CRUXv 25 N 7
CRUXv 25 N 7
CRUXv 25 N 7
A Trial Balloon
Vedula N. Murty
The following problem on heights and distances was set in the I.I.T.
Entrance Exam in 1979.
A balloon is observed simultaneously from three points, A, B
and C , on a straight road directly beneath it. The angular ele-
vation at B is twice that at A, and the angular elevation at C is
three times that at A. If the distance between A and B is a, and
the distance between B and C is b, nd the height of the balloon
in terms of a and b.
Subsequently, this problem appeared in many textbooks in India with a so-
lution which is straightforward. The height of the balloon is
a p3b2 + 2ab , a2
y= 2b .
The conditions on a and b under which this solution is valid are not given in
any of the solutions printed in the textbooks.
Professor M. Perisastry, a retired Professor of Mathematics at M.R.
College, Viziahagaram, Andhra Pradesh, India, noted that
y > 0 =) 3b2 + 2ab , a2 > 0
=) 4b2 , (a , b)2 > 0
=) ja , bj < 2b
=) 0 < a < 3b .
Moreover, it is easily seen that
a = sin(3 ) = 3 , 4 sin2 ,
b sin
386
BAD CANCELLATIONS
,
tan,1 2n+1 n3=2 = 2
tan,1 (2n ) (n + 1)3=2
QUESTIONS on MATHEMATICIANS
The year 1796 was the turning point in a (future) mathematician's
career. Who was he?
And which mathematician was born in 1796?
What do Wilhelm Ackermann, Pavel Sergeevich Aleksandrov, Lester R.
Ford, Ronald Martin Foster, Valerii Ivanovich Glivenko, Kazimierz
Kurtowski, and Carl Ludwig Seigel have in common?
What is the di erence between Gustav Magnus Mittag-Leer and
Gaspard Monge?
387
As another problem set we give the problems of the XII Italian Mathe-
matical Olympiad, Cesenatico, 3 May, 1996. Again thanks for collecting these
go to J.P. Grossman, Team Leader of the Canadian International Olympiad
Team at Mumbai, India.
XII ITALIAN MATHEMATICAL OLYMPIAD
Cesenatico, 3 May, 1996
1. Among the triangles with an assigned side l and with given area S,
determine all those for which the product of the three altitudes is maximum.
2. Prove that the equation a2 + b2 = c2 +3 has in nitely many integer
solutions (a; b; c).
3. Let A and B be opposite vertices of a cube with side 1. Find the
radius of the sphere with centre interior to the cube, tangent to the three
faces meeting in A and tangent to the three edges meeting in B .
4. Given an alphabet with three letters a, b, c, nd the number of
words of n letters which contain an even number of a's.
391
SECTION B
1. The convex quadrilateral ABCD has area 1, and AB is produced
to E , BC to F , CD to G and DA to H , such that AB = BE , BC = CF ,
CD = DG and DA = AH . Find the area of the quadrilateral EFGH .
2. Find all pairs (m;n) of natural numbers with m < n such that
m2 + 1 is a multiple of n and n2 + 1 is a multiple of m.
3. The circumcircle of 4ABC has radius 1 and centre O, and P is a
point inside the triangle such that OP = x. Prove that
AP BP CP (1 + x)2(1 , x) ,
with equality only if P = O.
The next problems are those of the Taiwan Olympiad, 1996. Thanks go
to J.P. Grossman, Team Leader for Canada at the IMO at Mumbai, India, for
collecting them.
TAIWAN MATHEMATICAL OLYMPIAD 1996
1. Let the angles , , be such that 0 < , , < 2 and
+ + = 4 . Suppose that
tan = a1 ; tan = 1b , tan = 1c ,
where a, b, c are positive integers. Determine the values of a, b, c.
2. Let a be a real number such that 0 < a 1 and a aj a1 , for
j = 1, 2, : : : , 1996. Show that for any non-negative real numbers j (j = 1,
2, : : : , 1996), with
X
1996
j = 1 ,
j =1
one has
X
1996 ! 01996
X
1 2
iai @ j a,j 1A 41 a + a1 .
i=1 j =1
3. Let A and B be two xed points on a xed circle. Let a point P
move on this circle and let M be a corresponding point such that either M
is on the segment PA with AM = MP + PB or M is on the segment PB
with AP + MP = PB . Determine the locus of such points P .
393
4. Show that for any real numbers a3, a4, : : : , a85, the roots of the
equation
a85x85 + a84x84 + + a3x3 + 3x2 + 2x + 1 = 0
are not all real.
5. Find 99 integers a1, a2, : : : , a99 = a0 , satisfying
jak,1 , akj 1996 for all k = 1, 2, : : : , 99,
so that the number
m = maxfjak,1 , akj; k = 1, 2, : : : , 99g
is as small as possible, and determine the minimum value m of m.
6. Let q0, q1, q2, : : : be a sequence of integers such that
(a) for any m > n, m , n is a factor of qm , qn, and
(b) jqn j n10 for all integers n 0.
Show that there exists a polynomial Q(x) satisfying Q(n) = qn for all n.
x [x] > x , 1, so
4x2 + 51 = 40[x] > 40(x , 1) ,
4x2 , 40x + 91 > 0 ,
(2x , 13)(2x , 7) > 0 .
Hence x > 13=2 or x < 7=2. Also,
4x2 + 51 = 40[x] 40x ,
4x2 , 40x + 51 0 ,
(2x , 17)(2x , 3) 0 .
Hence 3=2 x 17=2. Combining these inequalities gives 3=2 x < 7=2
or 13=2 < x 17=2 .
Case 1: 3=2 x < 7=2.
For this case, the possible values for [x] are 1, 2 and 3.
If [x] = 1 then 4x2 + 51 = 40 1 so 4x2 = ,11, which has no real
solutions.
p
2 thenp 4x2 + 51 = 40 2 so 4x2 = 29 and x = 229 . Notice
pIf16[x] =p29
that 2 < 2 < 236 so 2 < x < 3 and [x] = 2.
p p p
If [x] = 3 then 4x2 +51 = 40 3 and x = 69=2. But 269 > 264 = 4.
