IMO Shortlist 1991

1 Given a point P inside a triangle 4ABC. Let D, E, F be the orthogonal projections of the
point P on the sides BC, CA, AB, respectively. Let the orthogonal projections of the point
A on the lines BP and CP be M and N , respectively. Prove that the lines M E, N F , BC
are concurrent.
Original formulation:
Let ABC be any triangle and P any point in its interior. Let P1 , P2 be the feet of the
perpendiculars from P to the two sides AC and BC. Draw AP and BP, and from C drop
perpendiculars to AP and BP. Let Q1 and Q2 be the feet of these perpendiculars. Prove that
the lines Q1 P2 , Q2 P1 , and AB are concurrent.

2 ABC is an acute-angled triangle. M is the midpoint of BC and P is the point on AM such

that M B = M P . H is the foot of the perpendicular from P to BC. The lines through H
perpendicular to P B, P C meet AB, AC respectively at Q, R. Show that BC is tangent to
the circle through Q, H, R at H.
Original Formulation:
For an acute triangle ABC, M is the midpoint of the segment BC, P is a point on the segment
AM such that P M = BM, H is the foot of the perpendicular line from P to BC, Q is the
point of intersection of segment AB and the line passing through H that is perpendicular to
P B, and finally, R is the point of intersection of the segment AC and the line passing through
H that is perpendicular to P C. Show that the circumcircle of QHR is tangent to the side
BC at point H.

3 Let S be any point on the circumscribed circle of P QR. Then the feet of the perpendiculars
from S to the three sides of the triangle lie on the same straight line. Denote this line by
l(S, P QR). Suppose that the hexagon ABCDEF is inscribed in a circle. Show that the four
lines l(A, BDF ), l(B, ACE), l(D, ABF ), and l(E, ABC) intersect at one point if and only if
CDEF is a rectangle.

4 Let ABC be a triangle and P an interior point of ABC . Show that at least one of the
angles ∠P AB, ∠P BC, ∠P CA is less than or equal to 30◦ .

5 In the triangle ABC, with ∠A = 60◦ , a parallel IF to AC is drawn through the incenter
I of the triangle, where F lies on the side AB. The point P on the side BC is such that
3BP = BC. Show that ∠BF P = ∠B 2 .

7 ABCD is a terahedron: AD + BD = AC + BC, BD + CD = BA + CA, CD + AD =

CB + AB, M, N, P are the mid points of BC, CA, AB. OA = OB = OC = OD. Prove that
∠M OP = ∠N OP = ∠N OM.

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 IMO Shortlist 1991

8 S be a set of n points in the plane. No three points of S are collinear. Prove that there exists
a set P containing 2n − 5 points satisfying the following condition: In the interior of every
triangle whose three vertices are elements of S lies a point that is an element of P.
9 In the plane we are given a set E of 1991 points, and certain pairs of these points are joined
with a path. We suppose that for every point of E, there exist at least 1593 other points of
E to which it is joined by a path. Show that there exist six points of E every pair of which
are joined by a path.
Alternative version: Is it possible to find a set E of 1991 points in the plane and paths joining
certain pairs of the points in E such that every point of E is joined with a path to at least
1592 other points of E, and in every subset of six points of E there exist at least two points
that are not joined?
10 Suppose G is a connected graph with k edges. Prove that it is possible to label the edges
1, 2, . . . , k in such a way that at each vertex which belongs to two or more edges, the greatest
common divisor of the integers labeling those edges is equal to 1.
[hide=”Graph-Definition”]A graph consists of a set of points, called vertices, together with
a set of edges joining certain pairs of distinct vertices. Each pair of vertices u, v belongs to
at most one edge. The graph G is connected if for each pair of distinct vertices x, y there is
some sequence of vertices x = v0 , v1 , v2 , · · · , vm = y such that each pair vi , vi+1 (0 ≤ i < m)
is joined by an edge of G.
(−1)k 1991−k

11 Prove that 995 1
P
k=0 1991−k k = 1991

12 Let S = {1, 2, 3, · · · , 280}. Find the smallest integer n such that each n-element subset of S
contains five numbers which are pairwise relatively prime.
13 Given any integer n ≥ 2, assumeP that the integers a1 , a2 , . . . , an are not divisible by n and,
moreover, that n does not divide ni=1 ai . ProveP that there exist at least n different sequences
(e1 , e2 , . . . , en ) consisting of zeros or ones such ni=1 ei · ai is divisible by n.

