to make the chessboard all one color.
5. Prove that for each n ≥ 2, there is a set S of n integers such that (a − b)2 divides ab
for every distinct a, b ∈ S.
6. Let n ≥ 5 be an integer. Find the largest integer k (as a function of n) such that
there exists a convex n-gon A1 A2 . . . An for which exactly k of the quadrilaterals
Ai Ai+1 Ai+2 Ai+3 have an inscribed circle. (Here An+j = Aj .)
3. Let p > 2 be a prime and let a, b, c, d be integers not divisible by p, such that
{ra/p} + {rb/p} + {rc/p} + {rd/p} = 2
for any integer r not divisible by p. Prove that at least two of the numbers a + b,
a + c, a + d, b + c, b + d, c + d are divisible by p. (Note: {x} = x − bxc denotes the
fractional part of x.)
132 CHAPTER 5. USA MATHEMATICAL OLYMPIAD
4. Find the smallest positive integer n such that if n squares of a 1000 × 1000 chessboard
are colored, then there will exist three colored squares whose centers form a right
triangle with sides parallel to the edges of the board.
5. Let A1 A2 A3 be a triangle and let ω1 be a circle in its plane passing through A1 and A2 .
Suppose there exist circles ω2 , ω3 , . . . , ω7 such that for k = 2, 3, . . . , 7, ωk is externally
tangent to ωk−1 and passes through Ak and Ak+1 , where An+3 = An for all n ≥ 1.
Prove that ω7 = ω1 .
2. Let ABC be a triangle and let ω be its incircle. Denote by D1 and E1 the points where
ω is tangent to sides BC and AC, respectively. Denote by D2 and E2 the points on
sides BC and AC, respectively, such that CD2 = BD1 and CE2 = AE1 , and denote
by P the point of intersection of segments AD2 and BE2 . Circle ω intersects segment
AD2 at two points, the closer of which to the vertex A is denoted by Q. Prove that
AQ = D2 P .
a2 + b2 + c2 + abc = 4.
Prove that
0 ≤ ab + bc + ca − abc ≤ 2.
4. Let P be a point in the plane of triangle ABC such that the segments P A, P B, and
P C are the sides of an obtuse triangle. Assume that in this triangle the obtuse angle
opposes the side congruent to P A. Prove that ∠BAC is acute.
6. Each point in the plane is assigned a real number such that, for any triangle, the
number at the center of its inscribed circle is equal to the arithmetic mean of the
three numbers at its vertices. Prove that all points in the plane are assigned the
same number.
3. Prove that any monic polynomial (a polynomial with leading coefficient 1) of degree
n with real coefficients is the average of two monic polynomials of degree n with n
real roots.
4. Let R be the set of real numbers. Determine all functions f : R → R such that
5. Let a, b be integers greater than 2. Prove that there exists a positive integer k and a
finite sequence n1 , n2 , . . . , nk of positive integers such that n1 = a, nk = b, and ni ni+1
is divisible by ni + ni+1 for each i (1 ≤ i < k).
6. I have an n×n sheet of stamps, from which I’ve been asked to tear out blocks of three
adjacent stamps in a single row or column. (I can only tear along the perforations
separating adjacent stamps, and each block must come out of the sheet in one piece.)
Let b(n) be the smallest number of blocks I can tear out and make it impossible to
tear out any more blocks. Prove that there are real constants c and d such that
1 2 1
n − cn ≤ b(n) ≤ n2 + dn
7 5
for all n > 0.
2. A convex polygon P in the plane is dissected into smaller convex polygons by drawing
all of its diagonals. The lengths of all sides and all diagonals of the polygon P are
rational numbers. Prove that the lengths of all sides of all polygons in the dissection
are also rational numbers.
A = a 0 , a1 , a2 , . . . , an
by setting t(ai ) to be the number of terms in the sequence A that precede the term
ai and are different from ai . Show that, starting from any sequence A as above, fewer
than n applications of the transformation t lead to a sequence B such that t(B) = B.
6. At the vertices of a regular hexagon are written six nonnegative integers whose sum
is 2003. Bert is allowed to make moves of the following form: he may pick a vertex
and replace the number written there by the absolute value of the difference between
the numbers written at the two neighboring vertices. Prove that Bert can make a
sequence of moves, after which the number 0 appears at all six vertices.
Here, if x is a real number, then [ x ] denotes the greatest integer that s less than or
equal to x.
4. Let 4ABC be a triangle with ∠BAC = 40◦ and ∠ABC = 60◦ . Let D and E be
the points lying on the sides AC and AB, respectively,uch that ∠CBD = 40◦ and
∠BCE = 70◦ . Let F be the point of intersection of the lines BD and CE. Show
that the line AF is perpendicular to the line BC.
138
6.2. 31ST CANADIAN MATHEMATICAL OLYMPIAD, 1999 139
a2 + b 2
= m2
ab + 1
if and only if (a, b) is of the form (an , an+1 ) for some n ≥ 0.
2. Let ABC be an equilateral triangle of altitude 1. A circle with radius 1 and center
on the same side of AB as C rolls along the segment AB. Prove that the arc of the
circle that is inside the triangle always has the same length.
3. Determine all positive integers n with the property that n = (d(n))2 . Here d(n)
denotes the number of positive divisors of n.
