The 24

th
BMO
The twenty-fourth Balkan Mathematical Olympiad for high-school students
was held between April 26
th
and May 2
nd
, 2007, in Rhodes, Greece. The
number of the participating countries was 14: 10 member countries (Alba-
nia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Greece, Re-
public of Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Turkey) and 4 invited
countries (Hungary, United Kingdom, Kazakhstan and Yakutia (Russia)).
Problems
(24.1) Let 1C1 a convex quadrilateral with 1 = 1C = C1, with C
not equal to 11 and let 1 be the intersection point of its diagonals. Prove
that 1 = 11 if and only if \11 +\1C = 120

.
(Albania)
(24.2) Find all functions ) : R !R such that
) () (r) +j) = ) () (r) j) + 4) (r) j,
for any real numbers r, j.
(Bulgaria)
(24.3) Find all positive integers : such that there exists a permutation o
of the set f1, 2, . . . , :g for which
_
o (1) +
_
o (2) +
_
. . . +
_
o (:)
is a rational number.
(Serbia)
1
(24.4) For a given positive integer : 2, let C
1
, C
2
, C
3
be the boundaries
of three convex :gons in the plane, such that C
1
\C
2
, C
2
\C
3
, and C
3
\C
1
are nite. Find the maximum number of points of the set C
1
\ C
2
\ C
3
.
(Turkey)
Solutions
(24.1) We will use the following
Lemma. Let '1Q be a convex quadrilateral such that ' = 1 and
\'Q = \Q1. Prove that if Qdoes not lie on the perpendicular bisector
of the line segment '1, then '1Q is cyclic.
Proof. Assume the contrary and consider the case when Q lies in the
interior of the circumcircle of the triangle '1 (see Figure 24.1). Extend
Q until it meets the circumcircle at 1. Since ' = 1, the angles '1
and 11 are congruent, and we deduce that the triangles '1Q and 11Q
are congruent, as well. It follows that Q1 = Q', hence Q lies on the
perpendicular bisector of '1, a contradiction.
R
P
M
N
Q
Figure 24.1
The case when Q lies in the exterior of the circumcircle can be treated
in a similar manner.
Returning to our problem, let us consider the point 1 such that C11
is a parallelogram (see Figure 24.2).
2
E
F
D
C
A
B
Figure 24.2
Observe that 1 = 11 is equivalent to \C1 = \11 and, further-
more, to \11 = \11, since C is parallel to 11.
It is not difcult to see that 1 cannot lie on the perpendicular bisector
of 11, because if it were, we would have 11 = 11, and since C = 11,
that would imply 11 = C, contradicting the hypothesis.
Applying the above lemma, we deduce that 1 = 11 if and only if
111 is a cyclic quadrilateral.
Let : = \11 +\1C, and observe that
\11 = \11 +\11 = \11 +\1C = :.
Also,
\111 = \11+\11 = \11 +\11.
But
\11 +\11 = 180

\11 = 180

\11C
= \11C +\1C1 = \11C +\C1
= : (\11 +\11) ,
hence
\11 +\11 =
:
2
.
Now, C11 is a cyclic quad if and only if \11 + \111 = 180

.
Since
\11 +\111 = : +
:
2
=
3:
2
,
3
this is equivalent to : = 120

, as desired.
Second solution. Suppose that 1 = 11 and examine the triangles
11 and 1C1. They have two pairs of congruent sides and \11 =
\C11. Applying the sine law in these triangles yields
1
sin\11
=
1
sin\11
=
C1
sin\C11
=
11
sin\C1
.
It follows that sin\11 = sin\C1, hence these two angles are either
equal or supplementary.
T
E
D
C
A
B

Figure 24.3
If \11 = \C1, then
180

(c + 2,) = 180

(2c +,) ,
hence c = ,. This obviously implies C = 11, which is not true.
It remains that \11+\C1 = 180

, and we easily derive that c+, =

60

.
Since
\11 +\11 = 180

\11 = 180

\11C = c +,,
it follows that
\11 +1C = 2 (c +,) = 120

.
Conversely, suppose that \11+1C = 120

, and let T = 1 \C1.

It follows that \T1 = 60

, and c + , = 60

, as well. Hence \T1 +

\11C = 180

, that is, the quadrilateral T11C is cyclic.