14 Let a, b, c be integers and p an odd prime number. Prove that if f (x) = ax2 + bx + c is a
perfect square for 2p − 1 consecutive integer values of x, then p divides b2 − 4ac.
15 Let an be the last nonzero digit in the decimal representation of the number n!. Does the
sequence a1 , a2 , . . . , an , . . . become periodic after a finite number of terms?
16 Let n > 6 be an integer and a1 , a2 , · · · , ak be all the natural numbers less than n and
relatively prime to n. If

a2 − a1 = a3 − a2 = · · · = ak − ak−1 > 0,

prove that n must be either a prime number or a power of 2.

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 IMO Shortlist 1991

17 Find all positive integer solutions x, y, z of the equation 3x + 4y = 5z .

18 Find the highest degree k of 1991 for which 1991k divides the number
1992 1990
19901991 + 19921991 .

19 Let α be a rational number with 0 < α < 1 and cos(3πα) + 2 cos(2πα) = 0. Prove that α = 32 .

20 Let α be the positive root of the equation x2 = 1991x + 1. For natural numbers m and n
define
m ∗ n = mn + bαmcbαnc.
Prove that for all natural numbers p, q, and r,

(p ∗ q) ∗ r = p ∗ (q ∗ r).

21 Let f (x) be a monic polynomial of degree 1991 with integer coefficients. Define g(x) =
f 2 (x) − 9. Show that the number of distinct integer solutions of g(x) = 0 cannot exceed 1995.

22 Real constants a, b, c are such that there is exactly one square all of whose vertices
√ lie on the
3 2
cubic curve y = x + ax + bx + c. Prove that the square has sides of length 72. 4

23 Let f and g be two integer-valued functions defined on the set of all integers such that
(a) f (m+f (f (n))) = −f (f (m+1)−n for all integers m and n; (b) g is a polynomial function
with integer coefficients and g(n) = g(f (n)) ∀n ∈ Z.

24 An odd integer n ≥ 3 is said to be nice if and only if there is at least one permutation a1 , · · · , an
of 1, · · · , n such that the n sums a1 − a2 + a3 − · · · − an−1 + an , a2 − a3 + a3 − · · · − an + a1 ,
a3 − a4 + a5 − · · · − a1 + a2 , · · · , an − a1 + a2 − · · · − an−2 + an−1 are all positive. Determine
the set of all ‘nice’ integers.

25 Suppose that n ≥ 2 and x1 , x2 , . . . , xn are real numbers between 0 and 1 (inclusive). Prove
that for some index i between 1 and n − 1 the inequality

1
xi (1 − xi+1 ) ≥ x1 (1 − xn )
4
1
26 Let n ≥ 2, n ∈ N and let p, a1 , a2 , . . . , an , b1 , b2 , . . . , bn ∈ R satisfying 2 ≤ p ≤ 1, 0 ≤ ai ,
0 ≤ bi ≤ p, i = 1, . . . , n, and
X n X n
ai = bi .
i=1 i=1

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 IMO Shortlist 1991

Prove the inequality:

n n
X Y p
bi aj ≤ .
(n − 1)n−1
i=1 j=1,j6=i

27 Determine the maximum value of the sum

X
xi xj (xi + xj )
i<j
Pn
over all n−tuples (x1 , . . . , xn ), satisfying xi ≥ 0 and i=1 xi = 1.

28 An infinite sequence x0 , x1 , x2 , . . . of real numbers is said to be bounded if there is a constant

C such that |xi | ≤ C for every i ≥ 0. Given any real number a > 1, construct a bounded
infinite sequence x0 , x1 , x2 , . . . such that

|xi − xj ||i − j|a ≥ 1

for every pair of distinct nonnegative integers i, j.

29 We call a set S on the real line R superinvariant if for any stretching A of the set by the
transformation taking x to A(x) = x0 + a(x − x0 ), a > 0 there exists a translation B, B(x) =
x + b, such that the images of S under A and B agree; i.e., for any x ∈ S there is a y ∈ S
such that A(x) = B(y) and for any t ∈ S there is a u ∈ S such that B(t) = A(u). Determine
all superinvariant sets.

30 Two students A and B are playing the following game: Each of them writes down on a sheet
of paper a positive integer and gives the sheet to the referee. The referee writes down on a
blackboard two integers, one of which is the sum of the integers written by the players. After
that, the referee asks student A : Can you tell the integer written by the other student? If A
answers no, the referee puts the same question to student B. If B answers no, the referee puts
the question back to A, and so on. Assume that both students are intelligent and truthful.
Prove that after a finite number of questions, one of the students will answer yes.

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