4. Suppose a1 , a2 , . . . , a8 are eight distinct integers from {1, 2, . . . , 16, 17}. Show that
there is an integer k > 0 such that the equation ai − aj = k has at least three different
solutions. Also, find a specific set of 7 distinct integers from {1, 2, . . . , 16, 17} such
that the equation ai − aj = k does not have three distinct solutions for any k > 0.
jogger maintains a constant speed in one of the two possible directions for an indefinite
period of time. Show that if Anne’s speed is different from the other two speeds, then
at some later time Anne will be at least one hundred meters from each of the other
runners. (Here, distance is measured along the shorter of the two arcs separating two
runners.)
s1 = a1 , s2 = a1 + a2 , s3 = a1 + a2 + a3 , . . . , s100 = a1 + a2 + · · · + a100 .
How many of these permutations will have no terms of the sequence s1 , . . . , s100
divisible by three?
3. Let A = (a1 , a2 , . . . , a2000 ) be a sequence of integers each lying in the interval [−1000, 1000].
Suppose that the entries in A sum to 1. Show that some nonempty subsequence of
A sums to zero.
∠CBD = 2∠ADB,
∠ABD = 2∠CDB
and AB = CB.
a1 ≥ a2 ≥ · · · ≥ a100 ≥ 0,
a1 + a2 ≤ 100
and a3 + a4 + · · · + a100 ≤ 100.
Determine the maximum possible value of a21 + a22 + · · · + a2100 , and find all possible
sequences a1 , a2 , . . . , a100 which achieve this maximum.
Rachel: “The roots are two positive integers. One of the roots is my age, and the
other root is the age of my younger brother, Jimmy.”
Randy: “That is very neat! Let me see if I can figure out how old you and Jimmy
are. That shouldn’t be too difficult since all of your coefficients are integers. By the
way, I notice that the sum of the three coefficients is a prime number.”
Rachel: “Interesting. Now figure out how old I am.”
Randy: “Instead, I will guess your age and substitute it for x in your quadratic
equation . . . darn, that gives me −55, and not 0.”
Rachel: “Oh, leave me alone!”
(a) Prove that Jimmy is two years old.
(b) Determine Rachel’s age.
2. There is a board numbered −10 to 10 as shown. Each square is coloured either red
or white, and the sum of the numbers on the red squares is n. Maureen starts with a
token on the square labeled 0. She then tosses a fair coin ten times. Every time she
flips heads, she moves the token one square to the right. Every time she flips tails,
she moves the token one square to the left. At the end of the ten flips, the probability
that the token finishes on a red square is a rational number of the form ab . Given that
a + b = 2001, determine the largest possible value for n.
−10 −9 −8 −7 −6 −5 −4 −3 −2 −1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
3. Let ABC be a triangle with AC > AB. Let P be the intersection point of the
perpendicular bisector of BC and the internal angle bisector of ∠A. Construct points
X on AB (extended) and Y on AC such that P X is perpendicular to AB and P Y
is perpendicular to AC. Let Z be the intersection point of XY and BC. Determine
the value of BZ
ZC
.
4. Let n be a positive integer. Nancy is given a rectangular table in which each entry is
a positive integer. She is permitted to make either of the following two moves:
(a) select a row and multiply each entry in this row by n.
(b) select a column and subtract n from each entry in this column.
Find all possible values of n for which the following statement is true:
Given any rectangular table, it is possible for Nancy to perform a finite
sequence of moves to create a table in which each entry is 0.
5. Let P0 , P1 , P2 be three points on the circumference of a circle with radius 1, where
P1 P2 = t < 2. For each i ≥ 3, define Pi to be the centre of the circumcircle of
4Pi−1 Pi−2 Pi−3 .
142 CHAPTER 6. CANADIAN MATHEMATICAL OLYMPIAD
2. Call a positive integer n practical if every positive integer less than or equal to n
can be written as the sum of distinct divisors of n.
For example, the divisors of 6 are 1, 2, 3, and 6. Since
1=1, 2=2, 3=3, 4=1+3, 5=2+ 3, 6=6,
we see that 6 is practical.
Prove that the product of two practical numbers is also practical.
a3 b3 c3
+ + ≥ a + b + c,
bc ca ab
and determine when equality occurs.
4. Let Γ be
√ a circle with radius r. Let A and B be distinct points on Γ such that
AB < 3r. Let the circle with centre B and radius AB meet Γ again at C. Let P
be the point inside Γ such that triangle ABP is equilateral. Finally, let the line CP
meet Γ again at Q.
Prove that P Q = r.
x3 + y 3 + z 3 = x + y + z, and
x2 + y 2 + z 2 = xyz.
4. Prove that when three circles share the same chord AB, every line through A different
from AB determines the same ratio XY : Y Z, where X is an arbitrary point different
from B on the first circle while Y and Z are the points where AX intersects the other
two circles (labelled so that Y is between X and Z).
5. Let S be a set of n points in the plane such that any two points of S are at least 1
unit apart. Prove there is a subset T of S with at least n7 points such that any two
√
points of T are at least 3 units apart.
2. How many ways can 8 mutually non-attacking rooks be placed on the 9×9 chessboard
(shown here) so that all 8 rooks are on squares of the same colour? [Two rooks are
said to be attacking each other if they are placed in the same row or column of the
board.]
144 CHAPTER 6. CANADIAN MATHEMATICAL OLYMPIAD
5. Let T be the set of all positive integer divisors of 2004100 . What is the largest possible
number of elements that a subset S of T can have if no element of S is an integer
multiple of any other element of S?