4
Then \1T1 = \1C1 = \11, so the triangle T1 is isosceles. It
follows that T1 = 1. Similarly we obtain T1 = 11, hence 1 = 11.
(24.2) Obviously, ) = 0 is a solution of the functional equation. Let r
0
be a real number such that ) (r
0
) 6= 0. Then
) () (r
0
) +j) = ) () (r
0
) j) + 4) (r
0
) j,
or, equivalently,
8) (r
0
) j = 2 () () (r
0
) +j) ) () (r
0
) j)) .
Thus, any real number can be written as 2 () (a) ) (/)) , for some real
numbers a, /.
Now, let j = ) (r) in the original equation. This gives
) (2) (r)) = ) (0) + 4)
2
(r) ,
for all real r. Finally, replace j by ) (r) 2) (j) . We obtain
) (2 () (r) ) (j))) = ) (2) (j)) + 4) (r) () (r) 2) (j))
= ) (0) + 4)
2
(j) + 4)
2
(r) 8) (r) ) (j)
= ) (0) + 4 () (r) ) (j))
2
.
Using the previous observation, we deduce that ) (r) = ) (0)+r
2
, for all
real r, and it is easy to check that this is indeed a solution of the functional
equation.
Second solution. It is not difcult to guess that one solution of the
functional equation (apart from the obvious ) = 0) is ) (r) = r
2
. Therefore,
considering the function q (r) = ) (r) r
2
might be a good idea.
Indeed, replacing in the given equation gives
q () (r) +j) = q () (r) j) ,
and then, replacing j by j ) (r) ,
q (j) = q (2) (r) j) ,
for all real r, j. This implies
q (0) = q (2) (r)) ,
5
for all real r, then
q (0) = q (2) (j)) = q (2) (r) 2) (j)) .
As we saw in the previous solution, if ) 6= 0, any real number t can be
written as t = 2) (r) 2) (j) , for some r, j, hence
q (t) = q (0) ,
for all t, leading to ) (r) = ) (0) +r
2
, for all real r.
(24.3) Let
1
k
=
_
o (/) +
_
o (/ + 1) +
_
. . . +
_
o (:),
where / 2 f1, 2, . . . , :g. We have
1
k1
=
_
o (/ 1) +1
k
,
for / 2. Since 1
1
is a rational number, the above recursive equation
shows that all 1
k
s are rational. Moreover, since the square root of a positive
integer is either an integer or an irrational number, it follows that 1
n
is an
integer, and again, using the recursive relation, that all 1
k
s are positive
integers.
Now, we obviously have
1
k

_
: +
_
: +
_
. . . +
p
:,
where in right hand side (like in 1
k
) there are : / + 1 radicals, and a
simple inductive argument shows that
_
: +
_
: +
_
. . . +
p
: <
p
: + 1.
Let b
p
:c = j, hence
p
: + 1 < j + 2. If j 1, then j
2
1 is not a
square, hence j
2
1 = o (:) , for some : < : (recall that
_
o (:) = 1
n
is
an integer). We have j 1
m
< j + 2, so, if 1
m
j, then 1
m
= j + 1, and
1
m+1
= 1
2
m
o (:) = (j + 1)
2

_
j
2
1
_
= 2j + 2 j + 2,
6
a contradiction.
The only other case is 1
m
= j, but this implies : = :1 and o (:) = 1.
Considering : < : 1 such that o (:) = j
2
, we again reach a contradiction,
since 1
s
cannot be an integer.
We are left with the case j = 1, and it is not difcult to see that we only
have two solutions: the trivial : = 1 and : = 3, since
_
2 +
_
3 +
p
1 is a
rationa number.
(24.4) We claim that the answer is
_
3n
2
_
. Let 1
k
be the polygon with the
boundary C
k
, and let 1 = 1
1
\ 1
2
\ 1
3
.
Obviously, 1 is a convex polygon and each of its sides is included in a
side of exactly one of the 1
0
k
s.
For / = 1, 2, 3, let a
k
be the number of sides of 1 included in sides of 1
k
.
If 1 has : vertices, then we obviously have
a
1
+a
2
+a
3
= :.
We will count twice the sides of 1
k
. On one hand, 1
k
has : sides. On
the other hand, there are a
k
sides of 1
k
which include sides of 1 (and along
with these, 2a
k
vertices of 1) and for each of the :2a
k
remaining vertices
of 1 there exists a side of 1
k
containing the respective vertex.
It follows that
a
k
+ (:2a
k
) :,
hence
:a
k
:.
Adding up for / = 1, 2, 3 yields
3:(a
1
+a
2
+a
3
) 3: () 2: 3: () :
_
3:
2
_
.
We have to show that this bound can be reached. If : is even, say : = 2t,
then : = 3t; label clockwise the sides of 1 with 1, 2, . . . , 3t. Then 1
k
will
be the polygon determined by the t sides of 1 whose labels are congruent
to / modulo 3, and another t sides, obtained by drawing appropriate lines
through the t remained vertices of 1.
A similar construction can be performed when : is odd, only that one of
the 1
k
s will contain two consecutive sides of 1 (see Figure 24.4).
7
n=5, m=7 n=4, m=6
Figure 24.4
8