IMO Shortlist 1990

1 The integer 9 can be written as a sum of two consecutive integers: 9 = 4 + 5. Moreover, it

can be written as a sum of (more than one) consecutive positive integers in exactly two ways:
9 = 4 + 5 = 2 + 3 + 4. Is there an integer that can be written as a sum of 1990 consecutive
integers and that can be written as a sum of (more than one) consecutive positive integers in
exactly 1990 ways?
2 Given n countries with three representatives each, m committees A(1), A(2), . . . , A(m) are
called a cycle if
(i) each committee has n members, one from each country; (ii) no two committees have the
same membership; (iii) for i = 1, 2, . . . , m, committee A(i) and committee A(i + 1) have no
member in common, where A(m+1) denotes A(1); (iv) if 1 < |i−j| < m−1, then committees
A(i) and A(j) have at least one member in common.
Is it possible to have a cycle of 1990 committees with 11 countries?
3 Let n ≥ 3 and consider a set E of 2n − 1 distinct points on a circle. Suppose that exactly k
of these points are to be colored black. Such a coloring is good if there is at least one pair of
black points such that the interior of one of the arcs between them contains exactly n points
from E. Find the smallest value of k so that every such coloring of k points of E is good.
4 Assume that the set of all positive integers is decomposed into r (disjoint) subsets A1 ∪A2 ∪. . .∪
Ar = N. Prove that one of them, say Ai , has the following property: There exists a positive
m such that for any k one can find numbers a1 , a2 , . . . , ak in Ai with 0 < aj+1 − aj ≤ m,
(1 ≤ j ≤ k − 1).
5 Given a triangle ABC. Let G, I, H be the centroid, the incenter and the orthocenter of
triangle ABC, respectively. Prove that ∠GIH > 90◦ .
6 Given an initial integer n0 > 1, two players, A and B, choose integers n1 , n2 , n3 , . . . alternately
according to the following rules :
I.) Knowing n2k , A chooses any integer n2k+1 such that
n2k ≤ n2k+1 ≤ n22k .
II.) Knowing n2k+1 , B chooses any integer n2k+2 such that
n2k+1
n2k+2
is a prime raised to a positive integer power.
Player A wins the game by choosing the number 1990; player B wins by choosing the number
1. For which n0 does :
a.) A have a winning strategy? b.) B have a winning strategy? c.) Neither player have a
winning strategy?

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 IMO Shortlist 1990

7 Let f (0) = f (1) = 0 and

2
f (n + 2) = 4n+2 · f (n + 1) − 16n+1 · f (n) + n · 2n , n = 0, 1, 2, . . .

Show that the numbers f (1989), f (1990), f (1991) are divisible by 13.

8 For a given positive integer k denote the square of the sum of its digits by f1 (k) and let
fn+1 (k) = f1 (fn (k)). Determine the value of f1991 (21990 ).

9 The incenter of the triangle ABC is K. The midpoint of AB is C1 and that of AC is B1 . The
lines C1 K and AC meet at B2 , the lines B1 K and AB at C2 . If the areas of the triangles
AB2 C2 and ABC are equal, what is the measure of angle ∠CAB?

10 A plane cuts a right circular cone of volume V into two parts. The plane is tangent to the
circumference of the base of the cone and passes through the midpoint of the altitude. Find
the volume of the smaller part.
Original formulation:
A plane cuts a right circular cone into two parts. The plane is tangent to the circumference
of the base of the cone and passes through the midpoint of the altitude. Find the ratio of the
volume of the smaller part to the volume of the whole cone.

11 Chords AB and CD of a circle intersect at a point E inside the circle. Let M be an interior
point of the segment EB. The tangent line at E to the circle through D, E, and M intersects
the lines BC and AC at F and G, respectively. If
AM
= t,
AB
EG
find EF in terms of t.

12 Let ABC be a triangle, and let the angle bisectors of its angles CAB and ABC meet the
sides BC and CA at the points D and F , respectively. The lines AD and BF meet the
line through the point C parallel to AB at the points E and G respectively, and we have
F G = DE. Prove that CA = CB.
Original formulation:
Let ABC be a triangle and L the line through C parallel to the side AB. Let the internal
bisector of the angle at A meet the side BC at D and the line L at E and let the internal
bisector of the angle at B meet the side AC at F and the line L at G. If GF = DE, prove
that AC = BC.

