Number Theory Problems

in Mathematical Competitions
(2015 - 2016)

Amir Hossein Parvardi

2
Contents

Introduction i
0.1 Notes on the New Version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i
0.2 Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii
0.3 Problem Categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
0.4 Notation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv

1 Problems 1
1.1 Divisibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Diophantine Equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.3 Arithmetic Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
1.4 Polynomials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
1.5 Digits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
1.6 Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
1.7 Miscellaneous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

3
4 CONTENTS
Introduction

0.1 Notes on the New Version

I am releasing this problem set as a thank you to all the people who supported
my new book Topics in Number Theory: an Olympiad-Oriented Approach, which
I co-authored with Masum Billal. You can subscribe to our website to get two
chapters of the book for free in your email:

https://TopicsInNumberTheory.com
I have created a forum for this problem set on AoPS, where we post solutions and
hints to the problems. Feel free to contribute, but please read the announcement
in the forum before posting. The address is

https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c654464

I’m thankful to Valentio Iverson, Aditya Khurmi, Shend Zhjeqi, and Jessica
Zhang who solved problems in this collection. I will publish compile this problem
set along with its solutions once we are done solving the problems, but I really
need to take a break from writing for some time.
If you prefer Kindle to read, here’s an Amazon link to the Kindle version of
this collection:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D1F91SX

I have published this PDF set in other websites as well (including our book’s
website), but the permanent URL for this problem set is
https://parvardi.com/downloads/NT2016/
Please use the above link to check for later updates, hints, and solutions.

Amir Hossein Parvardi,

July 2018.

i
ii INTRODUCTION

0.2 Preface
This is a question bank containing number theory problems chosen from math-
ematical competitions around the world in the 2015 − 2016 school year.
I have classified the problems into 7 categories, and ordered them alphabeti-
cally based on the competition name in each category. So, the level of difficulty
of the problems do not match each other. Do not be surprised if you see a super
easy problem after solving an IMO one. This gives, in my humble opinion, a
good opportunity to the problem-solver to be able to evaluate the difficulty of
a question before solving it completely.
Some of the problems have been taken from the contests page at AoPS, and
you can (hopefully) find the solutions to those problems in the provided link.
The other problems have been mostly taken from the website of the correspond-
ing country/competition.
If you find any errors in this set, please do not hesitate to send me an email
at parvardi@math.ubc.ca and I will make sure that the error is fixed in the
next edition. The credit would be, of course, yours.
I will add hints and possibly solutions to this problem set in the next editions.
I just wanted to publish the set before the problems get old and would add the
solutions gradually. If you want to help me in writing solutions to the problems,
I would be very happy to receive an email from you.

Enjoy problem solving!

Amir Hossein Parvardi,

May 2018.
0.3. PROBLEM CATEGORIES iii

0.3 Problem Categories

In what follows, I’m going to say a few words about each of the 7 saint category
of the problems.
Divisibility: do not expect these problems to be easy only because they be-
long to the first section: you will find extremely difficult problems among them.
Problems in this category include but are not limited to conventional divisibil-
ity questions, modular arithmetic and congruence equations, and finding the
remainder upon division by a specific number.
Diophantine Equations: I think you already know what to expect to see in
this section. The main theme is solving Diophantine equations over integers or
natural numbers. Equations involving primes, reciprocals of numbers, and fac-
torials are among my favorites in this category. There are also a few interesting
problems which ask you to solve equations containing binomial coefficients.
Arithmetic Functions: mainly includes problems about the number-of-divisors
and sum-of-divisors functions. Other problems involve functions from naturals
to naturals (N → N), sum of digits in base n, and Euler’s totient function ϕ(n).
Polynomials: it is always interesting to find applications of algebra in number
theory. The problems in this category are mostly taken from serious math
competitions and tend to be difficult.
Digits: I tried to separate all the problems which are somehow related to the
presentation of a number in some base and put them in this category. You
will find very interesting problems in this section. If you are a fan of solving
unconventional and new types of number theory problems, try this section!
Sequences: contains problems about integer, natural, or rational sequences. It
is surprising to see how often these problems happen in Olympiad competitions.
Problems have very different tastes in this section, including but not limited to
finding a specific term in the sequence, divisibility issues, and weird sums on
sequence terms.
Miscellaneous: contains problems which did not fit into other categories.
iv INTRODUCTION

0.4 Notation
Symbol Meaning Found on page

N The set of positive integers 17

Z The set of integers 28

Q The set of rational numbers 17

Natural number Positive integer 1

gcd(a, b) or (a, b) The greatest common divisor of 3

a and b

lcm(a, b) or [a, b] The least common multiple of a 7

and b

a and b are coprime gcd(a, b) = 1 7

or relatively prime
 
n n!
10
k k!(n − k)!
ϕ(n) Number of positive integers less 26
than n which are coprime to n
Chapter 1

Problems

1.1 Divisibility
Problem 1 (Austria National Competition Final Round). Let a, b, and c be
integers such that
ab ac bc
+ +
c b a
is an integer. Prove that each of the numbers
ab ac bc
, , and
c b a
is an integer.

Problem 2 (Azerbaijan Balkan Math Olympiad Third TST). Find all natural
numbers n for which there exist primes p and q such that the following conditions
are satisfied:

1. p + 2 = q, and

2. 2n + p and 2n + q are both primes.

Link

Problem 3 (Azerbaijan Junior Mathematical Olympiad). Given

34! = 295232799039a041408476186096435b0000000,

in decimal representation, find the numbers a and b. Link

Problem 4 (Azerbaijan Junior Mathematical Olympiad). A quadruple (p, a, b, c)

of positive integers is called a good quadruple if

(a) p is an odd prime,

1
2 CHAPTER 1. PROBLEMS

(b) a, b, and c are distinct,

(c) ab + 1, bc + 1, and ca + 1 are divisible by p.
Prove that for all good quadruples (p, a, b, c),

a+b+c
p+2≤ ,
3
and show the equality case.
Link
Problem 5 (Balkan). Find all monic polynomials f with integer coefficients
satisfying the following condition: there exists a positive integer N such that p
divides 2(f (p)!) + 1 for every prime p > N for which f (p) is a positive integer.
Note. A monic polynomial has a leading coefficient equal to 1. Link
Problem 6 (Baltic Way). Let n be a positive integer and let a, b, c, d be integers
such that n|a + b + c + d and n|a2 + b2 + c2 + d2 . Show that

n|a4 + b4 + c4 + d4 + 4abcd.

Link
Problem 7 (Bay Area Olympiad). The distinct prime factors of an integer
are its prime factors listed without repetition. For example, the distinct prime
factors of 40 are 2 and 5. Let A = 2k − 2 and B = 2k · A, where k is an integer
(k ≥ 2). Show that for every integer k greater than or equal to 2,
1. A and B have the same set of distinct prime factors, and
2. A + 1 and B + 1 have the same set of distinct prime factors.