So, this solution is rejected.
Case 2: 13=2 < x 17=2.
For this case, the possible values for [x] are 6, 7 and 8.
p
2 + 51 = 40 6, so that x = 189 . Notice that
If [ x] =
p144 p189 p196 6 then 4 x 2
2 < 2 < 2 , so that 6 < x < 7 and [ x] = 6 .
p
2 + 51 = 40 7, so that x = 229 . Notice that
If [ x ] =
p196 p229 p256 7 then 4 x 2
2 < 2 < 2 , so that 7 < x < 8 and [x] = 7.
p
2 + 51 = 40 8, so that x = 269 . Notice that
If [ x ] =
p256 p269 p324 8 then 4 x 2
2 < 2 < 2 , so that 8 < x < 9 and [ x] = 8 .
p29 p189 p229 p269
The solutions are x =
2 , 2 , 2 , 2 .
(Editor: Adrian then checks these four solutions.)
397
C O
q
D
A B
Let D and E be the intersections of BC and extended AC , respectively,
with the circle.
Since CO k AB (because both the altitude and the radius are 1)
\BCO = 60 and therefore \ECO = 180 , \ACB , \BCO = 60 .
Since a circle is always symmetric about its diameter and line CE is a
re ection of line CB in CO, line segment CE is a re ection of line segment
CD.
Therefore CE = CD.
Therefore 4CED is an isosceles triangle.
Therefore \CED = \CDE and \CED + \CDE = \ACB = 60 .
\CED = 30 regardless of the position of centre O. Since \CED is
also the angle subtended from the arc inside the triangle, if CED is constant,
the arc length is also constant.
Editor's Note: This proof has had no editing.
Solution 2 | Jimmy Chui, Earl Haig SS, North York, Ontario.
B 6y A
B0 A0
-x
C O (a; 0)
r
Place C at the origin, point A at p13 ; 1 and point B at , p13 ; 1 .
Then 4ABC is equilateral with altitude of length 1.
398
Let O be the centre of the circle. Because the circle has radius 1, and
since it touches line AB , the locus of O is on the line through C parallel to
AB (since C is length 1 away from AB); that is, the locus of O is on the
x{axis.
Let point O be at (a; 0). Then , p13 a p13 since we have the
restriction that the circle rolls along AB .
Now, let A0 and B 0 be the intersectionpof the circle with CA and CB ,
respectively. The equation of CA is y = 3 x; 0 x p13 , of CB is
y = ,p3 x, , p13 x 0, and of the circle is (x , a)2 + y2 = 1.
p
We solvepfor A0 by substituting y = 3 x into (x , a)2 + y 2 = 1 to
get x =
a 4 , 3a2 .
4
Visually, we can see that solutions represent the intersection of AC
extended and the circle, but we are only concerned with the greater x{value
| this is the solution that is on AC , not on AC extended. Therefore
a + p 4 , 3a2 p a + p4 , 3a2 !
x= 4 , y= 3 4 .
Likewise we solve for B 0 , but we take the lesser x{value to get
p p p4 , 3a2 !
x = a , 44 , 3a , a ,
2
y=, 3 4 .
Let us nd the length of A0 B 0 :
!2
jA0B0 j2 = a + p4 , 3a2 , a , p4 , 3a2
+
4 4
p3 a + p4 , 3a2 ! , , p3 a , p4 , 3a2 !!2
4 4
= 4 ,43a + 3 a4 = 1 ,
2 2
which is independent of a.
Consider the points O, A0 and B 0 . 4OA0 B 0 is an equilateral triangle
(because A0 B 0 = OA0 = OB 0 = 1).
Therefore \A0 OB 0 = 3 and arc A0 B 0 = 3 , a constant.
3. Solution | Masoud Kamgarpour, Carson SS, North Vancouver, BC.
Note that n = 1 is a solution. For n > 1 write n in the form
n = P1 1 P2 2 : : : Pmm where the Pi's, 1 i m, are distinct prime num-
bers and i > 0. Since d(n) is an integer, n is a perfect square, so i = 2 i
for integers i > 0.
399
That completes this number of the Corner. Send me your nice solutions
as well as Olympiad materials for use in future issues.
401
BOOK REVIEWS
ALAN LAW
Calculus, The Dynamics of Change edited by A. Wayne Roberts,
published by The Mathematical Association of America, 1996.
ISBN # 0-88385-098-2, softcover, 166+ pages, $34.95 (U.S.).
Reviewed by Jack W. Macki, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta.
This volume is number 39 in the outstanding Mathematical Association
of America series on mathematics education, with the emphasis on calculus
and calculus reform. There are four main sections: I. Visions; II. Planning;
III. Assessment; IV. Connections, each of which has a number of articles by
various authors. In addition, there is a prefatory section on how to think
about and plan a modern calculus course and three nal sections on, respec-
tively, resources, calculus on the Internet, and a historical and philosophical
section \Calculus for a New Century". A total of 17 di erent authors were
involved in the various articles.
The prefatory section is a good \how to" guide to e ective organization
of a course in calculus|every beginning instructor (and all old fogeys) should
read it. There are ideas you may not accept, but overall any instructor will
get a refreshingly succinct and useful guide to preparing an interesting and
useful course.
There are six articles in the Visions section. Sharon Cutler Ross in \Vi-
sions of Calculus" gives a historical discussion of the development of reform,
with a very balanced discussion of the most important issues. This is a good
way to bring yourself to an understanding of what are the issues, what has
worked, and which ideas are still in question. A short article by Thomas
Tucker shows, with one simple example, how one can solve calculus prob-
lems using numerical or verbal techniques. Mai Gehrke and David Pengelley
report on their programs at New Mexico State University, and give practi-
cal advice for conducting reform courses, and for getting colleagues on side.
