IMO Shortlist 1997

1 In the plane the points with integer coordinates are the vertices of unit squares. The squares
are coloured alternately black and white (as on a chessboard). For any pair of positive integers
m and n, consider a right-angled triangle whose vertices have integer coordinates and whose
legs, of lengths m and n, lie along edges of the squares. Let S1 be the total area of the black
part of the triangle and S2 be the total area of the white part. Let f (m, n) = |S1 − S2 |.
a) Calculate f (m, n) for all positive integers m and n which are either both even or both odd.
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b) Prove that f (m, n) ≤ 2 max{m, n} for all m and n.
c) Show that there is no constant C ∈ R such that f (m, n) < C for all m and n.

2 Let R1 , R2 , . . . be the family of finite sequences of positive integers defined by the following
rules: R1 = (1), and if Rn1 = (x1 , . . . , xs ), then

Rn = (1, 2, . . . , x1 , 1, 2, . . . , x2 , . . . , 1, 2, . . . , xs , n).

For example, R2 = (1, 2), R3 = (1, 1, 2, 3), R4 = (1, 1, 1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4). Prove that if n > 1, then
the kth term from the left in Rn is equal to 1 if and only if the kth term from the right in
Rn is different from 1.

3 For each finite set U of nonzero vectors in the plane we define l(U ) to be the length of the
vector that is the sum of all vectors in U. Given a finite set V of nonzero vectors in the
plane, a subset B of V is said to be maximal if l(B) is greater than or equal to l(A) for each
nonempty subset A of V.
(a) Construct sets of 4 and 5 vectors that have 8 and 10 maximal subsets respectively.
(b) Show that, for any set V consisting of n ≥ 1 vectors the number of maximal subsets is
less than or equal to 2n.

4 An n×n matrix whose entries come from the set S = {1, 2, . . . , 2n−1} is called a silver matrix
if, for each i = 1, 2, . . . , n, the i-th row and the i-th column together contain all elements of
S. Show that:
(a) there is no silver matrix for n = 1997;
(b) silver matrices exist for infinitely many values of n.

5 Let ABCD be a regular tetrahedron and M, N distinct points in the planes ABC and ADC
respectively. Show that the segments M N, BN, M D are the sides of a triangle.

6 (a) Let n be a positive integer. Prove that there exist distinct positive integers x, y, z such
that

xn−1 + y n = z n+1 .

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(b) Let a, b, c be positive integers such that a and b are relatively prime and c is relatively
prime either to a or to b. Prove that there exist infinitely many triples (x, y, z) of distinct
positive integers x, y, z such that

xa + y b = z c .

7 The lengths of the sides of a convex hexagon ABCDEF satisfy AB = BC, CD = DE,
EF = F A. Prove that:
BC DE FA 3
+ + ≥ .
BE DA F C 2

8 It is known that ∠BAC is the smallest angle in the triangle ABC. 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.
Alternative formulation:
Four different points A, B, C, D are chosen on a circle Γ such that the triangle BCD is not
right-angled. Prove that:
(a) The perpendicular bisectors of AB and AC meet the line AD at certain points W and V,
respectively, and that the lines CV and BW meet at a certain point T.
(b) The length of one of the line segments AD, BT, and CT is the sum of the lengths of the
other two.

9 Let A1 A2 A3 be a non-isosceles triangle with incenter I. Let Ci , i = 1, 2, 3, be the smaller circle

through I tangent to Ai Ai+1 and Ai Ai+2 (the addition of indices being mod 3). Let Bi , i =
1, 2, 3, be the second point of intersection of Ci+1 and Ci+2 . Prove that the circumcentres of
the triangles A1B1 I, A2 B2 I, A3 B3 I are collinear.

10 Find all positive integers k for which the following statement is true: If F (x) is a polynomial
with integer coeffiecients satisfying the condition 0 ≤ F (c) ≤ k for each c{0, 1, . . . , k + 1},
then F (0) = F (1) = . . . = F (k + 1).