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 IMO Shortlist 1990

13 An eccentric mathematician has a ladder with n rungs that he always ascends and descends
in the following way: When he ascends, each step he takes covers a rungs of the ladder, and
when he descends, each step he takes covers b rungs of the ladder, where a and b are fixed
positive integers. By a sequence of ascending and descending steps he can climb from ground
level to the top rung of the ladder and come back down to ground level again. Find, with
proof, the minimum value of n, expressed in terms of a and b.
14 In the coordinate plane a rectangle with vertices (0, 0), (m, 0), (0, n), (m, n) is given where
both m and n are odd integers. The rectangle is partitioned into triangles in such a way that
(i) each triangle in the partition has at least one side (to be called a good side) that lies on a
line of the form x = j or y = k, where j and k are integers, and the altitude on this side has
length 1;
(ii) each bad side (i.e., a side of any triangle in the partition that is not a good one) is a
common side of two triangles in the partition.
Prove that there exist at least two triangles in the partition each of which has two good sides.
15 Determine for which positive integers k the set
X = {1990, 1990 + 1, 1990 + 2, . . . , 1990 + k}
can be partitioned into two disjoint subsets A and B such that the sum of the elements of A
is equal to the sum of the elements of B.
16 Prove that there exists a convex 1990-gon with the following two properties :
a.) All angles are equal. b.) The lengths of the 1990 sides are the numbers 12 , 22 , 32 , · · · ,
19902 in some order.
17 Unit cubes are made into beads by drilling a hole through them along a diagonal. The beads
are put on a string in such a way that they can move freely in space under the restriction
that the vertices of two neighboring cubes are touching. Let A be the beginning vertex and
B be the end vertex. Let there be p × q × r cubes on the string (p, q, r ≥ 1).
(a) Determine for which values of p, q, and r it is possible to build a block with dimensions
p, q, and r. Give reasons for your answers. (b) The same question as (a) with the extra
condition that A = B.
18 Let a, b ∈ N with 1 ≤ a ≤ b, and M = a+b
 
2 . Define a function f : Z 7→ Z by
(
n + a, if n ≤ M,
f (n) =
n − b, if n ≥ M.

Let f 1 (n) = f (n), fi+1 (n) = f (f i (n)), i = 1, 2, . . . Find the smallest natural number k such
that f k (0) = 0.

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 IMO Shortlist 1990

19 Let P be a point inside a regular tetrahedron T of unit volume. The four planes passing
through P and parallel to the faces of T partition T into 14 pieces. Let f (P ) be the joint
volume of those pieces that are neither a tetrahedron nor a parallelepiped (i.e., pieces adjacent
to an edge but not to a vertex). Find the exact bounds for f (P ) as P varies over T.

20 Prove that every integer k greater than 1 has a multiple that is less than k 4 and can be
written in the decimal system with at most four different digits.

21 Let n be a composite natural number and p a proper divisor of n. Find the binary represen-
tation of the smallest natural number N such that

(1 + 2p + 2n−p )N − 1
2n
is an integer.

22 Ten localities are served by two international airlines such that there exists a direct service
(without stops) between any two of these localities and all airline schedules offer round-trip
service between the cities they serve. Prove that at least one of the airlines can offer two
disjoint round trips each containing an odd number of landings.

23 Determine all integers n > 1 such that

2n + 1
n2
is an integer.
w3
24 Let w, x, y, z are non-negative reals such that wx + xy + yz + zw = 1. Show that x+y+z +
x3 y3 z3 1
w+y+z + w+x+z + w+x+y ≥ 3.

25 Let Q+ be the set of positive rational numbers. Construct a function f : Q+ → Q+ such that

f (x)
f (xf (y)) =
y

for all x, y in Q+ .

26 Let p(x) be a cubic polynomial with rational coefficients. q1 , q2 , q3 , ... is a sequence of

rationals such that qn = p(qn+1 ) for all positive n. Show that for some k, we have qn+k = qn
for all positive n.

27 Find all natural numbers n for which every natural number whose decimal representation has
n − 1 digits 1 and one digit 7 is prime.

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 IMO Shortlist 1990

28 Prove that on the coordinate plane it is impossible to draw a closed broken line such that
(i) the coordinates of each vertex are rational; (ii) the length each of its edges is 1; (iii) the
line has an odd number of vertices.

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