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Mathematical
Lecture Notes on

Olympiad Courses
For Junior Section Vol. 2

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 Mathematical Olympiad Series
ISSN: 1793-8570

Series Editors: Lee Peng Yee (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore)

Xiong Bin (East China Normal University, China)

Published
Vol. 1 A First Step to Mathematical Olympiad Problems
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by Derek Holton (University of Otago, New Zealand)

Vol. 2 Problems of Number Theory in Mathematical Competitions

by Yu Hong-Bing (Suzhou University, China)
translated by Lin Lei (East China Normal University, China)
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 Xu Jiagu
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Vol. 6 Mathematical
Olympiad
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Series

Lecture Notes on
Mathematical
Olympiad Courses
For Junior Section Vol. 2

World Scientific

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 Published by
World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
5 Toh Tuck Link, Singapore 596224
USA office: 27 Warren Street, Suite 401-402, Hackensack, NJ 07601
UK office: 57 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9HE
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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
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Mathematical Olympiad Series — Vol. 6

LECTURE NOTES ON MATHEMATICAL OLYMPIAD COURSES
For Junior Section
Copyright © 2010 by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval
system now known or to be invented, without written permission from the Publisher.

For photocopying of material in this volume, please pay a copying fee through the Copyright
Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. In this case permission to
photocopy is not required from the publisher.

ISBN-13 978-981-4293-53-2 (pbk) (Set)

ISBN-10 981-4293-53-9 (pbk) (Set)
ISBN-13 978-981-4293-54-9 (pbk) (Vol. 1)
ISBN-10 981-4293-54-7 (pbk) (Vol. 1)
ISBN-13 978-981-4293-55-6 (pbk) (Vol. 2)
ISBN-10 981-4293-55-5 (pbk) (Vol. 2)

Printed in Singapore.

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 Preface
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Although mathematical olympiad competitions are carried out by solving prob-

lems, the system of Mathematical Olympiads and the related training courses can-
not involve only the techniques of solving mathematical problems. Strictly speak-
ing, it is a system of mathematical advancing education. To guide students who are
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interested in mathematics and have the potential to enter the world of Olympiad
mathematics, so that their mathematical ability can be promoted efficiently and
comprehensively, it is important to improve their mathematical thinking and tech-
nical ability in solving mathematical problems.
An excellent student should be able to think flexibly and rigorously. Here the
ability to do formal logic reasoning is an important basic component. However, it
is not the main one. Mathematical thinking also includes other key aspects, like
starting from intuition and entering the essence of the subject, through prediction,
induction, imagination, construction, design and their creative abilities. Moreover,
the ability to convert concrete to the abstract and vice versa is necessary.
Technical ability in solving mathematical problems does not only involve pro-
ducing accurate and skilled computations and proofs, the standard methods avail-
able, but also the more unconventional, creative techniques.
It is clear that the usual syllabus in mathematical educations cannot satisfy
the above requirements, hence the mathematical olympiad training books must be
self-contained basically.

The book is based on the lecture notes used by the editor in the last 15 years for
Olympiad training courses in several schools in Singapore, like Victoria Junior
College, Hwa Chong Institution, Nanyang Girls High School and Dunman High
School. Its scope and depth significantly exceeds that of the usual syllabus, and
introduces many concepts and methods of modern mathematics.
The core of each lecture are the concepts, theories and methods of solving
mathematical problems. Examples are then used to explain and enrich the lectures,
and indicate their applications. And from that, a number of questions are included
for the reader to try. Detailed solutions are provided in the book.
The examples given are not very complicated so that the readers can under-
stand them more easily. However, the practice questions include many from actual

v
 vi Preface

competitions which students can use to test themselves. These are taken from a
range of countries, e.g. China, Russia, the USA and Singapore. In particular, there
are many questions from China for those who wish to better understand mathe-
matical Olympiads there. The questions are divided into two parts. Those in Part
A are for students to practise, while those in Part B test students’ ability to apply
their knowledge in solving real competition questions.
Each volume can be used for training courses of several weeks with a few
hours per week. The test questions are not considered part of the lectures, since
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students can complete them on their own.

