French Mathematical Olympiad 1986

1. Let ABCD be a tetrahedron.

(a) Prove that the midpoints of the edges AB, AC, BD, and CD lie in a plane.
(b) Find the point in that plane, whose sum of distances from the lines AD and
BC is minimal.
2. Points A, B, C, and M are given in the plane.
(a) Let D be the point in the plane such that DA ≤ CA and DB ≤ CB. Prove
that there exists point N satisfying NA ≤ MA, NB ≤ MB, and ND ≤ MC.
(b) Let A′ , B′ , C′ be the points in the plane such that A′ B′ ≤ AB, A′C′ ≤ AC,
B′C′ ≤ BC. Does there exist point M ′ which satisfies the inequalities
M ′ A′ ≤ MA, M ′ B′ ≤ MB, M ′C′ ≤ MC?
3. (a) Prove or find a counter-example: For every two complex numbers z, w the
following inequality holds:

|z| + |w| ≤ |z + w| + |z − w|.

(b) Prove that for all z1 , z2 , z3 , z4 ∈ C:

4
∑ |zk | ≤ ∑ |zi + z j |.
k=1 1≤i< j≤4

4. For every sequence {an } (n ∈ N) we define the sequences {∆an} and {∆2 an } by
the following formulas:

∆an = an+1 − an,

∆2 a n = ∆an+1 − ∆an .

Further, for all n ∈ N for which ∆a2n 6= 0, define

∆an )2
a′n = an − .
∆2 a n

(a) For which sequences {an } is the sequence {∆2 an } constant?

(b) Find all sequences {an }, for which the numbers a′n are defined for all n ∈ N
and for which the sequence {a′n } is constant.
(c) Assume that the sequence {an } converges to a = 0, and an 6= a for all n ∈ N
−a
} converges to λ 6= 1.
a
and the sequence { an+1
n −a

i. Prove that λ ∈ [−1, 1).

ii. Prove that there exists n0 ∈ N such that for all integers n ≥ n0 we have
∆2 an 6= 0.

The IMO Compendium Group,

D. Djukić, V. Janković, I. Matić, N. Petrović
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 ′
iii. Let λ 6= 0. For which k ∈ Z+ the sequence { aan is not convergent?
n+k
iv. Let λ = 0. Prove that the sequences {a′n /an } and {a′n /an+1} converge
to 0. Find an example of {an } for which the sequence {a′n /an+2} has
a non-zero limit.
(d) What happens with part (c) if we remove the condition a = 0?
5. The functions f , g : [0, 1] → R are given with the formulas
√
f (x) = 4 1 − x, g(x) = f ( f (x)),

and c denotes any solution of x = f (x).

(a) i. Analyze the function f (x) and draw its graph. Prove that the equation
f (x) = x has the unique root c satisfying c ∈ [0.72, 0.73].
ii. Analyze the function f ′ (x). Let M1 and M2 be the points of the graph
of f (x) with different x coordinates. What is the positin of the arc of
M1 M2 of the graph with respect to the segment M1 M2 ?
iii. Analyze the function g(x) and draw its graph. What is the position of
that graph with respect to the line y = x? Find the tangents to the graph
at points with x coordinates 0 and 1.
iv. Prove that every sequence {an } with the conditions a1 ∈ (0, 1) and
an+1 = f (an ) for n ∈ N converges. (consider the sequences {a2n−1},
{a2n } (n ∈ N and teh function g(x) associated with the graph).
(b) On the graph of the function f (x) consider the points M and M ′ with x
coordinates x and f (x), where x 6= c.
i. Prove that the line MM ′ intersects with the line y = x at point with x
coordinate
( f (x) − x)2
h(x) = x − .
g(x) + x − 2 f (x)
ii. Prove that if x ∈ (0, c) then h(x) ∈ (x, c).
iii. Analyze whether the sequence {an } satisfying a1 ∈ n(0, c), aon+1 =
a −c
h(an ) for n ∈ N converges. Prove that the sequence n+1an −c con-
verges and find its limit.
(c) Assume that the calculator approximates every number b ∈ [−2, 2] by num-
ber e
b having p decimal digits after the decimal point. We are performing
the following sequence of operations on that calculator:
1) Set a = 0.72;
2) Calculate δ (a) = fg
(a) − a;
g and go to the operation 2)
3) If |δ (a)| > 0.5 · 10−p, then calculate h(a)
g
using h(a) instead of a;
4) If |δ (a)| ≤ 0.5 · 10−p, finish the calculation.

The IMO Compendium Group,

D. Djukić, V. Janković, I. Matić, N. Petrović
www.imomath.com
 g Assuming that for each
Let c̄ be the last of calculated values for h(a).
g
x ∈ [0.72, 0.73] we have | f (x) − f (x)| < ε , determine δ (c̄), the accuracy
(depending on ε ) of the approximation of c with c̄.
(d) Assume that the sequence {an } satisfies a1 = 0.72 and an+1 = f (an ) for
n ∈ N. Find the smallest n0 ∈ N, such that for every n ≥ n0 we have |an −
c| < 10−6 .

The IMO Compendium Group,

D. Djukić, V. Janković, I. Matić, N. Petrović
www.imomath.com