Link

Problem 8 (Belgium Flanders Math Olympiad Final Round). Find the small-
est positive integer n which does not divide 2016!.
Problem 9 (Benelux). Find the greatest positive integer N with the following
property: there exist integers x1 , x2 , . . . , xN such that x2i − xi xj is not divisible
by 1111 for any i 6= j. Link
Problem 10 (Bulgaria National Olympiad). Find all positive integers m and
n such that  m  n 
22 + 1 22 + 1

is divisible by mn.
Problem 11 (Canadian Mathematical Olympiad Qualification).
(a) Find all positive integers n such that 11|(3n + 4n ).
1.1. DIVISIBILITY 3

(b) Find all positive integers n such that 31|(4n + 7n + 20n ).

Link

Problem 12 (Canadian Mathematical Olympiad Qualification). Determine all

ordered triples of positive integers (x, y, z) such that gcd(x + y, y + z, z + x) >
gcd(x, y, z). Link
Problem 13 (CCA Math Bonanza). Let f (x) = x2 + x + 1. Determine the
ordered pair (p, q) of primes satisfying f (p) = f (q) + 242. Link
Problem 14 (CCA Math Bonanza). Pluses and minuses are inserted in the
expression
±1 ± 2 ± 3 ± · · · ± 2016
such that when evaluated the result is divisible by 2017. Let there be N ways
for this to occur. Compute the remainder when N is divided by 503. Link
Problem 15 (CCA Math Bonanza). What is the largest integer that must
divide n5 − 5n3 + 4n for all integers n? Link
Problem 16 (CCA Math Bonanza). Determine the remainder when

2
26 · 310 · 512 − 754 262 − 1 + 310 − 506 + 512

is divided by 1001. Link

Problem 17 (China Western Mathematical Olympiad). For an n-tuple of in-
tegers (a1 , a2 , . . . , an−1 , an ), define a transformation to be:

(a1 , a2 , . . . , an−1 , an ) → (a1 + a2 , a2 + a3 , . . . , an−1 + an , an + a1 ).

Find all ordered pairs of integers (n, k) with n, k ≥ 2, such that for any n-tuple
of integers, after a finite number of transformations, every element in the of the
n-tuple is a multiple of k. Link
Problem 18 (China Western Mathematical Olympiad). Prove that there exist
infinitely many triples (a, b, c) of positive integers such that a, b, and c are pair-
wise relatively prime and the numbers ab + c, bc + a, and ca + b are also pairwise
relatively prime. Link
Problem 19 (Croatia First Round Competition). Can the sum of squares of
three consecutive integers be divisible by 2016?
Problem 20 (Croatia First Round Competition). Let a = 123 456 789 and
N = a3 − 2a2 − 3a. Prove that N is a multiple of 540.
Problem 21 (Croatia First Round Competition). Let a, b, and c be integers.
If 4a + 5b − 3c is divisible by 19, prove that 6a − 2b + 5c is also divisible by 19.
Problem 22 (Croatia IMO TST). Prove that for every positive integer n there
exist integers a and b such that n divides 4a2 + 9b2 − 1.
4 CHAPTER 1. PROBLEMS

Problem 23 (Denmark Georg Mohr Contest Second Round). Find all possible
values of the number
a+b a+c b+c
+ + ,
c b a
a+b a+c b+c
where a, b, and c are positive integers, and c , b , and a are also positive
integers.
Problem 24 (Estonia National Olympiad Eleventh Grade). Find the greatest
positive integer n for which 32016 − 1 is divisible by 2n .
Problem 25 (European Girls’ Mathematical Olympiad). Let S be the set of
all positive integers n such that n4 has a divisor in the range n2 + 1, n2 +
2, . . . , n2 + 2n. Prove that there are infinitely many elements of S of each of the
forms 7m, 7m + 1, 7m + 2, 7m + 5, and 7m + 6 and no elements of S is of the
form 7m + 3 or 7m + 4, where m is an integer. Link
Problem 26 (European Mathematical Cup Seniors). A = {a, b, c} is a set
containing three positive integers. Prove that we can find a set B ⊂ A, say
B = {x, y}, such that for all odd positive integers m and n,

10 | xm y n − xn y m .

Problem 27 (Germany National Olympiad First Round Ninth/Tenth Grade).

(A) Prove that there exists an integer a > 1 such that the number

82 · a8 − a4

is divisible by the product of three consecutive positive integers each of

which has at least two digits.
(B) Determine the smallest prime number a with at least two digits such that
the number

82 · a8 − a4

is divisible by the product of three consecutive positive integers each of

which has at least two digits.
(C) Determine the smallest integer a > 1 such that the number

82 · a8 − a2

is divisible by the product of three consecutive positive integers each of

which has at least two digits.
Problem 28 (Germany National Olympiad First Round Eleventh/Twelfth
Grade). Find all pairs (a, b) of positive integers for which (a + 1)(b + 1) is
divisible by ab.
1.1. DIVISIBILITY 5

Problem 29 (Germany National Olympiad Third Round Eleventh/Twelfth

Grade,). Let m and n be two positive integers. Prove that for every positive
integer k, the following statements are equivalent:

1. n + m is a divisor of n2 + km2 .

2. n + m is a divisor of k + 1.

Problem 30 (Hong Kong Preliminary Selection Contest). Find the remainder

when 1 3
.
..
1715
19
is divided by 100.

Problem 31 (Hong Kong Preliminary Selection Contest). Let n be a positive

integer. If the two numbers (n + 1)(2n + 15) and n(n + 5) have exactly the same
prime factors, find the greatest possible value of n.

Problem 32 (Hong Kong TST). Find all natural numbers n such that n,
n2 + 10, n2 − 2, n3 + 6, and n5 + 36 are all prime numbers. Link

Problem 33 (Hong Kong TST). Find all prime numbers p and q such that
p2 |q 3 + 1 and q 2 |p6 − 1. Link

Problem 34 (Hong Kong TST). Let p be a prime number greater than 5.

Suppose there is an integer k satisfying that k 2 + 5 is divisible by p. Prove that
there are positive integers m and n such that p2 = m2 + 5n2 . Link

Problem 35 (IMO Shortlist 2015, India TST, Taiwan TST Second Round,
Croatian Mathematical Olympiad, Switzerland TST). Let m and n be positive
integers such that m > n. Define

m+k
xk =
n+k
for k = 1, 2, . . . , n+1. Prove that if all the numbers x1 , x2 , . . . , xn+1 are integers,
then x1 x2 . . . xn+1 − 1 is divisible by an odd prime.

Link

Problem 36 (IMO). A set of positive integers is called fragrant if it contains

at least two elements and each of its elements has a prime factor in common
with at least one of the other elements. Let P (n) = n2 + n + 1. What is the
least possible positive integer value of b such that there exists a non-negative
integer a for which the set

{P (a + 1), P (a + 2), . . . , P (a + b)}

is fragrant? Link
6 CHAPTER 1. PROBLEMS

Problem 37 (Iran Third Round National Olympiad). Let m be a positive

integer. The positive integer a is called a golden residue modulo m if gcd(a, m) =
1 and xx ≡ a (mod m) has a solution for x. Given a positive integer n, suppose
that a is a golden residue modulo nn . Show that a is also a golden residue
n
modulo nn . Link

Problem 38 (Iran Third Round National Olympiad). Let p, q be prime num-

bers (q is odd). Prove that there exists an integer x such that

q | (x + 1)p − xp

if and only if
q≡1 (mod p).

