2021 IMO Winter Camp Warmup Problems

Warmup Problems

Algebra
1. Let P (x) be a quadratic polynomial with complex coefficients whose x2 coefficient is 1. Sup-
pose the equation P (P (x)) = 0 has four distinct solutions, x = 3, 4, a, b. Find the sum of all
possible values of (a + b)2 .

2. Find all triples (a, b, c) of real numbers such that the following system holds:
(
a + b + c = a1 + 1b + 1c
a2 + b2 + c2 = a12 + b12 + c12

3. Let N be the set of all positive integers. Find all functions f : N → N such that
f (x) (y)
ff (z) = x + y + z + 1

for all x, y, z ∈ N.

4. Let n be a positive integer and a1 , a2 , . . . , an non-zero real numbers. What is the least number
of non-zero coefficients that the polynomial P (x) = (x − a1 )(x − a2 ) · · · (x − an ) can have?

Combinatorics
1. Let n be a positive integer. Compute the number of words w that satisfy the following three
properties.
1. w consists of n letters from the alphabet {a, b, c, d}.
2. w contains an even number of a’s
3. w contains an even number of b’s.
For example, for n = 2 there are 6 such words: aa, bb, cc, dd, cd, dc.

2. Let P be a finite set of squares on an infinite chessboard. Kelvin the Frog notes that P may
be tiled with only 1 × 2 dominoes, while Alex the Kat notes that P may be tiled with only
2 × 1 dominoes. The dominoes cannot be rotated in each tiling. Prove that the area of P is
a multiple of 4.

3. Alex the Kat and Kelvin the Frog play a game on a complete graph with n vertices. Kelvin
goes first, and the players take turns selecting either a single edge to remove from the graph, or
a single vertex to remove from the graph. Removing a vertex also removes all edges incident
to that vertex. The player who removes the final vertex wins the game. Assuming both
players play perfectly, for which positive integers n does Kelvin have a winning strategy?

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2021 IMO Winter Camp Warmup Problems
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4. A cube consisting of (2N ) unit cubes is pierced by several needles parallel to the edges of
the cube (each needle pierces exactly 2N unit cubes). Each unit cube is pierced by at least
one needle. Let us call any subset of these needles regular if there are no two needles in this
subset that pierce the same unit cube. What is the maximum size of a regular subset that
does exist for sure? (That is, for every piercing of the cube such that each unit cube is pierced
by one needle, there is a regular subset of that size.)

Geometry
1. Convex pentagon ABCDE has side lengths AB = 5, BC = CD = DE = 6, and EA = 7.
Moreover, the pentagon has an inscribed circle (a circle tangent to each side of the pentagon).
Find the area of ABCDE.

2. Let ABC be an acute triangle with circumcircle Γ and let D be the midpoint of minor arc
BC. Let E, F be on Γ such that DE⊥AC and DF ⊥AB. Lines BE and DF meet at G, and
lines CF and DE meet at H. Show that BCHG is a parallelogram.

3. Janabel has a device that, when given two distinct points U and V in the plane, draws the
perpendicular bisector of U V . Show that if three lines forming a triangle are drawn, Janabel
can mark the orthocenter of the triangle using this device, a pencil, and no other tools.

4. Consider horizontal and vertical segments in the plane that may intersect each other. Let n
denote their total number. Suppose that we have m curves starting from the origin that are
pairwise disjoint except for their endpoints. Assume that each curve intersects exactly two of
the segments, a different pair for each curve. Prove that m = O(n).

Number Theory
1. Let n be the least positive integer for which 149n − 2n is divisible by 33 · 55 · 77 . Find the
number of positive divisors of n.
n−1
2. Prove or disprove: If n > 1 is an odd integer satisfying n | 2 2 + 1, then n is prime.

3. Let us say that the pair (m, n) of two positive different integers m and n is nice if mn and
(m + 1)(n + 1) are perfect squares. Prove that for each positive integer m there exists at least
one n > m such that the pair (m, n) is nice.

4. For any positive integer n, let τ (n) denote the number of positive integer divisors of n, σ(n)
denote the sum of the positive integer divisors of n, and ϕ(n) denote the number of positive
integers less than or equal to n that are relatively prime to n. Let a, b > 1 be integers.
Brandon has a calculator with three buttons that replace the integer n currently displayed
with τ (n), σ(n), or ϕ(n), respectively. Prove that if the calculator currently displays a, then
Brandon can make the calculator display b after a finite (possibly empty) sequence of button
presses.

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