2014 Postal Coaching

Postal Coaching 2014

Set 1

Let p be a prime such that p | 2a2 1 for some integer a. Show that there exist
integers b, c such that p = 2b2 c2 .

Suppose ABCD is a convex quadrilateral.Points P, Q, R and S are four points

on the line segments AB, BC, CD and DA respectively.The line segments P R
and QS meet at T .Suppose that each of the quadrilaterals AP T S, BQT P, CRT Q
and DST R have an incircle.Prove that the quadrilateral ABCD also has an incircle.

Find all real numbers p for which the equation x3 + 3px2 + (4p 1)x + p = 0
has two real roots with difference 1.

Given arbitrary complex numbers w1 , w2 , . . . , wn , show that there exists a positive integer k 2n + 1 for which Re(w1k + w2k + + wnk ) 0.

Let A = {1, 2, 3, . . . , 40}. Find the least positive integer k for which it is
possible to partition A into k disjoint subsets with the property that if a, b, c
(not necessarily distinct) are in the same subset, then a 6= b + c.

Set 2

Two circles 1 and 2 touch externally at point P .Let A be a point on 2 not

lying on the line through the centres of the two circles.Let AB and AC be the
tangents to 1 .Lines BP and CP meet 2 for the second time at points E and
F .Prove that the line EF ,the tangent to 2 at A and the common tangent at
P concur.

Let ABCD be a circumscribed quadrilateral. Its incircle touches the sides

BC and DA at points E and F respectively. It is known that lines AB, F E
and CD concur. The circumcircles of triangles AED and BF C meet for the
second time at points E1 and F1 . Prove that EF is parallel to E1 F1 .

Find all ordered triplets of positive integers (a, b, c) such that 2a + 3b + 1 = 6c .

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2014 Postal Coaching

Let m and n be odd positive integers. Each square of an m by n board is

coloured red or blue. A row is said to be red-dominated if there are more red
squares than blue squares in the row. A column is said to be blue-dominated
if there are more blue squares than red squares in the column. Determine the
maximum possible value of the number of red-dominated rows plus the number
of blue-dominated columns. Express your answer in terms of m and n.

Fix positive integers n and k 2. A list of n integers is written in a row on

a blackboard. You can choose a contiguous block of integers, and I will either
add 1 to all of them or subtract 1 from all of them. You can repeat this step as
often as you like, possibly adapting your selections based on what I do. Prove
that after a finite number of steps, you can reach a state where at least n k + 2
of the numbers on the blackboard are all simultaneously divisible by k.

Set 3

Suppose p, q, r are three distinct primes such that rp3 + p2 + p = 2rq 2 + q 2 + q.

Find all possible values of pqr.

Let O be the centre of the square ABCD. Let P, Q, R be respectively on the

segments OA, OB, OC such that OP = 3, OQ = 5, OR = 4. Suppose S is on
OD such that X = AB P Q, Y = BC QR and Z = CD RS are collinear.
Find OS.

Let ABC and P QR be two triangles such that

(a) P is the mid-point of BC and A is the midpoint of QR.
(b) QR bisects BAC and BC bisects QP R
Prove that AB + AC = P Q + P R.
1
2

1
3

1
p

a
b .Prove

that p4 divides

Let p > 3 be a prime and let 1 +

ap b.

Set 4

Let d(n) denote the number of positive divisors of the positive integer n.Determine
those numbers n for which d(n3 ) = 5d(n).

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+ +

2014 Postal Coaching

Let A = {1, 2, 3, . . . , 40}. Find the least positive integer k for which it is
possible to partition A into k disjoint subsets with the property that if a, b, c
(not necessarily distinct) are in the same subset, then a 6= b + c.

The circles K1 , K2 and K3 are pairwise externally tangent to each other; the
point of tangency betwwen K1 and K2 is T . One of the external common
tangents of K1 and K2 meets K3 at points P and Q. Prove that the internal
common tangent of K1 and K2 bisects the arc P Q of K3 which is closer to T .

Denote by Fn the nth Fibonacci number (F1 = F2 = 1).Prove that if a, b, c are

positive integers such that a|Fb , b|Fc , c|Fa ,then either 5 divides each of a, b, c or
12 divides each of a, b, c.

Determine all polynomials f with integer coefficients with the property that for
any two distinct primes p and q, f (p) and f (q) are relatively prime.

Set 5

Let ABC be a triangle in which B is obtuse.Let be its circumcircle and O

be the centre of .Let the tangent to at C intersect the line AB in B1 .Let O1
be the circumcentre of the circumcircle 1 of AB1 C.Take any point B2 on the
segment BB1 different from B, B1 .Let C1 be the point of contact of the tangent
from B2 to which is closer to C.Let O2 be the circumcentre of AB2 C1 .Prove
that O, O2 , O1 , C1 , C are concyclic if OO2 AO1 .

Let d(n) be the number of positive divisors of a natural number n.Find all
k N such that there exists n N with d(n2 )/d(n) = k.

Consider a regular triangular array of n(n + 1)/2 points.Let f (n) denote the
number of equilateral triangles formed by taking some 3 points in the array as
vertices.Prove that
f (n) = (n1)n(n+1)(n+2)
.
24

Let A1 , A2 , . . . , An and B1 , B2 , . . . , Bn be two partitions of a set M such that

|Aj Bk | n for any j, k {1, 2, . . . , n}. Prove that |M | n2 /2.

Let (xj , yj ), 1 j 2n, be 2n points on the half-circle in the upper half-plane.

2n
X
P
Suppose 2n
x
is
an
odd
integer.
Prove
that
yj 1.
j=1 j
j=1

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2014 Postal Coaching

Set 6

(a) Let k, n 1.Find the number of sequences = S0 , S1 , . . . , Sk of subsets

of [n] = {1, 2, 3, . . . , n} if for all 1 i k we have either (i)Si1 Si and
|Si Si1 |,or (ii)Si Si1 and |Si1 Si | = 1.
(b) Suppose that we add the additional condition that
Sk =
.Show that now
1 Pn
the number fk (n) of sequences is given byfk (n) = 2n i=0 ni (n 2i)k .
Note that fk (n) = 0 if k is odd.

Fix positive integers n, j, k.How many integer sequences are there of the form
1 a1 < a2 < . . . < ak n,where ai+1 ai j for all 1 i k 1.

Fix positive integers k and n.Derive a simple expression involving Fibonacci

numbers for the number of sequences (T1 , T2 , . . . , Tk ) of subsets Ti of [n] such
that T1 T2 T3 T4 . . ..
Moderator says: and the original source for this one is Richard Stanley, Enumerative Combinatorics vol. 1 (1st edition), exercise 1.15.

Show that the number of ordered pairs (S, T ) of subsets of [n] satisfying s > |T |
for all s S and t > |S| for all t T is equal to the Fibonacci number F2n+2 .

Moderator says:
http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?p=296007#p296007
http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=515970&hilit=Putnam+

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