Deborah Hughes Hallett contributes a very personal essay on her experiences
with calculus teaching and calculus reform. David A. Smith contributes an
essay which emphasizes 10 active verbs which characterize his ideas about
teaching.
There are four articles in the Planning section. Martin Flashman's arti-
cle reports on the full history of the introduction of reform at six institutions.
Morton Brown reports on the Michigan program. The last two articles are
in fact an outline for change followed by a checklist.
Part III, Assessment, has an introductory article by David Bressoud,
followed by a large set of nal examinations for each of Calculus I, II and
III. Each examination had at least one pleasant surprise for me. Bressoud's
article has lots of good thoughts, and begins with an apocryphal quote of
402
Richard Feynman, The biggest problem with being a student is that you're
always too busy getting an education to learn anything, and the rest of the
article is just as interesting in its insights. Assessment is probably the weak-
est area of most mathematics courses, and this section will help most of us
learn to think more deeply about the problem.
Part IV, Connections, is concerned with what in many ways is the most
overlooked area in Mathematics departments. The degree to which we think
of our individual courses in isolation, rather than as an integrated whole, is
almost criminal. I am not thinking of the \analysis sequence" or the \algebra
sequence", but of how all of our courses t (or rather, do not) into some kind
of integrated system. John Dossey's article on secondary school mathematics
reform is not terribly relevant to Canada|this nation is quite far ahead of the
U.S. in designing e ective high school mathematics programs|whether stu-
dents take them and are attracted to the subject by them is another matter!
Robert Borrelli and Courtney Coleman of Harvey Mudd report on their ex-
periments with modifying the introductory di erential equations course. The
article gives four examples to emphasize how modern ideas can be brought
into a rst course. David Carlson and Wayne Roberts give a very brief report
on their experiences with post-calculus linear algebra and analysis. Sheldon
Gordon recorded a round-table discussion between mathematicians, electri-
cal engineers, ecologists, physicists, biologists, chemists and chemical engi-
neers.
Martin Flashman's article on the Internet gives a couple of key, central,
sites. Since this book appeared in 1996, there are by now hordes of other rst
class sites.
Recent reports from colleagues indicate that at many schools the math-
ematics department is more or less completely isolated from its clients, in
particular from the faculty of engineering and the department of physics. At
many schools these faculties and departments keep their students away from
the mathematics department as much as possible. The reports indicate an
arrogance and lack of respect for other disciplines which is truly amazing.
These mathematics departments are recognized as leaders in our profession,
yet they have no research in teaching, learning, or assessment, nor would
they be valued if they did. This book and others like it show that in our pro-
fession there is a large group of committed professionals trying to get us all
to think about the teaching and learning side of our work. Thank goodness.
And thank the MAA.
403
r
(a) r2 (b) r3 2p3 r
(c) 3
p
(d) 22 r (e) none of these
404
C
4. In the accompanying diagram,
the circle has radius one, the central
angle AOB is a right angle and AC and
BC are of equal length. The shaded
area is: O
A B
p p p
(a) 2 (b) 22 (c) ,2 2 (d) 2+1
2 (e) 21
5. The side, front and bottom faces of a rectangular solid have areas
2x, y2 , and xy square centimetres, respectively. The volume of the solid is:
impossible to de-
(a) xy (b) 2xy (c) x2 y 2 (d) 4xy (e) termine from the
given information
6. The numbers from 1 to 25 are each written on separate slips of paper
which are placed in a pile. You draw slips from the pile without replacing
any slip you have chosen. You can continue drawing until the product of
two numbers on any pair of slips you have chosen is a perfect square. The
maximum number of slips you can choose before you will be forced to quit
is:
(a) 13 (b) 14 (c) 15 (d) 16 (e) 17
7. A container is completely lled from a tap running at a constant
rate. The accompanying graph shows the level of the water in the container
at any time while the container is being lled. The segment PQ is a straight
line. The shape of the container which corresponds with the graph is:
Full q Q
q
P
Water
Level
Empty
Time
P
(a) 4 (b) 7 (c) 9 (d) 14 (e) 16
9. Four pieces of timber with the lengths shown are placed in the
parallel positions shown. A single cut is made along the line L perpendicular
to the lengths of timber so that the total length of timber on each side of L
is the same. The length, in metres, of the longest piece of timber remaining
is:
5m
m - 3 3m
m - 4 5m
: m-
15 m 4
L
(a) 4:85 (b) 4:50 (c) 4:75 (d) 3:75 (e) none of the above
10. The positive integers are written in order with one appearing once,
two appearing twice, three appearing three times, : : : , ten appearing ten
times, and so on, so that the beginning of the sequence looks like this:
1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4
The number of 9's appearing in the rst 1998 digits of the sequence is:
(a) 57 (b) 96 (c) 113 (d) 145 (e) 204
406
Part B
Last issue we gave the Final Round Parts A and B of the 1998 British
Columbia Colleges Junior High School Mathematics Contest. My thanks go
to Jim Totten, University College of the Cariboo, one of the organizers, for
forwarding the \ocial solutions" which follow.
407
A D E
B C
r r r r r
Full q Q
q
P
Water
Level
Empty
Time
6. The area of the small triangle in the diagram is 8 square units. The
area of the large triangle, in square units, is:
(a) 18 (b) 20 (c) 24 (d) 28 (e) 30
Answer: The correct answer is (e).
The length of the base of the larger tri-
angle is 5b, while the length of the a
base of the smaller triangle is 2b. This H
gives the ratio of 52 . Similarly, the ra- 2a
tio of the corresponding perpendicular h
heights, H : h, is 3a : 2a = 23 . 2b 3b
Hence, the area of the larger triangle is
5 ( 3 )(8) = 30.
2 2
7. At 6:15 the hands of the clock form two positive angles with a sum
of 360. The di erence of the degree measures of these two angles is:
(a) 165 (b) 170 (c) 175 (d) 180 (e) 185
Answer: The correct answer is (a).
