UCSC Team Contest: Round 2

August 16, 2013

Algebra
1. Let a, b be real numbers such that 1 a
2
ab +b
2
2. Prove that 2 9(a
4
+b
4
) 72.
2. Prove that the value of the expression

n +

0 +

n +

1 +

n +

2 + +

n +

n
2
1 +

n +

n
2

0 +

1 +

2 + +

n
2
1 +

n
2
is a constant for all positive integer values of n.
3. Find all polynomials P(x) for which
P(x)P(x 1) +P(x
2
) = 0.
Combinatorics
1. A frog lives on a triangle ABC. Every turn, she jumps to one of the adjacent vertices. In n hops, in
how many ways can she get from vertex A back to vertex A?
2. Alice and Bob play a variant of the game hot or cold. First, Bob places a box of candies at a location
within 2001 feet from Alice. Alice is myopic and can only see the box if it is a distance less than equal
to 1 foot from her. Alices objective is to nd the box by taking a sequence of steps of length less
than or equal to 1 foot in any direction. After each step, Alice can ask Bob Hot or cold? Bob must
answer hot if Alices step took her closer to the box and cold otherwise. Show that Alice can nd
the box taking at most 2016 steps and asking at most 13 questions.
3. The Republic of Santa Cruz is a country with at least one village in which some pairs of villages are
connected by roads. Bob founded a bakery company and wants to build stores in several villages (at
most one store per village) in such a way that every citizen of The Republic of Santa Cruz who cant
buy Bobs croissants in their own village can buy them in one of the neighbouring ones. Prove that
the number of ways to do so is odd.
Geometry
1. Let ABC be a triangle with points K and L on its sides AB, AC, respectively. Let P = BL CK
and assume that BC
2
= BK BA+CL CA. Prove that AKLP is cyclic.
2. Let ABC be a triangle inscribed in a circle and P a variable point on the arc BC of not containing
vertex A. Denote by I, J the incenters of triangles PAB, PAC respectively. Prove that as P varies,
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(a) the circles with diameters IJ all have a common point,
(b) the midpoints of the segments IJ all lie on a single circle,
(c) the circumcircles of the triangles PIJ all have a common point.
3. Let ABC be a triangle and let M, N, P be the midpoints of sides BC, CA, AB, respectively. Denote
by X, Y , Z the midpoints of the altitudes emerging from the vertices A, B, C, respectively. Prove
that the radical center of the circles AMX, BNY , CPZ is the nine-point center of triangle ABC.
Number Theory
1. Solve in integers the equation
1! + 2! + 3! + +x! = y
2
.
2. Let n 2 and let P(x) = x
n
+ a
n1
x
n1
+ + a
1
x + 1 be a polynomial with positive integer
coecients such that a
k
= a
nk
for k = 1, 2, , n 1. Prove that there exist innitely many pairs
(x, y) of positive integers such that both x|P(y) and y|P(x).
3. Find all functions f : {1, 2, ...} {1, 2, ...} such that m n divides f(m) f(n) for all m = n and
such that gcd(f(a), f(b)) = 1 whenever gcd(a, b) = 1.
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