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1.
Find all triangles whose side lengths are consecutive integers, and one of
whose angles is twice another.
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Solution Let the sides be a, a+1,
a+2, the angle oppose a be A, the angle opposite a+1 be B, and the angle
opposite a+2 be C.
Using the cosine rule, we find cos A = (a+5)/(2a+4), cos B = (a+1)/2a, cos
C = (a-3)/2a. Finally, using cos 2x = 2 cos2x - 1, we find
solutions a = 4 for C = 2A, a = 1 for B = 2A, and no solutions for C = 2B.
a = 1 is a degenerate solution (the triangle has the three vertices
collinear). The other solution is 4, 5, 6.
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2.
Find all natural numbers n the product of whose decimal digits is n2
- 10n - 22.
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Solution Suppose n has m > 1 digits. Let the first digit
be d. Then the product of the digits is at most d.9m-1 < d.10m-1
<= n. But (n2 - 11n - 22) - n = n(n - 11) - 22 >= 0 for n
>= 13. So there are no solutions for n > = 13. But n2 -
10n - 22 < 0 for n <= 11, so the only possible solution is n=12 and
indeed that is a solution.
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3.
a, b, c are real with a non-zero. x1, x2, ... , xn
satisfy the n equations:
axi2 + bxi
+ c = xi+1, for 1 <= i < n
axn2 + bxn
+ c = x1
Prove that the system has zero, 1 or >1 real solutions according as
(b - 1)2 - 4ac is <0, =0 or >0.
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Solution Let f(x) = ax2
+ bx + c - x. Then f(x)/a = (x + (b-1)/2a)2 + (4ac - (b-1)2)/4a2.
Hence if 4ac - (b-1)2 > 0, then f(x) has the same sign for
all x. But f(x) > 0 means ax2 + bx + c > x, so if {xi}
is a solution, then either x1 < x2 < ... < xn
< x1, or x1 > x2 > ... > xn
> x1. Either way we have a contradiction. So if 4ac - (b-1)2
> 0 there cannot be any solutions.
If 4ac - (b-1)2 = 0, then we can argue in the same way that
either x1 <= x2 <= ... <= xn
<= x1, or x1 >= x2 >= ... >= xn
>= x1. So we must have all xi = the single root of
f(x) = 0 (which clearly is a solution).
If 4ac - (b-1)2 < 0, then f(x) = 0 has two distinct real
roots y and z and so we have at least two solutions to the equations: all xi
=y, and all xi = z. We may, however, have additional solutions.
For example, if a = 1, b = 0, c = -1 and n is even, then we have the
additional solution x1 = x3 = x5 = ... =
0, x2 = x4 = ... = -1.
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4.
Prove that every tetrahedron has a vertex whose three edges have the right
lengths to form a triangle.
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Solution The trick is to consider
the longest side. That avoids getting into lots of different possible cases
for which edge is longer than the sum of the other two.
So assume the result is false and let AB be the longest side. Then we have
AB > AC + AD and BA > BC + BD. So 2AB > AC + AD + BC + BC. But by
the triangle inequality, AB < AC + CB, AB < AD + DB, so 2AB < AC +
CB + AD + DB. Contradiction.
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5.
Let f be a real-valued function defined for all real numbers, such that for
some a > 0 we have
f(x + a) = 1/2 + Ö(f(x) - f(x)2)
for all x.
Prove that f is periodic, and give an example of such a non-constant f for a
= 1.
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Solution Directly from the
equality given: f(x+a) >= 1/2 for all x, and hence f(x) >= 1/2 for
all x. So f(x+2a) = 1/2 + Ö(f(x+a) - f(x+a)2) = 1/2 + Ö(f(x+a) (1 - f(x+a)) =
1/2 + Ö(1/4 - f(x) + f(x)2) = 1/2 + (f(x) - 1/2) = f(x). So
f is periodic with period 2a.
We may take f(x) to be arbitary in the interval [0,1). For example, let
f(x) = 1 for 0 <= x < 1, f(x) = 1/2 for 1 <= x < 2. Then use
f(x+2) = f(x) to define f(x) for all other values of x.
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6.
For every natural number n evaluate the sum
[(n+1)/2] + [(n+2)/4] + [(n+4)/8] + ... + [(n+2k)/2k+1]
+ ... , where [x] denotes the greatest integer <= x.
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Solution For any real x we have [x] =
[x/2] + [(x+1]/2]. For if x = 2n + 1 + k, where n is an integer and 0 <=
k < 1, then lhs = 2n + 1, and rhs = n + n + 1. Similarly, if x = 2n + k.
Hence for any integer n, we have: [n/2k] - [n/2k+1] =
[(n/2k + 1)/2] = [(n + 2k)/2k+1]. Hence
summing over k, and using the fact that n < 2k for
sufficiently large k, so that [n/2k ] = 0, we have: n = [(n +
1)/2] + [(n + 2)/4] + [(n + 4)/8] + ... .
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摘自:数学人
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