Link

Problem 39 (Iran TST). Let p 6= 13 be a prime number of the form 8k + 5

such that 39 is a quadratic non-residue modulo p. Prove that the equation

x41 + x42 + x43 + x44 ≡ 0 (mod p)

has a solution in integers such that p - x1 x2 x3 x4 . Link

Problem 40 (Japan Mathematical Olympiad Preliminary). For 1 ≤ n ≤ 2016,

find the number of integers n which satisfy the following condition: the remain-
der of n upon division by 20 is smaller than the remainder of n when divided
by 16. Link

Problem 41 (Japan Mathematical Olympiad Preliminary). Determine the

number of pairs (a, b) of integers such that 1 ≤ a, b ≤ 2015, a is divisible
by b + 1, and 2016 − a is divisible by b. Link

Problem 42 (Japan Mathematical Olympiad Finals). Let p be an odd prime

number. For a positive integer k satisfying 1 ≤ k ≤ p − 1, denote by ak the
number of divisors of kp + 1 between k and p (exclusive). Find the value of
a1 + a2 + · · · + ap−1 . Link
n
Problem 43 (Kosovo TST). Show that for any n ≥ 2, the number 22 + 1 ends
with 7. Link

Problem 44 (Latvia National Olympiad). Suppose that x, y and z are three

positive integers.

1. If xy 2 is a perfect cube, prove that x2 y is also a perfect cube. Link

2. If xy 10 is perfect 33rd power of a positive integer, prove that x10 y is also

a perfect 33rd power. Link

3. If xy 433 is a perfect 2016th power of a positive integer, prove that x433 y

is also a perfect 2016th power. Link
1.1. DIVISIBILITY 7

4. If x3 y 5 z 6 is a perfect 7th power of a positive integer, show that x5 y 6 z 3 is

also a perfect 7th power. Link

Problem 45 (Mediterranean Mathematics Olympiad). Determine all integers

n ≥ 1 for which the number n8 + n6 + n4 + 4 is prime. Link

Problem 46 (Philippine Mathematical Olympiad Area Stage). Find the sum

of all the prime factors of 27 000 001.

Problem 47 (Polish Mathematical Olympiad). Let k and n be odd positive

integers greater than 1. Prove that if there exists a positive integer a such that
k|2a + 1 and n|2a − 1, then there is no positive integer b satisfying k|2b − 1 and
n|2b + 1. Link

Problem 48 (Romania Danube Mathematical Competition). Determine all

positive integers n such that all positive integers less than or equal to n and
relatively prime to n are pairwise coprime.

Problem 49 (Romanian Mathematical Olympiad District Round Grade 5).

Find all three-digit numbers which decrease 13 times when the tens’ digit is
suppressed.

Problem 50 (Romanian Mathematical Olympiad District Round Grade 6).

The positive integers m and n are such that m2016 + m + n2 is divisible by mn.

(a) Give an example of such m and n, with m > n.

(b) Prove that m is a perfect square.

Problem 51 (Romanian Mathematical Olympiad Final Round Grade 6). Find

a+1 b+2
all positive integers a and b so that and are simultaneously positive
b a
integers.

Problem 52 (Romanian Mathematical Olympiad Final Round Grade 6). Let

a and b be positive integers so that there exists a prime number p with the
property lcm(a, a + p) = lcm(b, b + p). Prove that a = b.

Problem 53 (Romanian National Mathematical Olympiad Small Juniors Short-

list). Find all non-negative integers n so that n2 − 4n + 2, n2 − 3n + 13 and
n2 − 6n + 19 are simultaneously primes.

Problem 54 (Romanian National Mathematical Olympiad Small Juniors Short-

list). Four positive integers a, b, c, and d are not divisible by 5 and the sum of
their squares is divisible by 5. Prove that

N = (a2 + b2 )(a2 + c2 )(a2 + d2 )(b2 + c2 )(b2 + d2 )(c2 + d2 )

is divisible by 625.
8 CHAPTER 1. PROBLEMS

Problem 55 (Romania TST for Junior Balkan Mathematical Olympiad). Let

M be the set of natural numbers k for which there exists a natural number n
such that
3n ≡ k (mod n).
Prove that M has infinitely many elements. Link

Problem 56 (Romania TST for Junior Balkan Mathematical Olympiad). Let

n be an integer greater than 2 and consider the set

A = {2n − 1, 3n − 1, . . . , (n − 1)n − 1}.

Given that n does not divide any element of A, prove that n is a square-free
number. Does it necessarily follow that n is a prime? Link

Problem 57 (Romaina TST). Given a positive integer k and an integer a ≡ 3

(mod 8), show that am + a + 2 is divisible by 2k for some positive integer m.
Link

Problem 58 (Romania TST). Given a prime p, prove that the sum

bq/pc
X
k p−1
k=1

is not divisible by q for all but finitely many primes q. Link

Problem 59 (Romania TST). Determine the positive integers expressible in

the form
x2 + y
,
xy + 1
for at least two pairs (x, y) of positive integers. Link

Problem 60 (San Diego Math Olympiad). Let a, b, c, d be four integers. Prove

that
(b − a) (c − a) (d − a) (d − c) (d − b) (c − b)
is divisible by 12. Link

Problem 61 (San Diego Math Olympiad). For integers a and b, the quadratic
equation x2 + ax + b + 1 = 0 has 2 positive integer roots. Show that a2 + b2 is
not a prime. Link

Problem 62 (Saudi Arabia Preselection Test). Let p be a given prime. For

each prime r, we define

(prp − 1)(p − 1)
F (r) = .
(pr − 1)(pp − 1)

1. Show that F (r) is a positive integer for any prime r 6= p.

1.1. DIVISIBILITY 9

2. Show that F (r) and F (s) are coprime for any primes r and s such that
r 6= p, s 6= p and r 6= s.
3. Fix a prime r 6= p. Show that there is a prime divisor q of F (r) such that
p|q − 1 but p2 - q − 1.
Problem 63 (Saudi Arabia Preselection Test). Let a and b be two positive
integers such that

b + 1 | a2 + 1 and a + 1 | b2 + 1

Prove that both a and b are odd.

Problem 64 (Saudi Arabia Preselection Test). Let n be a given positive integer.
Prove that there are infinitely many pairs of positive integers (a, b) with a, b > n
such that
2015
Y
(a + i) | b(b + 2016),
i=1
2015
Y
(a + i) - b, and
i=1
2015
Y
(a + i) - (b + 2016).
i=1

Problem 65 (Saudi Arabia TST for Gulf Mathematical Olympiad). Find

all positive integers n such that there exists a permutation (a1 , a2 , . . . , an ) of
(1, 2, 3, . . . , n) satisfying the condition:

a1 + a2 + · · · + ak is divisible by k for each k = 1, 2, 3, . . . , n.