At 6:15 the minute hand points at 3, while the hour hand is 14 of the way
from 6 to 7. The smaller angle between the hands is [90 + 14 ( 360
12 )] = 97:5 ,
while the larger is (360 , 97:5) = 262:5 . This gives the di erence of
(262:5 , 97:5) = 165 .
8. The last digit of the number 826 is:
(a) 0 (b) 2 (c) 4 (d) 6 (e) 8
Answer: The correct answer is (c).
By inspecting the last digit of the numbers in the sequence 81 , 82 , 83 ,
8 , : : : , we discover a repeating pattern of length four: 8, 4, 2, 6. Since
4
826 = 84(6)+2, we conclude that the last digit of 826 is the same as the last
digit of 82 , that is 4.
9. For the equation x+3 A + B = ,2x+9 to be true for all values of x
x,3 x ,9
for which the expressions in the equation make sense, the value of AB is:
(a) 2 (b) ,1 (c) ,2 (d) ,3 (e) ,6
Answer: The correct answer is (c).
The expression makes sense for all values of x, except 3. By mul-
tiplying both sides of the equation by the common denominator x2 , 9 =
(x , 3)(x + 3), we get A(x , 3) + B (x + 3) = ,x + 9. After multiplying
out and collecting the like terms on the left hand side of this equation we get
(A + B)x + 3B , 3A = ,x + 9. Clearly, the polynomials on both sides
must be identical; therefore A + B = ,1 and 3B , 3A = 9. This system of
two equations can be solved in any standard way. For example, we can nd
B = 3 + A from the second equation and substitute this for B in the rst
equation. In that way we nd A = ,2 and B = 1.
410
10. A hungry hunter came upon two shepherds, Joe and Frank. Joe had
three small loaves of bread and Frank ve loaves of the same size. The loaves
were divided equally among the three people, and the hunter paid $8 for his
share. If the shepherds divide the money so that each gets an equitable share
based on the amount of bread given to the hunter, the amount of money that
Joe receives is:
(a) $1 (b) $1:50 (c) $2 (d) $2:50 (e) $3
Answer: The correct answer is (a).
Divide each loaf into 3 parts and distribute equally to each of the three
persons. Each person receives 8 parts. The two shepherds start with 9 and
15 parts each, so (after removing their own 8 parts) they contribute 1 and
7 parts, respectively, to the hunter and should receive compensation from
the hunter in that ratio. Thus the hunter who originally had 3 loaves should
receive $1.
Part B
1. Four positive integers sum to 125. If the rst of these numbers is
increased by 4, the second is decreased by 4, the third is multiplied by 4 and
the fourth is divided by 4, you produce four equal numbers. What are the
four original numbers?
Solution. The numbers are 16, 24, 5 and 80.
If x, y , z , and w are the numbers then x + y + z + w = 125 and
x + 4 = y , 4 = 4z = w4 . Hence, y = x + 8, z = x+4 4 , w = 4(x + 4).
By substituting these expressions to the rst equation, we get x + (x + 8) +
x+4 + 4(x + 4) = 125. Thus, x = 16, and consequently, y = 24, z = 5,
w4= 80.
2. A semi-circular piece of paper of radius 10 cm is formed into a conical
paper cup as shown (the cup is inverted in the diagram):
N V N V
10 cm
V 10 cm
Find the height of the paper cup, that is, the depth of water in the cup
when it is full.
p
Solution. The height of the paper cup is 5 3 cm.
The base of the conical paper cup is a circle with circumference equal
to the length of the given semicircle. Thus, if r is the radius of the base then
2r = 12 (210). Hence, r = 5 cm. The side length of the cone s is the same
as the radius of the semicircle; thus s = 10 cm. Finally, the height of the
cone is p p p
h = s2 , r2 = 102 , 52 = 5 3 cm .
411
4
p2 , 4 4p2 , 4 1 , p2 ! p
r = 1 + p2 = 1 + p2 1 , p2 = 12 , 8 2 .
4. Using the digits 1, 9, 9 and 8 in that order create expressions equal
to 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. You may p
use any of the four basic operations
(+, ,, , ), the square root symbol ( ) and parentheses, as necessary.
For example, valid expressions for 25 and 36 would be
25 = ,1 + 9 +p9 + 8 ,
36 = 1 + 9 9 + 8 .
Note: You may place a negative sign in front of 1 to create ,1 if you wish.
Solution. One of several possible solutions is:
1 = ,1 +pp9 , 9 + 8 ,
2 = 1 p 9 ,9 +8,
3 = ,1 +p 9 + 9 , 8 ,
4 = 1 p9 + 9 , 8 ,
5 = 1 + 9 +9 ,8,
6 = ,1 , 9 9 + 8 ,
7 = ,1 + 9 , 9 + 8 ,
8 = ,1 + 9 9 + 8 ,
9 = ,1 + 9 + 9 , 8 ,
10 = 1 +9 9 + 8.
412
That completes the Corner for this number. Send me contest materials
and suggestions for the evolution of the Skoliad Corner.
413
MATHEMATICAL MAYHEM
Mathematical Mayhem began in 1988 as a Mathematical Journal for and by
High School and University Students. It continues, with the same emphasis,
as an integral part of Crux Mathematicorum with Mathematical Mayhem.
All material intended for inclusion in this section should be sent to
Mathematical Mayhem, Department of Mathematics, University of Toronto,
100 St. George St., Toronto, Ontario, Canada. M5S 3G3. The electronic
address is still
[email protected]
The Assistant Mayhem Editor is Cyrus Hsia (University of Western On-
tario). The rest of the sta consists of Adrian Chan (Upper Canada College),
Jimmy Chui (University of Toronto), David Savitt (Harvard University) and
Wai Ling Yee (University of Waterloo).
