2015 NZMO Olympiad Division

SOLUTIONS
There were several different ways of doing most of our questions, and the following solutions
are only some of them.
If you have any questions about the questions or the solutions, please dont hesitate to email us
at nzmosa@outlook.com, or ask your teacher. The biggest thing you should try to take away
is an improved array of maths skills.
O1. Prove the following inequality:
n 
Y
1+
i=1

1
> 3 3n + 1
3i 2

Solution 1 mathematical induction:

The base case is trivial: if n = 1,
1+

1
3
3
= 2 = 8 > 3 3 1 + 1 = 4.
312

Suppose the inequality holds when n = j, for some positive integer j. Then
j 
Y
i=1


p
1
1+
> 3 3j + 1
3i 2

We will show that the inequality also holds for n = j + 1.

j+1 
Y
i=1


1
1+
=
3i 2
>

j 
Y
i=1

p
3

1
1+
3i 2

3j + 1

!

3j + 2
3j + 1

3j + 2
3j + 1

3j + 2
= p
3
(3j + 1)2
It now suffices to prove the following claim:
Claim:
p
3j + 2
3
p
>
3j + 4
3
2
(3j + 1)
Proof: According to the AM-GM inequality,
3j + 2 =

(3j + 4) + (3j + 1) + (3j + 1) p

> 3 (3j + 4)(3j + 1)2 .
3

Rearranging, this gives us

p
3j + 2
3
p
>
3j + 4
3
2
(3j + 1)
This proves our claim.
1

This completes the inductive step, and thus the proof is complete.
Solution 2 (Xuzhi Zhang, Year 13, Auckland Grammar School):
First, cube both sides of the inequality:
n 
Y

1
1+
> 3 3n + 1
3i 2
i=1
3
n 
Y
1

> 3n + 1
1+
3i 2
i=1

n
Y
(3i 1)3
i=1

Then, multiply both sides by

Qn

i=1 (3i2)

n
Y
(3i 1)3
i=1

(3i 2)2

(3i 2)3

> 3n + 1

in order to include 3n+1 in the product notation:

n
Y
> (3n + 1) (3i 2)
i=1

= (3n + 1) (1)(4)(7) (3n 5)(3n 2)

= (4)(7) (3n 5)(3n 2)(3n + 1)
n
Y
=
(3i + 1)
i=1

Therefore, it suffices to show, for all i = 1, 2, . . . , n,

(3i 1)3
> 3i + 1.
(3i 2)2
This is the result of the AM-GM inequality, as in the claim in the previous solution:
(3i + 1) + (3i 1) + (3i 1) p
> 3 (3i + 1)(3i 2)2
3
(3i 1)3 > (3i + 1)(3i 2)2
(3i 1)3

> 3i + 1.
(3i 2)2
3i 1 =

The result follows as described above.


O2. Suppose that a, b, c,

a b c
+ +
b c a


and

a c b
+ +
c b a


are all positive integers. Prove that

a = b = c.
If gcd(a, b, c) 6= 1, we can simplify ab + cb + ac and ac + cb + ab to obtain equivalent expressions.
Therefore, we can assume, without loss of generality, that gcd(a, b, c) = 1.
We first prove a claim, from which the result will follow easily:
Claim: If gcd(a, b, c) = 1, a, b and c are pairwise co-prime (that is, gcd(a, b) =
gcd(b, c) = gcd(c, a) = 1).
Proof: Without loss of generality, suppose p is a prime and n is a positive integer
such that p - a (p does not divide a) and pn || gcd(b, c) (pn maximally divides
gcd(b, c); that is, pn | gcd(b, c) but pn+1 - gcd(b, c)).
Let b = b0 pn , c = c0 pn (p - gcd(b0 , c0 )). Then,
a b c
a
a2 c0 + ab20 pn + b0 c20 pn
b0 c 0 p n
+ + =
+
=
+
b c a
b0 p n c 0
a
ab0 c0 pn
We are given that this quantity is an integer, which means that pn | a2 c0 (because
the last two terms of the numerator are divisible by pn anyway). Since p - a,
this forces pn | c0 .
a2 b0 + ac20 pn + c0 b20 pn
a c b
, we get pn b0 .
Similarly, using + + =
n
c b a
ab0 c0 p
However, this is a contradiction, because pn divides both b0 and c0 , when we
initially assumed that p - gcd(b0 , c0 ).
Therefore, there is no such p such that p - a, pn || gcd(b, c), hence gcd(b, c) = 1.
Similarly, gcd(a, b) = 1 and gcd(c, a) = 1, so a, b, c are pairwise co-prime.
Now consider

a2 c + b 2 a + c 2 b
a b c
+ + =
.
b c a
abc
Since c must divide (a2 c + b2 a + c2 b), c must divide b2 a.
By the claim above, c has no common prime factors with b nor a, so c = 1. Similarly, b = 1
and a = 1. Therefore, a = b = c.

O3. From the sides of a triangle ABC, draw triangles BP C, QAC and ARB such that none
of these triangles overlap triangle ABC.
Suppose P BC = CAQ = 45 , BCP = QCA = 30 , and ABR = BAR = 15 .
Diagram:
A

P
(a) Prove that lines QR and RP are perpendicular. [3 marks]
Tackling this problem requires taking a risk and doing something rather unusual: we
will draw an equilateral triangle with one side as side AB. In other words, let X be
a point outside 4ABC such that 4XAB is an equilateral triangle.
A

P
The motivation behind this is that drawing this equilateral triangle creates some
similar triangles. Since 4RAB is an isosceles triangle, XR is the angle bisector of
BXA, so BXR = RXA = 30 , and RBX = RAX = 45 . This means that
triangles RBX, RAX, P BC and QAC have the same angles; hence, they are similar.
Since 4RAX 4QAC, the side ratios are equal. In particular,
RA
QA
=
,
AX
AC
which rearranges to
RA
AX
=
.
QA
AC
4

Also note that XAC = 60 +BAC = 15 +BAC +45 = RAQ. These together
imply that triangles RAQ and XAC are similar (SAS similarity). Similarly, triangles
RBP and XBC are similar.
Part (a) follows quickly from here. AXR = BXR = 30 , so ARQ = BRP =
30 . Finally, ARB = 150 , so P RQ = ARQ BRP = 150 2 30 = 90 .
Thus lines QR and RP are perpendicular.
(b) Prove that line segments QR and RP have the same length. [4 marks]
This part also follows quickly from part (a). To transform 4XAC to 4RAQ, the
AR
scale factor is s1 = AX
. Similarly, the scale factor for triangles XBC and RBP is
BR
s2 = BX .
Note, however, that AR = BR and AX = BX, so s1 = s2 . The same scale factors
map the lengths of side XC to both QR and P R. Therefore,
QR =

XC
XC
=
= P R.
s1
s2

The two line segments have the same length.