Problem 66 (Saudi Arabia TST for Balkan Mathematical Olympiad). Show

that there are infinitely many positive integers n such that n has at least two
prime divisors and 20n + 16n is divisible by n2 .
Problem 67 (Saudi Arabia TST for Balkan Mathematical Olympiad). Let m
and n be odd integers such that n2 − 1 is divisible by m2 + 1 − n2 . Prove that
|m2 + 1 − n2 | is a perfect square.
Problem 68 (Saudi Arabia TST for Balkan Mathematical Olympiad). Let
a > b > c > d be positive integers such that

a2 + ac − c2 = b2 + bd − d2 .

Prove that ab + cd is a composite number.

Problem 69 (Saudi Arabia TST for Balkan Mathematical Olympiad). For any
positive integer n, show that there exists a positive integer m such that n divides
2016m + m.
10 CHAPTER 1. PROBLEMS

Problem 70 (Saudi Arabia TST for Balkan Mathematical Olympiad). Let d be

a positive integer. Show that for every integer S, there exist a positive integer
n and a sequence a1 , a2 , . . . , an ∈ {−1, 1} such that

S = a1 (1 + d)2 + a2 (1 + 2d)2 + · · · + an (1 + nd)2 .

Problem 71 (Saudi Arabia IMO TST). Let a be a positive integer. Find all
prime numbers p with the following property: there exist exactly p ordered pairs
of integers (x, y), with 0 ≤ x, y ≤ p − 1, such that p divides y 2 − x3 − a2 x.
Problem 72 (Serbia National Olympiad). Let n > 1 be an integer. Prove that
there exists m > nn such that
nm − mn
m+n
is a positive integer. Link
Problem 73 (Serbia TST for Junior Balkan Mathematical Olympiad). Find
the minimum number of divisors that the number |2016m −36n | can have, where
m and n are natural numbers. Link
Problem 74 (Slovakia National Round Category A Mathematical Olympiad).
Let p > 3 be a prime. Determine the number of all 6−tuples (a, b, c, d, e, f ) of
positive integers with sum 3p such that
a+b b+c c+d d+e e+f
, , , ,
c+d d+e e+f f +a a+b
are all integers.
Problem 75 (South Africa National Olympiad). Let k and m be integers with
1 < k < m. For a positive integer i, let Li be the least common multiple of
1, 2, . . . , i. Prove that k is a divisor of
   
m m−k
Li · −
i i
for all i ≥ 1. Link
Problem 76 (Slovenia IMO TST). Let

N = 215 · 2015.

How many divisors of N 2 are strictly smaller than N and do not divide N ?
Problem 77 (Spain National Olympiad). Given a prime number p, prove that
there exists a positive integer α such that p | α(α − 1) + 3 if and only if there
exists a positive integer β such that p | β(β − 1) + 25. Link
Problem 78 (Spain National Olympiad). Let m be a positive integer and a
and b be distinct positive integers strictly greater than m2 and strictly less than
m2 + m. Find all integers d such that m2 < d < m2 + m and d divides ab. Link
1.1. DIVISIBILITY 11

Problem 79 (Switzerland Preliminary Round). Determine all natural numbers

n such that for all positive divisors d of n,

d + 1 | n + 1.
n
Problem 80 (Switzerland TST). Let n be a positive integer. Show that 77 +1
has at least 2n + 3 prime divisors (not necessarily distinct).

Problem 81 (Taiwan TST Second Round, Azerbaijan Balkan Math Olympiad

Fourth TST, IMO Shortlist 2015). Let a and b be positive integers such that
a! + b! divides a!b!. Prove that 3a ≥ 2b + 2. Link

Problem 82 (Taiwan TST Second Round). Let {Fn }∞ n=0 be the Fibonacci
sequence. that is, F0 = 0, F1 = 1, and Fn+2 = Fn+1 + Fn holds for all
nonnegative integers n. Find all pairs (a, b) of positive integers with a < b such
that Fn − 2nan is divisible by b for all positive integers n. Link

Problem 83 (Turkey TST for European Girls’ Mathematical Olympiad). Prove

that for every square-free integer n > 1, there exists a prime number p and an
integer m satisfying
p | n and n | p2 + p · mp .

Link

Problem 84 (Turkey TST for Junior Balkan Mathematical Olympiad). Let n

be a positive integer, p and q be prime numbers such that

pq | np + 2 and n + 2 | np + q p .

Prove that there exists a positive integer m satisfying q | 4m · n + 2. Link

Problem 85 (Tuymaada Senior League). The ratio of prime numbers p and q

does not exceed 2 (p 6= q). Prove that there are two consecutive positive integers
such that the largest prime divisor of one of them is p and that of the other is
q.

Problem 86 (Ukraine TST for UMO). Given prime number p and different
m2 + n2
natural numbers m, n such that p2 = . Prove that 2p − m − n is either
2
square or doubled square of an integer number. Link

Problem 87 (USA AIME). Find the least positive integer m such that m2 −
m + 11 is a product of at least four not necessarily distinct primes. Link

Problem 88 (USA AIME). For positive integers N and k, define N to be

k-nice if there exists a positive integer a such that ak has exactly N positive
divisors. Find the number of positive integers less than 1000 that are neither
7-nice nor 8-nice.

Link
12 CHAPTER 1. PROBLEMS

Problem 89 (USAMO). Prove that for any positive integer k,

k−1
Y j!
(k 2 )! ·
j=0
(j + k)!

is an integer. Link
Problem 90 (Venezuela Final Round Fourth Year). Find all pairs of prime
numbers (p, q), with p < q, such that the numbers p + 2q, 2p + q and p + q − 22
are also primes.
Problem 91 (Vietnam National Olympiad).
(a) Prove that if n is an odd perfect number then n has the form

n = ps m2 ,

where p is a prime of the form 4k + 1, s is a positive integer of the form

4h + 1, and m is a positive integer not divisible by p.
n(n + 1)
(b) Find all positive integers n > 1 such that both n − 1 and are
2
perfect numbers.

Link
1.2. DIOPHANTINE EQUATIONS 13

1.2 Diophantine Equations

Problem 92 (APMO). A positive integer is called fancy if it can be expressed
in the form
2a1 + 2a2 + · · · + 2a100 ,
where a1 , a2 , . . . , a100 are non-negative integers that are not necessarily distinct.
Find the smallest positive integer n such that no multiple of n is a fancy number.
Link
Problem 93 (Argentina Intercollegiate Olympiad First Level). Find all positive
integers a, b, c, and d, all less than or equal to 6, such that
a c
= + 2.
b d
Problem 94 (Argentina Intercollegiate Olympiad Third Level). Find a number
with the following conditions:
1. it is a perfect square,
2. when 100 is added to the number, it equals a perfect square plus 1, and
3. when 100 is again added to the number, the result is a perfect square.
Problem 95 (Austria Regional Competition). Determine all positive integers
k and n satisfying the equation

k 2 − 2016 = 3n .