Douglass Grant
A friend who attended university in Germany once told me that his
course in rst year calculus was made memorable by the fact that the basic
de nition of the sine and cosine functions used by his professor were the
Maclaurin series for the two functions. At the time, I made the ippant
remark that such an approach would make it a challenge even to prove that
sin2 x +cos2 x = 1. The details of that proof, in fact, involve some identities
more commonly encountered in discrete mathematics or combinatorics than
in calculus.
Since
X1 (,1)k
sin x = x2k+1 ,
k=0 (2k + 1)!
squaring the series and shifting the index by one on the inner series yields
414
0 1
X1B X (, 1) n (, 1) m CA x2k+2
sin2 x = @ (2 n + 1)!(2 m + 1)!
k=0 nn;m
+m=k
0 0 1
XB X
1 (,1) k ,1 CA x2k
= @ (2 n + 1)!(2 m + 1)!
k=1 n+n;m
m=k,1
0
X X
1 k, 1 !
= ( , 1) k,1
x2k .
k=1 n=0 (2n + 1)!(2 k , 2 n , 1)!
Similarly,
X
1 X
k !
cos2 x
= (,1)k x2k .
k=0 n=0 (2 n)!(2 k , 2 n)!
Since the constant term in the series for cos2 x is clearly unity, it suces
to show that the sum of the coecients of x2k for sin2 x and cos2 x is zero for
k 1. Note that the integers whose factorials appear in the denominators
of both inner summations sum to 2k.
For k 1, let
kX,1 (,1)k,1 Xk (,1)k
Sk = + .
n=0 (2n + 1)!(2k , 2n , 1)! n=0 (2n)!(2k , 2n)!
Then
X2k (,1)n(2k)! X
2k
(2k)!Sk = = ( , 1) n 2k .
n=0 (2n)!(2k , 2n)! n=0 n
But by the Binomial Theorem,
X
2k 2k
(a , b)2k = (,1)n
n a2k,n bn ,
n=0
so letting a = b = 1, we obtain
X
2k
0 = (,1)n 2nk = (2k)!Sk ,
n=0
whence Sk = 0 for k 1, as required.
Douglass L. Grant <[email protected]>
University College of Cape Breton
Box 5300, Sydney, Nova Scotia
Canada B1P 6L2
415
Mayhem Problems
The Mayhem Problems editors are:
Adrian Chan Mayhem High School Problems Editor,
Donny Cheung Mayhem Advanced Problems Editor,
David Savitt Mayhem Challenge Board Problems Editor.
Note that all correspondence should be sent to the appropriate editor |
see the relevant section. In this issue, you will nd only problems | the
next issue will feature only solutions.
We warmly welcome proposals for problems and solutions. With the
schedule of eight issues per year, we request that solutions from this issue
be submitted in time for issue 8 of 2000.
Advanced Problems
Editor: Donny Cheung, c/o Conrad Grebel College, University of Wa-
terloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. N2L 3G6 <[email protected]>
A237. Show that for any sequence of decimal digits that does not be-
gin with 0, there is a Fibonacci number whose decimal representation begins
with this sequence. (The Fibonacci sequence is the sequence Fn generated
by the initial conditions F0 = 0, F1 = 1 and Fn = Fn,1 + Fn,2 for n 2.)
A238. Two circles C1 and C2 intersect at P and Q. A line through P
intersects C1 and C2 again at A and B , respectively, and X is the mid-point
of AB . The line through Q and X intersects C1 and C2 again at Y and Z ,
respectively. Prove that X is the mid-point of Y Z .
(1997 Baltic Way)
A239. Proposed by Mohammed Aassila, CRM, Montreal, Quebec.
Let a1 , a2 , : : : , an be n distinct numbers, n 3. Prove that
0 1
Xn
@ai Y 1 A = 0.
i=1 j 6=i ai , aj
F
O
-
A P0
First we note that the point F is the focus and the line y = ,1 is the
directrix of the given parabola.
418
Drop the perpendicular from P to the line y = ,1, and call that point
P 0. Now, let , , and be the angles as in the diagram; that is, let =
\APF , let = APP 0 , and let represent the angle opposite \APP 0 .
Observe that PF = PP 0 , because any point on a parabola is equidis-
tant to both the focus and directrix.
From the opposite angle theorem we get = .
Now, it is known that a ray, parallel to the axis of symmetry in a
parabola, will pass through the focus when it re ects o the interior of the
parabola. The line P 0 P extended is parallel to the line x = 0 (the axis of
symmetry) and can be taken as the ray of incidence. The ray PF is then the
ray of re ection. The line AP extended is the tangent at the point P of the
parabola, and the angle of incidence equals the angle of re ection, or = .
So we have = .
Hence, from SAS congruency, we have that 4APF 4APP 0 . This
implies that \AFP = \AP 0 P = 90 , QED.
2. (a) A rectangle has been inscribed in a circle and semi-circles have been
drawn on its sides (as shown in the diagram). Determine the ratio
of the sum of the area of the four lunes (shaded regions) to the area
of the rectangle.
419
A CN B T
7. (a) Prove that the product of 4 consecutive positive integers cannot be
a perfect square.
(b) What must be added to the product of 4 consecutive terms of any
arithmetic sequence to produce a perfect square?
(c) What must be added to the product of 4 consecutive terms of any
geometric sequence to produce a perfect square?
420
IMO Report
Jimmy Chui
student, University of Toronto
The 1999 Canadian IMO team members commenced their summer with
one and a half weeks of training at the University of Waterloo. During this
time, they managed to hike twice, and it was a shame that no one was lost
this year. On the 13th of July, after an exhausting full day of travel, the
team found itself in Bucharest, Romania, ready for the 40th International
Mathematical Olympiad.