K. K. Phua
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 Acknowledgments
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My thanks to Professor Lee Peng Yee for suggesting the publication of this the
book and to Professor Phua Kok Khoo for his strong support. I would also like to
thank my friends, Ang Lai Chiang, Rong Yifei and Gwee Hwee Ngee, lecturers at
HwaChong, Tan Chik Leng at NYGH, and Zhang Ji, the editor at WSPC for her
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careful reading of my manuscript, and their helpful suggestions. This book would
be not published today without their efficient assistance.

vii
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 Abbreviations and Notations
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Abbreviations
AHSME American High School Mathematics Examination
AIME American Invitational Mathematics Examination
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APMO Asia Pacific Mathematics Olympiad

ASUMO Olympics Mathematical Competitions of All
the Soviet Union
BMO British Mathematical Olympiad
CHNMOL China Mathematical Competition for Secondary
Schools
CHNMOL(P) China Mathematical Competition for Primary
Schools
CHINA China Mathematical Competitions for Secondary
Schools except for CHNMOL
CMO Canada Mathematical Olympiad
HUNGARY Hungary Mathematical Competition
IMO International Mathematical Olympiad
IREMO Ireland Mathematical Olympiad
KIEV Kiev Mathematical Olympiad
MOSCOW Moscow Mathematical Olympiad
POLAND Poland Mathematical Olympiad
PUTNAM Putnam Mathematical Competition
RUSMO All-Russia Olympics Mathematical Competitions
SSSMO Singapore Secondary Schools Mathematical Olympiads
SMO Singapore Mathematical Olympiads
SSSMO(J) Singapore Secondary Schools Mathematical Olympiads
for Junior Section
SWE Sweden Mathematical Olympiads

ix
 x Abbreviations and Notations

USAMO United States of American Mathematical Olympiad

USSR Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
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Notations for Numbers, Sets and Logic Relations

N the set of positive integers (natural numbers)

N0 the set of non-negative integers
Z the set of integers
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Z+ the set of positive integers

Q the set of rational numbers
Q+ the set of positive rational numbers
Q+0 the set of non-negative rational numbers
R the set of real numbers
[m, n] the lowest common multiple of the integers m and n
(m, n) the greatest common devisor of the integers m and n
a|b a divides b
|x| absolute value of x
bxc the greatest integer not greater than x
dxe the least integer not less than x
{x} the decimal part of x, i.e. {x} = x − bxc
a ≡ b (mod c) a is congruent to b modulo c
¡n¢
k the binomial coefficient n choose k
n! n factorial, equal to the product 1 · 2 · 3 · n
[a, b] the closed interval, i.e. all x such that a ≤ x ≤ b
(a, b) the open interval, i.e. all x such that a < x < b
⇔ iff, if and only if
⇒ implies
A⊂B A is a subset of B
A−B the set formed by all the elements in A but not in B
A∪B the union of the sets A and B
A∩B the intersection of the sets A and B
a∈A the element a belongs to the set A
 Contents
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Preface v

Acknowledgments vii
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Abbreviations and Notations ix

16 Quadratic Surd Expressions and Their Operations 1

p √
17 Compound Quadratic Surd Form a ± b 7

18 Congruence of Integers 13

19 Decimal Representation of Integers 19

20 Perfect Square Numbers 25

21 Pigeonhole Principle 31

22 bxc and {x} 37

23 Diophantine Equations (I) 45

24 Roots and Discriminant of Quadratic Equation ax2 + bx + c = 0 53

25 Relation between Roots and Coefficients of Quadratic Equations 61

26 Diophantine Equations (II) 69

27 Linear Inequality and System of Linear Inequalities 77

28 Quadratic Inequalities and Fractional Inequalities 83

xi
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xii

30
29

Index
Geometric Inequalities

Solutions to Testing Questions

Inequalities with Absolute Values
Contents

177
103
95
89