Problem 96 (Azerbaijan TST). The set A consists of positive integers which

can be expressed as 2x2 + 3y 2 , where x and y are integers (not both zero at the
same time).
1. Prove that there is no perfect square in A.
2. Prove that the product of an odd number of elements of A cannot be a
perfect square.

Link

Problem 97 (Baltic Way). For which integers n = 1, 2, . . . , 6 does the equation

an + bn = cn + n

have a solution in integers? Link

Problem 98 (Bay Area Olympiad). Find a positive integer N and a1 , a2 , . . . , aN ,
where ak ∈ {1, −1} for each k = 1, 2, . . . , N , such that

a1 · 13 + a2 · 23 + a3 · 33 + · · · + aN · N 3 = 20162016,

or show that this is impossible. Link

14 CHAPTER 1. PROBLEMS

Problem 99 (Belgium National Olympiad Final Round). Solve the equation

22m+1 + 9 · 2m + 5 = n2

for integers m and n.

Problem 100 (Bosnia and Herzegovina TST). Determine the largest positive
integer n which cannot be written as the sum of three numbers bigger than 1
which are pairwise coprime. Link
Problem 101 (Bulgaria National Olympiad). Determine whether there exists
a positive integer n < 109 such that n can be expressed as a sum of three squares
of positive integers in more than 1000 distinct ways.
Problem 102 (CentroAmerican). We say a number is irie if it can be written
1
in the form 1+ for some positive integer k. Prove that every integer n ≥ 2 can
k
be written as the product of r distinct irie numbers for every integer r ≥ n − 1.
Link
Problem 103 (Chile). Determine all triples of positive integers (p, n, m) with
p a prime number, which satisfy the equation

pm − n3 = 27.

Problem 104 (China Girls Mathematical Olympiad). Let m and n be relatively

prime integers both larger than 1. Show that there are positive integers a, b,
and c such that
ma = 1 + nb c,
and n and c are relatively prime. Link
Problem 105 (Croatia First Round Competition). Determine all pairs of pos-
itive integers (x, y) such that x2 − y! = 2016.
Problem 106 (Croatia Second Round Competition).
(a) Prove that there are no two positive integers such that the difference of their
squares is 987 654.
(b) Prove that there are no two positive integers such that the difference of their
cubes is 987 654.
Problem 107 (Croatia Second Round Competition). How many ordered pairs
(m, k) of positive integers satisfy

20m = k(m − 15k)?

Problem 108 (Croatia Second Round Competition). Determine all pairs (a, b)
of positive integers such that

a3 − 3b = 15,
b2 − a = 13.
1.2. DIOPHANTINE EQUATIONS 15

Problem 109 (Croatia Second Round Competition). Prove that, for every
positive integer n > 3, there are n different positive integers whose reciprocals
add up to 1.

Problem 110 (Croatia Second Round Competition). Determine all pairs (a, b)
of integers such that (7a − b)2 = 2(a − 1)b2 .

Problem 111 (Croatia Final Round National Competition). Let a, b, and c be

positive integers such that

b 1
c=a+ − .
a b
Prove that c is the square of an integer.

Problem 112 (Croatia Final Round National Competition). Determine all

pairs (m, n) of positive integers for which exist integers a, b, and c that satisfy

a+b+c=0 and a2 + b2 + c2 = 2m · 3n .

Problem 113 (Croatia Final Round National Competition). Prove that there
does not exist a positive integer k such that k + 4 and k 2 + 5k + 2 are both cubes
of positive integers.

Problem 114 (Croatia Final Round National Competition). Determine all

triples (m, n, k) of positive integers such that 3m + 7n = k 2 .

Problem 115 (Croatian Mathematical Olympiad). Find all pairs (p, q) of prime
numbers such that
p(p2 − p − 1) = q(2q + 3).

Link

Problem 116 (Croatian TST for MEMO, Sweden 2014). Find all pairs (m, n)
of positive integers such that

3 · 5m − 2 · 6n = 3.

Problem 117 (Estonia IMO TST First Stage). Let p be a prime. Find all
integers (not necessarily positive) a, b, and c such that

ab bc ca = p.

Problem 118 (Estonia IMO TST Second Stage). Find all positive integers n
such that

n2 + 11n − 4 · n! + 33 · 13n + 4

is a perfect square.
16 CHAPTER 1. PROBLEMS

Problem 119 (Estonia National Olympiad Tenth Grade). Find all pairs of
integers (a, b) which satisfy

3(a2 + b2 ) − 7(a + b) = −4.

Problem 120 (Estonia Regional Olympiad Tenth Grade). Does the equation

x2 + y 2 + z 2 + w2 = 3 + xy + yz + zw

has a solution in which x, y, z, and w are different integers?

Problem 121 (Finland MAOL Competition). Let n be a positive integer. Find

all pairs (x, y) of positive integers such that

(4a − b)(4b − a) = 1770n .

Problem 122 (Germany National Olympiad First Round Eleventh/Twelfth

Grade). Consider the following system of equations:

2(z − 1) − x = 55,
4xy − 8z = 12,
a(y + z) = 11.

Find two largest real values for a for which there are positive integers x, y, and z
that satisfy the system of equations. In each of these solutions, determine xyz.

Problem 123 (Germany National Olympiad Second Round Tenth Grade). For
each of the following cases, determine whether there exist prime numbers x, y,
and z such that the given equality holds

(a) y = z 2 − x2 .

(b) x2 + y = z 4 .

(c) x2 + y 3 = z 4 .

Problem 124 (Germany National Olympiad Third Round Eleventh/Twelfth

Grade). Find all positive integers a and b which satisfy
 
ab + 1
= 2ab(a + b).
2

Problem 125 (Germany National Olympiad Fourth Round Ninth Grade). Find
all triples (a, b, c) of integers which satisfy

a3 + b3 = c3 + 1,
b2 − a2 = a + b,
2a3 − 6a = c3 − 4a2 .
1.2. DIOPHANTINE EQUATIONS 17

Problem 126 (Germany National Olympiad Fourth Round Eleventh Grade).

Find all positive integers m and n with m ≤ 2n which satisfy
   2
2n m
m· = .
n 2
Problem 127 (Greece). Find all triplets of nonnegative integers (x, y, z) and
x ≤ y such that
x2 + y 2 = 3 · 2016z + 77.
Link
Problem 128 (Hong Kong TST). Find all triples (m, p, q) such that
2m p2 + 1 = q 7 ,
where p and q are primes and m is a positive integer. Link
Problem 129 (IberoAmerican). Find all prime numbers p, q, r, k such that
pq + qr + rp = 12k + 1. Link
Problem 130 (Italy National Olympiad). Determine all pairs of positive inte-
gers (a, n) with a ≥ n ≥ 2 for which (a + 1)n + a − 1 is a power of 2. Link
Problem 131 (Junior Balkan Mathematical Olympiad). Find all triplets (a, b, c)
of integers such that the number
(a − b)(b − c)(c − a)
N= +2
2
is a power of 2016. Link
Problem 132 (Korea Winter Program Practice Test). Find all positive integers
a, b, m, and n such that
a2 + b2 = m2 − n2 , and
ab = 2mn.
Link
Problem 133 (Korea Winter Program Practice Test). Find all pairs of positive
integers (n, t) such that 6n + 1 = n2 t, and (n, 29 × 197) = 1. Link
Problem 134 (Korea National Olympiad Final Round). Prove that for all
x, y ∈ Q,
1 1
x− +y− =4
x y
is not true. Link
Problem 135 (Latvia National Olympiad). Two functions f : N → N and
g : N × N → N are defined by equations: f (a) = a2 + 3a + 2 and g(b, c) =
b2 − b + 3c2 + 3c. Prove that for any positive integer a there exist positive
integers b and c such that f (a) = g(b, c).
18 CHAPTER 1. PROBLEMS

