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Competitive Problem Set

This document contains a problem set covering topics in algebra, number theory, proof-based problems, and other areas of mathematics. There are over 30 multi-part problems presented across seven sections dealing with concepts like congruences, quadratic residues, functions, proofs involving trigonometric functions and geometry, and number fields.

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abadasarah03
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13 views

Competitive Problem Set

This document contains a problem set covering topics in algebra, number theory, proof-based problems, and other areas of mathematics. There are over 30 multi-part problems presented across seven sections dealing with concepts like congruences, quadratic residues, functions, proofs involving trigonometric functions and geometry, and number fields.

Uploaded by

abadasarah03
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Competitive Problem Set

Lisgar Math Club

2021/2022

Section One: Algebra

1. Solve for all values of x in the following problems.


(a) x + 3 = 2x − 8
x
(b) 3 +7≤0
(c) |x − 3| + |2x + 2| = 3
(d) |2x − 6| + |3x − 4| ≤ |x| + 7
(e) x2 − 10x + 25 = 0
(f) x(x + 1) − (x + 2)(x − 1) = (x − 3)2

2. Fully factor the following expressions.


(a) x2 + 3x − 18
(b) x4 − 2x3 − 83x2 + 84x + 1764 if we know (x + 6) is a factor.
(c) 2x − 3x

3. Graph f (x) = x2 − sin x (Note all I’m looking for is a sketch with x
intercepts and y intercepts labelled, it is totally ok to just estimate the
graph with a table of values as it is a difficult to function to graph)
4. Suppose f satisfies f (x + y) = f (x) + f (y) for all x and y.
(a) Prove that f (x1 + x2 + ... + xn ) = f (x1 ) + f (x2 ) + ... + f (xn )
(b) Prove that there exists some number c such that f (x) = cx for all
rational numbers x.
5. For what values of a, b, c, d does
ax + b
f (x) =
cx + d
such that f (f (x)) = x for all x ̸= −d/c

1
Section Two: Number Theory

Definition: Let n ∈ Z+ . Define a relation ” ≡ ”on Z by a ≡ b (mod n) iff


(if and only if) n|a − b for all a, b ∈ Z .
What this is saying is that two numbers a and b are congruent modulo n if
and only if n divides a − b, or in other words, the remained when n is divided
by a is the same as when it is divided by b.

1. Are the following true or false?

(a) 3 ≡ 8 (mod 5).


(b) n ≡ −n (mod 7).
(c) n ≡ −n (mod 2n).
(d) 17 ≡ 13 (mod 7)
2. The following are properties of mod.

(a) If a ≡ b (mod n), then a + kn ≡ b (mod n), for k ∈ Z.


(b) If a ≡ b (mod n) and c ≡ d (mod n), then a + c ≡ b + d (mod n).

(c) a · b (mod c) = a (mod c) · b (mod c) .
3. Generally, an integer a is a quadratic residue modulo p if it is congruent
to a perfect square mod p.
(a) Show that 8 is not a quadratic residue mod 19.
(b) Find all quadratic residues mod 7.
p+1
(c) Prove that for any prime p, there are 2 quadratic residues mod p.
(d) When is 17 a quadratic residue mod p?
(e) When is 6 a quadratic residue mod p? Why is this problem harder
than the last?
4. Find the roots x2 ≡ 11 (mod 2017).

5. Find values of x and y as natural numbers such that 10x2 + 7 = 18x + 11y .
6. Given a triangle ABC, with sides a, b, c such that a is opposite to A, b is
opposite to B and c is opposite to C; prove that:
aA + bB + cC
60 ≤ < 90
a+b+c

2
Section 3: Proof Based Problems

1. An odd function satisfies f (−x) = −f (x), while an even function satisfies


f (−x) = f (x).
x+1
(a) Write x−1 as the sum of an odd and even function.
(b) Show that any function can be written as the sum of an odd and
even function.
2. (a) Show that Asin(x + B) can be expressed as asin x + bcos x for some
a and b. Also find the value of A and B in terms of a and b.
(b) Graph the function:
√
f (x) = 3sin x + cos x.

3. Let us define arcsin(x) as the inverse of sin(x), that is arcsin(sin(x)) = x


and vice versa. Prove that
p p
arcsin(a) + arcsin(b) = arcsin(a 1 − b2 + b 1 − a2 )

For −π/2 < arcsin a + arcsin b < π/2.


4. A knot is defined as a closed, non-self-intersecting curve that is embedded
in three dimensions and cannot be untangled to produce a simple loop.
In other words, if i have a string that I loop around such that every
time the string over itself there is an over-crossing and and under-
crossing then I merge the two ends of the string together such that I
cannot untangle the knot, that is a knot (feel free to look on the internet
to clarify what a knot is in a mathematical sense). Prove that no matter
how you cut a knot into two parts and connect the edges of the string (see
diagram), if it can be wrapped around a donut (torus) then one part will be
untangleable. (Notice how in the diagram the right piece is untangleable)

3
5. (a) If on a circle, 3 point on the circumference are chosen at random,
what is the probability of the triangle created by connecting them
including the origin in its area?
(b) On an n-dimensional sphere, if n + 1 points are selected at random
on it’s surface, what is the probability of the origin being in the shape
formed by connecting those points in that n-space? (Note that this
should come directly from part one)
6. Consider the unit circle, with B(1, 0) and A in the first quadrant. Extend
OA to C such that CB is perpendicular on the x-axis.
(a) Consider triangles OAB and OCB, prove that if 0 < x < π/4, then
sinx < x < tanx
(b) Using the previous problem, conclude that

sinx
cosx < <1
x
sinx
and prove that as x approaches zero, x equals one.
(c) Use this to find as x approaches zero the value of:
1 − cosx
x
√
7. Notice that 13 = (2 − 3i)(2 + 3i) where i = −1. √ We call the complex
numbers a quadratic field with discriminant of D = −1 and numbers of
the form a + bD, where and and b are real numbers. In general we define
a field of degree n as follows: for a degree n, a polynomial P (x) with
degree n with discriminant d. We build a field as follows with addition
and multiplication remaining the same.
n
X
F = ai · di
i=0

(a) Show that any prime P in the real numbers that is congruent to one
modulo four will have a decomposition similar to that of 13 in the
complex numbers.
(b) Find a general form of prime that split under a quadratic field with
discriminant d. ie find g satisfying Ps = g(a, b) where the field is
defined by a + bd.
(c) We call a prime P ramified in a quadratic field if P satisfies: P =
u(a + bd)2 , where u is a unit of the field (namely, 1, -1, d, -d). Find
all ramified P in (a) the complex numbers, (b) any quadratic field.

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