The members of this year's team were David \Pippy" Arthur, Jimmy
\The Squeeze" Chui, James \Roadkill" Lee, Jessie \Pyromaniac" Lei, David
\Monkey Matrix" Nicholson, and David \23 Across" Pritchard. Team leader
Dr. Ed \81" Barbeau gave incessant lectures on continuity while deputy leader
Dr. Arthur \Put down that math and deal!" Baragar could be found playing
Tetris on some particular portable game machine. Meanwhile, the deputy
leader observer, Dr. Dorette \Maybe this works..." Pronk, dutifully took
pictures of the other team members while they were not looking. The team
is also grateful to Dr. Ed Wang and Richard Hoshino for their wise words in
combinatorics and inequalities, and to Dr. Christopher Small for sharing his
functional equations knowledge, as well as for his outstanding hospitality in
Elora.
This year's contest was immensely challenging, and it continued the low
medal cut-o scores the last few IMOs have seen. Considering the diculty
of the questions, Canada performed respectably and brought home 3 bronzes.
The scores were as follows:
CAN 1 David Arthur 18 Bronze Medal
CAN 2 Jimmy Chui 16 Bronze Medal
CAN 3 James Lee 6
CAN 4 Jessie Lei 9
CAN 5 David Nicholson 8
CAN 6 David Pritchard 17 Bronze Medal
421
Unocially, Canada's total score of 74 was enough for 32nd place out
of the 83 competing countries. Best of luck to CAN 3 and 5 as they pursue
their university studies at the University of Waterloo, and to CAN 2 and 4 as
they move on to the University of Toronto. The remaining two members are
still eligible for next year's team. Hopefully there will be shouts of \We like
to party!" after the competition next year!
Special thanks must also go to Dr. Graham Wright of the Canadian
Mathematical Society for once again supplying the funds for the team, and
again to team leader Dr. Ed Barbeau for his continual e orts training IMO
potentials through the CMS's correspondence program.
It was the rst ight to Europe for many of us, and quite an experience it
turned out to be. We were surprised at the endless supply of cheese that the
cafeteria managed to put on our plates. We found it a great object to ward o
stray dogs. Visits to several museums, including the infamous Transylvania
Castle, were a real treat to the competitors, but it was a shame that Dracula
was nowhere to be found. However, the cheese did nd its way along with
us. With all that said and done, the IMO was once again a success. We wish
the best of luck to all hopefuls for the 2000 Canadian IMO team, bound for
the Republic of Korea for the 41st IMO.
An Identity of a Tetrahedron
Murat Aygen
D 6 r2
h=DD0
c1 B b1 a1
C a c ? r1
b A
c b
2C B , ) D0
2(
O
2A 2 r2
r1
C
a
B
Figure 2.
C0 P1
B0
z
a P0
C B
b c
A
Figure 3.
424
Therefore,
(h2 + r12 + r22 )2 , 4R2h2 , 4R2r12 , 4R2 r22 + 4R4
= 4R4 , 4R2 r12 , 4R2 r22 + 4r12 r22 ,
yielding
4R2h2 = h4 + r14 + r24 + 2h2r12 + 2h2r22 , 2r12r22
= h4 + r14 + r24 + 2h2r12 + 2h2r22 + 2r12r22 , 4r12r22
= (h2 + r12 + r22 )2 , (2r1r2)2
= [h2 + (r1 + r2)2][h2 + (r1 , r2)2] . (4)
Finally, note that
1
cos2 = 1 + tan h2 + (r1 , r2)2
2 = h2 + (r1 + r2)2 . (5)
Therefore,
(6V R)2 = 4K 2R2 h2 (from (2))
= [h4K 1 R h cos
2 2 2 2
2 + (r1 , r2 )2 ]2 (from (1))
2 2 1 + r2 )2 ][h2 + (r1 , r2 )2]2
= K[1h[2h++(r(r+ (from (4) and (5))
1 r2 )2 ][h2 + (r1 , r2 )2]2
= K1 ,
2
so that
6V R = K1 .
Murat Aygen <[email protected]>
Cinnah Cad., Alacam Sok., No. 3/4
06690 Ankara TURKEY
426
A5 B3 C1 B4
1
10 2
3 A2
9
B2 8
4
7
5 B5
6
B1
A3
A4
Copyright c 1999 Canadian Mathematical Society
427
PROBLEMS
Problem proposals and solutions should be sent to Bruce Shawyer, Department
of Mathematics and Statistics, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's,
Newfoundland, Canada. A1C 5S7. Proposals should be accompanied by a solution,
together with references and other insights which are likely to be of help to the edi-
tor. When a submission is submitted without a solution, the proposer must include
sucient information on why a solution is likely. An asterisk (?) after a number
indicates that a problem was submitted without a solution.
In particular, original problems are solicited. However, other interesting prob-
lems may also be acceptable provided that they are not too well known, and refer-
ences are given as to their provenance. Ordinarily, if the originator of a problem can
be located, it should not be submitted without the originator's permission.
To facilitate their consideration, please send your proposals and solutions
on signed and separate standard 8 21 "11" or A4 sheets of paper. These may
be typewritten or neatly hand-written, and should be mailed to the Editor-in-
Chief, to arrive no later than 1 April 2000. They may also be sent by email to
[email protected]. (It would be appreciated if email proposals and solu-
tions were written in LATEX). Graphics les should be in epic format, or encapsulated
postscript. Solutions received after the above date will also be considered if there
is sucient time before the date of publication. Please note that we do not accept
submissions sent by FAX.
Last month's problem section asked, in error, for solutions by 1 January 2000.
That was a Y2K bug! It should have read 1 March 2000.
SOLUTIONS
No problem is ever permanently closed. The editor is always pleased to
consider for publication new solutions or new insights on past problems.
2370. [1998: 364] Proposed by Walther Janous, Ursulinengymnas-
ium, Innsbruck, Austria.
Determine the exact values of the roots of the polynomial equation
x5 , 55x4 + 330x3 , 462x2 + 165x , 11 = 0 .
Solution by Joe Howard, New Mexico Highlands University, Las Vegas,
NM, USA.
Let c = cos , s = sin , where = k
11 , k = 1, 3, 5, 7, 9. Then, by
DeMoivre's formula, we have
(c + is)11 = ,ei 11 = e11i = eki = ,1 .