Link
Problem 136 (Macedonian National Olympiad). Solve the equation in the set
of natural numbers 1 + xz + y z = lcm(xz , y z ). Link
Problem 137 (Macedonian National Olympiad). Solve the equation in the set
of natural numbers xyz + yzt + xzt + xyt = xyzt + 3. Link
Problem 138 (Macedonian Junior Mathematical Olympiad). Solve the equa-
tion

x41 + x42 + · · · + x414 = 20163 − 1

in the set of integers.

Problem 139 (Macedonian Junior Mathematical Olympiad). Solve the equa-
tion
2
x + y 2 + (gcd(x, y)) = xy · gcd(x, y)

in the set of positive integers.

Problem 140 (Middle European Mathematical Olympiad). For a positive in-
teger n, the equation a2 + b2 + c2 + n = abc is given in the positive integers.
Prove that:
1. There does not exist a solution (a, b, c) for n = 2017.
2. For n = 2016, a is divisible by 3 for all solutions (a, b, c).
3. There are infinitely many solutions (a, b, c) for n = 2016.

Link

Problem 141 (Netherlands TST). Find all positive integers k for which the
equation
lcm(m, n) − gcd(m, n) = k(m − n)
has no solutions for positive integers m and n with m 6= n. Link
Problem 142 (Norway Niels Henrik Abel Mathematics Competition Final
Round).
(a) Find all positive integers a, b, c, and d with a ≤ b and c ≤ d such that

a + b = cd,
c + d = ab.

(b) Find all non-negative integers x, y, and z such that

x3 + 2y 3 + 4z 3 = 9!.
1.2. DIOPHANTINE EQUATIONS 19

Problem 143 (Philippine Mathematical Olympiad Area Stage). Let a, b, and

c be three consecutive even numbers such that a > b > c. What is the value of
a2 + b2 + c2 − ab − bc − ac?
Problem 144 (Polish Mathematical Olympiad). There are given two positive
real numbers a and b with a < b. Show that there exist positive integers p, q, r,
and s satisfying the following conditions:
p r
1. a < < < b.
q s
2. p2 + q 2 = r2 + s2 .

Link

Problem 145 (Romania Imar Mathematical Competition). Determine all pos-

itive integers expressible, for every integer n ≥ 3, in the form
(a1 + 1)(a2 + 1) . . . (an + 1) − 1
,
a1 a2 . . . an
where a1 , a2 , . . . , an are pairwise distinct positive integers.
Problem 146 (Romanian Mathematical Olympiad District Round Grade 7).
Find all pairs of positive integers (x, y) such that
√ √ √
x + y = x + y + xy.

Problem 147 (Romanian Mathematical Olympiad District Round Grade 9).

Let a ≥ 2 be an integer. Prove that the following statements are equivalent:
(a) One can find positive integers b and c such that a2 = b2 + c2 .
(b) One can find a positive integer d such that the equations x2 − ax + d = 0
and x2 − ax − d = 0 have integer roots.
Problem 148 (Romanian Mathematical Olympiad Final Round Grade 5).
Find all the positive integers a, b, and c with the property a + b + c = abc.
Problem 149 (Romanian Mathematical Olympiad Final Round Grade 7).
Find all non-negative integers n such that
√ √
q
n+3+ n+ n+3

is an integer.
Problem 150 (Romanian Mathematical Olympiad Final Round Grade 9).
(a) Prove that 7 cannot be written as a sum of squares of three rational numbers.
(b) Let a be a rational number that can be written as a sum of squares of three
rational numbers. Prove that am can be written as a sum of squares of
three rational numbers, for any positive integer m.
20 CHAPTER 1. PROBLEMS

Problem 151 (Romanian National Mathematical Olympiad Juniors Short-

list).

(a) Prove that 2n + 3n + 5n + 8n is not a perfect square for any positive integer
n.

(b) Find all positive integers n so that

1n + 4n + 6n + 7n = 2n + 3n + 5n + 8n .

Problem 152 (Romanian National Mathematical Olympiad Juniors Shortlist).

Prove that 2n2 +27n+91 is a perfect square for infinitely many positive integers
n.

Problem 153 (Romanian National Mathematical Olympiad Seniors Shortlist).

Let p be a prime number and n1 , n2 , . . . , nk ∈ {1, 2, . . . , p − 1} be positive
integers. Show that the equation

xn1 1 + xn2 2 + · · · + xnk k = xpk+1

has infinitely many positive integer solutions.

Problem 154 (Romanian National Mathematical Olympiad Seniors Shortlist).

Let n ≥ 4 be a positive integer and define An = {1, 2, . . . , n − 1}. Find the
number of solutions in the set An × An × An × An of the system
(
x + z = 2y,
y + t = 2z.

Problem 155 (Romania TST for Junior Balkan Mathematical Olympiad). Let
n be a positive integer and consider the system
(
x2 + ny 2 = z 2
S(n) : ,
nx2 + y 2 = t2

where x, y, z, and t are naturals. If

• M1 = {n ∈ N : system S(n) has infinitely many solutions}, and

• M2 = {n ∈ N : system S(n) has no solutions},

prove that

(a) 7 ∈ M1 and 10 ∈ M2 .

(b) the sets M1 and M2 are infinite.

Link
1.2. DIOPHANTINE EQUATIONS 21

Problem 156 (Saudi Arabia IMO TST). Let k be a positive integer. Prove
that there exist integers x and y, neither of which divisible by 7, such that

x2 + 6y 2 = 7k .

Problem 157 (Slovakia Domestic Category B Mathematical Olympiad). Let

k, l, and m be positive integers such that
k + m + klm 2051
= .
lm + 1 44
Find all possible values for klm.
Problem 158 (Slovakia Domestic Category C Mathematical Olympiad). Find
all possible values for the product pqr, where p, q, and r are primes satisfying

p2 − (q + r)2 = 637.

Problem 159 (Slovakia Regional Round Category B Mathematical Olympiad).

Determine all positive integers k, l, and m such that
3l + 1 lm + 1
= .
3kl + k + 3 5lm + m + 5
Problem 160 (Slovenia National Math Olympiad First Grade). Find all rela-
tively prime integers x and y that solve the equation

4x3 + y 3 = 3xy 2 .

