IMO Shortlist 1968

1 Two ships sail on the sea with constant speeds and fixed directions. It is known that at 9 : 00
the distance between them was 20 miles; at 9 : 35, 15 miles; and at 9 : 55, 13 miles. At what
moment were the ships the smallest distance from each other, and what was that distance ?

2 Find all triangles whose side lengths are consecutive integers, and one of whose angles is twice
another.

3 Prove that every tetrahedron has a vertex whose three edges have the right lengths to form
a triangle.

4 Let a, b, c be real numbers with a non-zero. It is known that the real numbers x1 , x2 , . . . , xn
satisfy the n equations:
ax21 + bx1 + c = x2
ax22 + bx2 + c = x3
... ... ... ...
ax2n + bxn + c = x1
Prove that the system has zero, one or more than one real solutions if (b − 1)2 − 4ac is
negative, equal to zero or positive respectively.

5 Let hn be the apothem (distance from the center to one of the sides) of a regular n-gon
(n ≥ 3) inscribed in a circle of radius r. Prove the inequality

(n + 1)hn + 1 − nhn > r.

Also prove that if r on the right side is replaced with a greater number, the inequality will
not remain true for all n ≥ 3.

6 If ai (i = 1, 2, . . . , n) are distinct non-zero real numbers, prove that the equation

a1 a2 an
+ + ··· + =n
a1 − x a2 − x an − x
has at least n − 1 real roots.

7 Prove that the

√
product of the radii of three circles exscribed to a given triangle does not
3 3
exceed A = 8 times the product of the side lengths of the triangle. When does equality
hold?

8 Given an oriented line ∆ and a fixed point A on it, consider all trapezoids ABCD one of
whose bases AB lies on ∆, in the positive direction. Let E, F be the midpoints of AB and
CD respectively. Find the loci of vertices B, C, D of trapezoids that satisfy the following:

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 IMO Shortlist 1968

(i) |AB| ≤ a (a fixed);

(ii) |EF | = l (l fixed);
(iii) the sum of squares of the nonparallel sides of the trapezoid is constant.
[hide=”Remark”]
Remark. The constants are chosen so that such trapezoids exist.
9 Let ABC be an arbitrary triangle and M a point inside it. Let da , db , dc be the distances
from M to sides BC, CA, AB; a, b, c the lengths of the sides respectively, and S the area of
the triangle ABC. Prove the inequality
4S 2
abda db + bcdb dc + cadc da ≤
.
3
Prove that the left-hand side attains its maximum when M is the centroid of the triangle.
√
10 Consider two segments of length a, b (a > b) and a segment of length c = ab.
(a) For what values of a/b can these segments be sides of a triangle ?
(b) For what values of a/b is this triangle right-angled, obtuse-angled, or acute-angled ?
11 Find all solutions (x1 , x2 , ..., xn ) of the equation
1 x1 + 1 (x1 + 1)(x2 + 1) (x1 + 1)(x2 + 1) · · · (xn−1 + 1)
1+ + + + ··· + =0
x1 x1 x2 x12 x3 x1 x2 · · · xn

12 If a and b are arbitrary positive real numbers and m an integer, prove that
 a m  b m
1+ + 1+ ≥ 2m+1 .
b a

13 Given two congruent triangles A1 A2 A3 and B1 B2 B3 (Ai Ak = Bi Bk ), prove that there exists a
plane such that the orthogonal projections of these triangles onto it are congruent and equally
oriented.
14 A line in the plane of a triangle ABC intersects the sides AB and AC respectively at points
X and Y such that BX = CY . Find the locus of the center of the circumcircle of triangle
XAY.
15 Let n be a natural number. Prove that
n + 20 n + 21 n + 2n−1
     
+ + ··· + = n.
21 22 2n
[hide=”Remark”]For any real number x, the number bxc represents the largest integer smaller
or equal with x.

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 IMO Shortlist 1968

16 A polynomial p(x) = a0 xk + a1 xk−1 + · · · + ak with integer coefficients is said to be divisible

by an integer m if p(x) is divisible by m for all integers x. Prove that if p(x) is divisible by
m, then k!a0 is also divisible by m. Also prove that if a0 , k, m are non-negative integers for
which k!a0 is divisible by m, there exists a polynomial p(x) = a0 xk + · · · + ak divisible by m.

17 Given a point O and lengths x, y, z, prove that there exists an equilateral triangle ABC for
which OA = x, OB = y, OC = z, if and only if x + y ≥ z, y + z ≥ x, z + x ≥ y (the points
O, A, B, C are coplanar).

18 If an acute-angled triangle ABC is given, construct an equilateral triangle A0 B 0 C 0 in space

such that lines AA0 , BB 0 , CC 0 pass through a given point.

19 We are given a fixed point on the circle of radius 1, and going from this point along the
circumference in the positive direction on curved distances 0, 1, 2, . . . from it we obtain points
with abscisas n = 0, 1, 2, . . . . respectively. How many points among them should we take to
ensure that some two of them are less than the distance 15 apart ?

20 Given n (n ≥ 3) points in space such that every three of them form a triangle with one angle
greater than or equal to 120◦ , prove that these points can be denoted by A1 , A2 , . . . , An in
such a way that for each i, j, k, 1 ≤ i < j < k ≤ n, angle Ai Aj Ak is greater than or equal to
120◦ .

21 Let a0 , a1 , . . . , ak (k ≥ 1) be positive integers. Find all positive integers y such that

a0 |y, (a0 + a1 )|(y + a1), . . . , (a0 + an )|(y + an ).

22 Find all natural numbers n the product of whose decimal digits is n2 − 10n − 22.

23 Find all complex numbers m such that polynomial

x3 + y 3 + z 3 + mxyz

can be represented as the product of three linear trinomials.

25 Given k parallel lines l1 , . . . , lk and ni points on the line li , i = 1, 2, . . . , k, find the maximum
possible number of triangles with vertices at these points.

26 Let f be a real-valued function defined for all real numbers, such that for some a > 0 we have

1 p
f (x + a) = + f (x) − f (x)2
2
for all x. Prove that f is periodic, and give an example of such a non-constant f for a = 1.

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