Equating the imaginary parts, we get
11 11 11 11 11 11
1 c s, 3 c s + 5 c s , 7 c s + 9 c s , 11 s = 0 .
10 8 3 6 5 4 7 2 9 11
Since s 6= 0, we obtain
s10 , 55s8c2 + 330s6c4 , 462s4c6 + 165s2c8 , 11c10 = 0 .
6 0, dividing the last equation by c10 yields
Since c =
tan10 , 55 tan8 + 330 tan6 , 462 tan4 + 165 tan2 , 11 = 0 .
Therefore,, the
, kroots of the given polynomial equation are given by
x = tan2 k11 = 1 , 3 , 5, 7, 9.
Also solved by MANUEL BENITO MUNOZ ~ and EMILIO FERNANDEZ MORAL,
I.B. Sagasta, Logro~no, Spain; C. FESTRAETS-HAMOIR, Brussels, Belgium; DOUGLASS
L. GRANT, University College of Cape Breton, Sydney, Nova Scotia; RICHARD I. HESS,
Rancho Palos Verdes, CA, USA; MICHAEL LAMBROU, University of Crete, Crete, Greece
(2 solutions); GERRY LEVERSHA, St. Paul's School, London, England; KEE-WAI LAU, Hong
Kong; VEDULA N. MURTY, Visakhapatnam, India; HEINZ-JURGEN SEIFFERT, Berlin, Ger-
many; ARAM TANGBOONDOUANGJIT, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA;
JEREMY YOUNG, student, Nottingham High School, Nottingham, UK; and the proposer.
All the submitted solutions are more or less equivalent to the one given above. Almost
all the solvers gave the answers x = tan2 k 11 , k = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Benito and Fernandez gave
2 k
the answer x = cot 22 , k = 1, 3, 5, 7, 9. It is easy to see that all these expressions are
the same as the one obtained by Howard.
433
And so
2y
2y = 22y = x + x
1.
Comparing, we get x = (x + 1)=x, and solving for x and throwing away the
negative value, we get a nal answer of
p
x = 1 +2 5 .
Also solved by SEFKET ARSLANAGIC, University of Sarajevo, Sarajevo, Bosnia and
Herzegovina; MICHEL BATAILLE, Rouen, France; FRANK P. BATTLES, Massachusetts Mar-
itime Academy, Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, USA; FRANCISCO BELLOT ROSADO, I.B.
Emilio Ferrari, Valladolid, Spain; BOOKERY PROBLEM GROUP, Walla Walla, Washington,
USA; MIGUEL CARRION ALVAREZ,
Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain; NIKOLAOS
DERGIADES, Thessaloniki, Greece; RUSSELL EULER and JAWAD SADEK, NW Missouri State
University, Maryville, MO, USA; C. FESTRAETS-HAMOIR, Brussels, Belgium; SHAWN GODIN,
Cairine Wilson S. S., Orleans, Ontario; RICHARD I. HESS, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA, USA; JOHN
G. HEUVER, Grande Prairie Composite High School, Grande Prairie, Alberta; JOE HOWARD,
New Mexico Highlands University, Las Vegas, NM, USA; JUN-HUA HUANG, the Middle School
Attached To Hunan Normal University, Changsha, China; WALTHER JANOUS, Ursulinengym-
nasium, Innsbruck, Austria; ANGEL JOVAL ROQUET, Instituto Espa~nol de Andorra, Andorra;
VACLAV KONECN Y, Ferris State University, Big Rapids, MI, USA; MICHAEL LAMBROU,
University of Crete, Crete, Greece; GERRY LEVERSHA, St. Paul's School, London, England;
KATHLEEN E. LEWIS, SUNY Oswego, Oswego, NY, USA; J.A. McCALLUM, Medicine Hat, Al-
berta; JOHN GRANT McLOUGHLIN, Faculty of Education, Memorial University, St. John's,
Newfoundland; HENRY J. RICARDO, Medger Evers College (CUNY), Brooklyn, New York,
USA; JUAN-BOSCO ROMERO MARQUEZ, Universidad de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain; HEINZ-
JURGEN SEIFFERT, Berlin, Germany; TOSHIO SEIMIYA, Kawasaki, Japan; MAX SHVARAYEV,
Tucson, Arizona, USA; SKIDMORE COLLEGE PROBLEM GROUP, Saratoga Springs, New York,
USA; D.J. SMEENK, Zaltbommel, the Netherlands; DIGBY SMITH, Mount Royal College, Cal-
gary, Alberta; ARAM TANGBOONDOUANGJIT, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA,
USA; PARAGIOU THEOKLITOS, Limassol, Cyprus; PANOS E. TSAOUSSOGLOU, Athens, Greece;
UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA PROBLEM SOLVING GROUP, Tucson, Arizona, USA; JEREMY
YOUNG, student, Nottingham High School, Nottingham, UK; and the proposer.
Joval's solution must be the rst one ever received by this journal from Andorra!
Welcome | and can we now hear from Liechtenstein and Monaco?
so
B , C
cos2 2 4 cos B ,2 C sin A2 , 4 sin2 A2
A B,C B + C
= 4 sin cos 2 2 , cos 2
= 8 sin A2 sin B2 sin C2 = 2Rr ,
since r = 4R sin A2 sin B2 sin C2 [see for example, Roger A. Johnson, Modern
Geometry (1929) 298a].