Problem 161 (Slovenia National Math Olympiad Fourth Grade). Find all
integers a, b, c, and d that solve the equation

a2 + b2 + c2 = d + 13,
d
a + 2b + 3c = + 13.
2
Problem 162 (Slovenia IMO TST, Romania JBMO TST 2015). Find all pos-
itive integers a, b, c, and d such that

4a · 5b − 3c · 11d = 1.

Problem 163 (Switzerland Final Round). Find all positive integers n for which
primes p and q exist such that

p(p + 1) + q(q + 1) = n(n + 1)

Problem 164 (Syria Central Round First Stage). A positive integer n ≥ 2 is

called special if n2 can be written as sum of n consecutive positive integers (for
instance, 3 is special since 32 = 2 + 3 + 4).
(i) Prove that 2016 is not special.
22 CHAPTER 1. PROBLEMS

(ii) Prove that the product of two special numbers is also special.
Problem 165 (Syria Central Round Second Stage). Find all integers a and b
such that a3 − b2 = 2.
Problem 166 (Syria TST). Find all positive integers m and n such that
1 1 3
+ = .
m n 2014
Problem 167 (Taiwan TST First Round). Find all ordered pairs (a, b) of
positive integers that satisfy a > b and the equation (a − b)ab = ab ba . Link
Problem 168 (Turkey TST for Junior Balkan Mathematical Olympiad). Find
all pairs (p, q) of prime numbers satisfying

p3 + 7q = q 9 + 5p2 + 18p.

Link
Problem 169 (Turkmenistan Regional Olympiad). Find all distinct prime
numbers p, q, r, s such that
1 1 1 1 1
1− − − − = .
p q r s pqrs
Link

Problem 170 (Tuymaada Senior League). For each positive integer k deter-
mine the number of solutions of the equation

8k = x3 + y 3 + z 3 − 3xyz

in non-negative integers x, y, and z such that 0 ≤ x ≤ y ≤ z.

Problem 171 (Ukraine TST for UMO). Solve the equation n(n2 + 19) =
m(m2 − 10) in positive integers. Link
1.3. ARITHMETIC FUNCTIONS 23

1.3 Arithmetic Functions

Problem 172 (Austria Federal Competition for Advanced Students Final Round).
Determine all composite positive integers n with the following property: If
1 = d1 < d2 < . . . < dk = n are all the positive divisors of n, then

(d2 − d1 ) : (d3 − d2 ) : · · · : (dk − dk−1 ) = 1 : 2 · · · : (k − 1).

Problem 173 (Austria Beginners’ Competition). Determine all nonnegative

integers n having two distinct positive divisors with the same distance from
n/3.

Problem 174 (Azerbaijan Balkan Math Olympiad First TST). Find all func-
tions f : N → N such that

f (f (n)) = n + 2015,

for all n ∈ N. Link

Problem 175 (Benelux). Let n be a positive integer. Suppose that its positive
divisors can be partitioned into pairs (i.e. can be split in groups of two) in such
a way that the sum of each pair is a prime number. Prove that these prime
numbers are distinct and that none of these are a divisor of n. Link

Problem 176 (CCA Math Bonanza). Compute

420
X
gcd(k, 420).
k=1

Link

Problem 177 (China South East Mathematical Olympiad). Let n be a positive

integer and let Dn be the set of all positive divisors of n. Define
X 1
f (n) = .
1+d
d∈Dn

Prove that for any positive integer m,

m
X
f (i) < m.
i=1

Link

Problem 178 (China TST). Set positive integer m = 2k · t, where k is a non-

negative integer, t is an odd number, and let f (m) = t1−k . Prove
Qn that for any
positive integer n and for any positive odd number a ≤ n, m=1 f (m) is a
multiple of a. Link
24 CHAPTER 1. PROBLEMS

Problem 179 (China TST). For any two positive integers x and d > 1, denote
by Sd (x) the sum of digits of x taken in base d. Let a, b, b0 , c, m, and q be
positive integers, where m > 1, q > 1, and |b − b0 | ≥ a. It is given that there
exists a positive integer M such that

Sq (an + b) ≡ Sq (an + b0 ) + c (mod m)

holds for all integers n ≥ M . Prove that the above equation is true for all
positive integers n. Link
Problem 180 (Estonia National Olympiad Eleventh Grade). Let n be a pos-
itive integer. Let δ(n) be the number of positive divisors of n and let σ(n) be
their sum. Prove that
2
(δ(n))
σ(n) > .
2
Problem 181 (European Mathematical Cup Juniors). Let d(n) denote the
number of positive divisors of n. For a positive integer n we define f (n) as

f (n) = d(k1 ) + d(k2 ) + · · · + d(km ),

where 1 = k1 < k2 < · · · < km = n are all divisors of the number n. We call an
integer n > 1 almost perfect if f (n) = n. Find all almos perfect numbers.
Problem 182 (Harvard-MIT Math Tournament). Denote by N the positive
integers. Let f : N → N be a function such that, for any w, x, y, z ∈ N,

f (f (f (z)))f (wxf (yf (z))) = z 2 f (xf (y))f (w).

Show that f (n!) ≥ n! for every positive integer n. Link

Problem 183 (IMC). Let k be a positive integer. For each nonnegative integer
n, let f (n) be the number of solutions (x1 , . . . , xk ) ∈ Zk of the inequality |x1 | +
... + |xk | ≤ n. Prove that for every n ≥ 1, we have f (n − 1)f (n + 1) ≤ f (n)2 .
Link
Problem 184 (India IMO Practice Test). We say a natural number n is perfect
if the sum of all the positive divisors of n is equal to 2n. For example, 6 is perfect
since its positive divisors 1, 2, 3, 6 add up to 12 = 2×6. Show that an odd perfect
number has at least 3 distinct prime divisors. Link
Problem 185 (India National Olympiad). Define a function T : N → N by
T (2k) = k and T (2k + 1) = 2k + 2. We write T 2 (n) = T (T (n)) and in general
T k (n) = T k−1 (T (n)) for any k > 1.
(i) Show that for each n ∈ N, there exists k such that T k (n) = 1.
(ii) For k ∈ N, let ck denote the number of elements in the set {n : T k (n) = 1}.
Prove that ck+2 = ck+1 + ck , for k ≥ 1.
1.3. ARITHMETIC FUNCTIONS 25

Link

Problem 186 (Latvia National Olympiad). Prove that among any 18 consec-
utive positive 3 digit numbers, there is at least one that is divisible by the sum
of its digits. Link
Problem 187 (Middle European Mathematical Olympiad). Find all f : N → N
such that f (a) + f (b) divides 2(a + b − 1) for all a, b ∈ N. Link
Problem 188 (Philippine Mathematical Olympiad Area Stage). Let sn be the
n
sum of the digits of a natural number n. Find the smallest value of if n is a
sn
four-digit number.
Problem 189 (Romanian Mathematical Olympiad Final Round Grade 6). We
will call a positive integer exquisite if it is a multiple of the number of its divisors
(for instance, 12 is exquisite because it has 6 divisors and 12 is a multiple of 6).
(a) Find the largest exquisite two digit number.
(b) Prove that no exquisite number has its last digit 3.
Problem 190 (Romanian National Mathematical Olympiad Small Juniors
Shortlist). For a positive integer n denote d(n) the number of its positive divisors
and s(n) their sum. It is known that n + d(n) = s(n) + 1, m + d(m) = s(m) + 1,
and nm + d(nm) + 2016 = s(nm). Find n and m.
Problem 191 (Romaina TST). Given a positive integer n, determine all func-
tions f from the first n positive integers to the positive integers, satisfying the
following two conditions:
n
X
1. f (k) = 2n, and
k=1
X
2. f (k) = n happens for no subset K of the first n positive integers.
k∈K