11 Let P (x) be a polynomial with real coefficients such that P (x) > 0 for all x ≥ 0. Prove that
there exists a positive integer n such that (1 + x)n · P (x) is a polynomial with nonnegative
coefficients.

12 Let p be a prime number and f an integer polynomial of degree d such that f (0) = 0, f (1) = 1
and f (n) is congruent to 0 or 1 modulo p for every integer n. Prove that d ≥ p − 1.

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13 In town A, there are n girls and n boys, and each girl knows each boy. In town B, there are n
girls g1 , g2 , . . . , gn and 2n − 1 boys b1 , b2 , . . . , b2n−1 . The girl gi , i = 1, 2, . . . , n, knows the boys
b1 , b2 , . . . , b2i−1 , and no others. For all r = 1, 2, . . . , n, denote by A(r), B(r) the number of
different ways in which r girls from town A, respectively town B, can dance with r boys from
their own town, forming r pairs, each girl with a boy she knows. Prove that A(r) = B(r) for
each r = 1, 2, . . . , n.

14 Let b, m, n be positive integers such that b > 1 and m 6= n. Prove that if bm − 1 and bn − 1
have the same prime divisors, then b + 1 is a power of 2.

15 An infinite arithmetic progression whose terms are positive integers contains the square of an
integer and the cube of an integer. Show that it contains the sixth power of an integer.

16 In an acute-angled triangle ABC, let AD, BE be altitudes and AP, BQ internal bisectors.
Denote by I and O the incenter and the circumcentre of the triangle, respectively. Prove that
the points D, E, and I are collinear if and only if the points P, Q, and O are collinear.
2
17 Find all pairs (a, b) of positive integers that satisfy the equation: ab = ba .

18 The altitudes through the vertices A, B, C of an acute-angled triangle ABC meet the opposite
sides at D, E, F, respectively. The line through D parallel to EF meets the lines AC and AB
at Q and R, respectively. The line EF meets BC at P. Prove that the circumcircle of the
triangle P QR passes through the midpoint of BC.

19 Let a1 ≥ · · · ≥ an ≥ an+1 = 0 be real numbers. Show that

v
u n n √
uX X √ √
t ak ≤ k( ak − ak+1 ).
k=1 k=1

Proposed by Romania

20 Let ABC be a triangle. D is a point on the side (BC). The line AD meets the circumcircle
again at X. P is the foot of the perpendicular from X to AB, and Q is the foot of the
perpendicular from X to AC. Show that the line P Q is a tangent to the circle on diameter
XD if and only if AB = AC.

21 Let x1 , x2 , . . ., xn be real numbers satisfying the conditions:

|x1 + x2 + · · · + xn | =
(
1
n+1
|xi | ≤ for i = 1, 2, . . . , n.
2

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Show that there exists a permutation y1 , y2 , . . ., yn of x1 , x2 , . . ., xn such that

n+1
|y1 + 2y2 + · · · + nyn | ≤ .
2

22 Does there exist functions f, g : R → R such that f (g(x)) = x2 and g(f (x)) = xk for all real
numbers x
a) if k = 3?
b) if k = 4?

23 Let ABCD be a convex quadrilateral. The diagonals AC and BD intersect at K. Show that
ABCD is cyclic if and only if AK sin A + CK sin C = BK sin B + DK sin D.

24 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. Representations 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.
n2 n2
Prove that, for any integer n ≥ 3 we have 2 4 < f (2n ) < 2 2 .

25 Let X, Y, Z be the midpoints of the small arcs BC, CA, AB respectively (arcs of the circum-
circle of ABC). M is an arbitrary point on BC, and the parallels through M to the internal
bisectors of ∠B, ∠C cut the external bisectors of ∠C, ∠B in N, P respectively. Show that
XM, Y N, ZP concur.

26 For every integer n ≥ 2 determine the minimum value that the sum ni=0 ai can take for
P
nonnegative numbers a0 , a1 , . . . , an satisfying the condition a0 = 1, ai ≤ ai+1 + ai+2 for
i = 0, . . . , n − 2.

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