Also solved by SEFKET ARSLANAGIC, University of Sarajevo, Sarajevo, Bosnia
and Herzegovina; FRANCISCO BELLOT ROSADO, I.B. Emilio Ferrari, Valladolid, Spain;
NIKOLAOS DERGIADES, Thessaloniki, Greece; JUN-HUA HUANG, the Middle School At-
tached To Hunan Normal University, Changsha, China; WALTHER JANOUS, Ursulinengym-
nasium, Innsbruck, Austria; VACLAV KONECN Y, Ferris State University, Big Rapids, MI,
USA; MICHAEL LAMBROU, University of Crete, Crete, Greece; GERRY LEVERSHA, St. Paul's
School, London, England; ISAO NAOI and HIDETOSHI FUKAGAWA, Gifu, Japan; ISTV AN
REIMAN, Budapest, Hungary; JUAN-BOSCO ROMERO MARQUEZ, Universidad de Valladolid,
Valladolid, Spain; HEINZ-JURGEN SEIFFERT, Berlin, Germany; TOSHIO SEIMIYA, Kawa-
saki, Japan; D.J. SMEENK, Zaltbommel, the Netherlands; ARAM TANGBOONDOUANGJIT,
Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA; PANOS E. TSAOUSSOGLOU, Athens, Greece;
G. TSINTSIFAS, Thessaloniki, Greece; PAUL YIU, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL,
USA; and the proposer.
Arslanagic, Bellot Rosado, Janous, Naoi and Fukagawa, and Sei ert all note that we
have equality precisely when 2a = b + c. Konecny, Smeenk and Yiu provide the equivalent
condition, tan B2 tan C2 = 13 .
Iftimie Simion (Math Teacher, Stuyvesant HS, New York, NY, USA) points out that this
problem appears in a 10th grade textbook [Matematica: Geometrie si trigonometrie, A. Cota
et al., p. 106] used in Romania.
Bellot Rosado refers us to two notes on this inequality by Dan Plaesu (Iasi) and Gheorge
Marchidan (Suceava) in the Romanian journal Gazeta matematica (1991) nos. 6 and 7. In the
second note the authors prove the related inequality
2 B , C a2 bc .
cos
2 R2 (b + c)2
Bellot Rosado also shows that
a2 bc 2r
R2 (b + c)2 > R
precisely when as 2 (3 , p5; 1).
circles as a function of the angle C1 OC2 , which we will call . If D is the other
point of intersection of these circles, then the area of intersection is twice the
di erence between the area of the sector created by the angle OC1 D and the
area of the triangle OC1D. The angle OC1 D has measure , , so the sector
has area ( , )=2 and the triangle has area sin(=2) cos(=2) = (1=2) sin .
Therefore the area of overlap of the two circles is , , sin , which we call
f (). Since f 0() = ,1 , cos , which is never positive, the area decreases
as increases from 0 to .
Suppose that the circles with centres at C1 and C2 are in xed position,
with an angle of between them, and we wish to place the third circle
in a way that minimizes the total area of overlap. Since we want large angles
between the centres of the circles, we want to put the third circle so that the
new angles formed at O divide the angle 2 , rather than . If we call
these angles and , then the total area of overlap is
( , , sin ) + ( , , sin ) + ( , , sin ) .
Since is xed and is constant, we need to minimize
, , sin , , sin = , , sin , (2 , , ) , sin(2 , , )
= , 2 , sin , sin(2 , , )
as a function of . Taking the derivative, we get , cos + cos(2 , , ),
which is zero if and only if cos = cos(2 , , ). Since the sum of
these two angles is strictly less than 2 , the cosines can only be equal if the
angles are. Thus, the minimum area occurs when = . This argument
could equally well be used to argue that if any two of the angles are unequal,
then the area could be reduced by moving the circle between those angles
to equalize them (leaving the other two circles xed). The minimum area
p are equal to 2=3, giving an overlap
therefore occurs when all three angles
area of 3[=3 , sin(2=3)] = , 3 3=2.
Also solved by WALTHER JANOUS, Ursulinengymnasium, Innsbruck, Austria; VACLAV
KONECN Y, Ferris State University, Big Rapids, MI, USA; MICHAEL LAMBROU, University of
Crete, Crete, Greece; MAX SHKARAYEV, Tuscon, AZ, USA; THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
PROBLEM SOLVING GROUP, Tuscon, AZ, USA; JEREMY YOUNG, student, Nottingham High
School, Nottingham, UK; and the proposer. There were one incomplete and three incorrect
solutions.
or, equivalently,
, 1 ln 1 .
n ln 33nn + (1)
1 2
To this aim, we introduce the function
f (x) = x ln 33xx ,
+1
1
for all real x 2 [1; 1) and real a and b such that a > b > 0.
2385. [1998: 426] Proposed by Joaqun Gomez Rey, IES Luis Bu~nuel,
Alcorcon, Spain.
A die is thrown n 3 consecutive times. Find the probability that the
sum of its n outcomes is greater than or equal to n +6 and less than or equal
to 6n , 6.
Solution by Jeremy Young, student, Nottingham High School, Notting-
ham, UK, modi ed by the editor.
444
Hence
4(xyz + yzw + zwx + wxy)2 (x + w)2(y + z )2(x + z )(w + y) .
Similarly,
4(xyz + yzw + zwx + wxy)2 (x + w)(y + z )(x + z )2(w + y )2 .
The result follows by multiplying the last two inequalities.
2. The inequality follows easily from the rst one, because
0 14
Y 1 X
(2a + b + c) @ 4 (2a + b + c)A = (a + b + c + d)4 ,
cyclic cyclic
by the Geometric Mean{Arithmetic Mean Inequality.
Also solved by WALTHER JANOUS, Ursulinengymnasium, Innsbruck, Austria; MICHAEL
LAMBROU, University of Crete, Crete, Greece; PANOS E. TSAOUSSOGLOU, Athens, Greece; and
the proposer.
Crux Mathematicorum
Founding Editors / Redacteurs-fondateurs: Leopold Sauve & Frederick G.B. Maskell
Editors emeriti / Redacteur-emeriti: G.W. Sands, R.E. Woodrow, Bruce L.R. Shawyer
Mathematical Mayhem
Founding Editors / Redacteurs-fondateurs: Patrick Surry & Ravi Vakil
Editors emeriti / Redacteurs-emeriti: Philip Jong, Je Higham,
J.P. Grossman, Andre Chang, Naoki Sato, Cyrus Hsia