Link
Problem 192 (Serbia Additional TST). Let w(x) be largest odd divisor of x.
Let a, b be natural numbers such that (a, b) = 1 and a+w(b+1) and b+w(a+1)
are powers of two. Prove that a + 1 and b + 1 are powers of two. Link
Problem 193 (Slovakia Domestic Category B Mathematical Olympiad). A
positive integer has the property that the number of its even divisors is 3 more
than the number of its odd divisors. What is the ratio of sum of all even divisors
over the sum of all odd divisors of this number? Find all possible answers.
Problem 194 (Slovakia TST). Let n be a positive integer and let Sn be the
set of all positive divisors of n (including 1 and n). Prove that the rightmost
digit of more than half of the elements of Sn is 3.
26 CHAPTER 1. PROBLEMS

Problem 195 (Switzerland TST). Find all positive integers n such that
X
d2 = 5(n + 1).
d|n
1≤d≤n

Problem 196 (USA TSTST). Suppose that n and k are positive integers such
that
1 = ϕ(ϕ(. . . ϕ( n) . . . )).
| {z }
k times
k
Prove that n ≤ 3 . Link
1.4. POLYNOMIALS 27

1.4 Polynomials
Problem 197 (Brazil National Math Olympiad). Consider the second-degree
polynomial P (x) = 4x2 + 12x − 3015. Define the sequence of polynomials

P (x) P (Pn (x))

P1 (x) = and Pn+1 (x) =
2016 2016
for every integer n ≥ 1.
(a) Show that exists a real number r such that Pn (r) < 0 for every positive
integer n.
(b) Find how many integers m are such that Pn (m) < 0 for infinite positive
integers n.
Link
Problem 198 (Canada National Olympiad). Find all polynomials P (x) with
integer coefficients such that P (P (n) + n) is a prime number for infinitely many
integers n. Link
Problem 199 (China National Olympiad). Let p be an odd prime and a1 , a2 , . . . , ap
be integers. Prove that the following two conditions are equivalent:
p−1
1. There exists a polynomial P (x) with degree ≤ 2 such that P (i) ≡ ai
(mod p) for all 1 ≤ i ≤ p.
p−1
2. For any natural d ≤ 2 ,

p
X
(ai+d − ai )2 ≡ 0 (mod p),
i=1

where indices are taken modulo p.

Link

Problem 200 (ELMO). Big Bird has a polynomial P with integer coefficients
such that n divides P (2n ) for every positive integer n. Prove that Big Bird’s
polynomial must be the zero polynomial. Link
Problem 201 (International Olympiad of Metropolises). Let r(x) be a poly-
nomial of odd degree with real coefficients. Prove that there exist only finitely
many (or none at all) pairs of polynomials p(x) and q(x) with real coefficients
satisfying the equation (p(x))3 + q(x2 ) = r(x). Link
Problem 202 (Iran Third Round National Olympiad). Let F be a subset of
the set of positive integers with at least two elements and P be a polynomial
with integer coefficients such that for any two elements of F like a and b, the
following two conditions hold:
28 CHAPTER 1. PROBLEMS

(i) a + b ∈ F , and
(ii) gcd(P (a), P (b)) = 1.
Prove that P (x) is a constant polynomial. Link
Problem 203 (Iran Third Round National Olympiad). Let P be a polynomial
with integer coefficients. We say P is good if there exist infinitely many prime
numbers q such that the set

X = {P (n) mod q : n ∈ N}
q+1
has at least 2 members. Prove that the polynomial x3 + x is good. Link
Problem 204 (Iran Third Round National Olympiad). We call a function g
special if g(x) = af (x) (for all x) where a is a positive integer and f is polynomial
with integer coefficients such that f (n) > 0 for all positive integers n.
A function is called an exponential polynomial if it is obtained from the product
2
or sum of special functions. For instance, 2x 3x +x−1 + 52x is an exponential
polynomial.
Prove that there does not exist a non-zero exponential polynomial f (x) and a
non-constant polynomial P (x) with integer coefficients such that

P (n)|f (n)

for all positive integers n. Link

Problem 205 (Korea Winter Program Practice Test). Let p(x) be an irre-
ducible polynomial with integer coefficients, and q a fixed prime number. Let
an be the number of solutions of the equation

p(x) ≡ 0 (mod q n ).

Prove that we can find M such that {an }n≥M is constant. Link
Problem 206 (Pan-African Mathematical Olympiad). For any positive integer
n, we define the integer P (n) by

P (n) = n(n + 1)(2n + 1)(3n + 1) . . . (16n + 1)

Find the greatest common divisor of the integers P (1), P (2), P (3), . . . , P (2016).
Link
Problem 207 (Polish Mathematical Olympiad). Let p be a certain prime num-
ber. Find all non-negative integers n for which polynomial P (x) = x4 − 2(n +
p)x2 + (n − p)2 may be rewritten as product of two quadratic polynomials
P1 , P2 ∈ Z[X]. Link
Problem 208 (Romanian Mathematical Olympiad District Round Grade 8).
(a) Prove that for every integer k, the equation x3 − 24x + k = 0 has at most
one integer solution.
1.4. POLYNOMIALS 29

(b) Prove that the equation x3 +24x−2016 = 0 has exactly one integer solution.
Problem 209 (Taiwan TST Third Round). Let n be a positive integer. Find
the number of odd coefficients of the polynomial (x2 − x + 1)n . Link
Problem 210 (Taiwan TST Third Round). Let f (x) be the polynomial with
integer coefficients (f (x) is not constant) such that

(x3 + 4x2 + 4x + 3)f (x) = (x3 − 2x2 + 2x − 1)f (x + 1)

Prove that for each positive integer n ≥ 8, f (n) has at least five distinct prime
divisors. Link

Problem 211 (Turkey TST). Let p be a prime. Let Kp be the set of all
polynomials with coefficients from the set {0, 1, . . . , p − 1} and degree less than
p. Assume that for all pairs of polynomials (P, Q) ∈ Kp2 such that P (Q(n)) ≡ n
(mod p) for all integers n, the degrees of P and Q are equal. Determine all
primes p with this property. Link

Problem 212 (USA AIME). For polynomial P (x) = 1 − 31 x + 16 x2 , define

50
X
Q(x) = P (x)P (x3 )P (x5 )P (x7 )P (x9 ) = a i xi .
i=0

50
m
P
Then |ai | = n, where m and n are relatively prime positive integers. Find
i=0
m + n. Link

Problem 213 (USA TSTST). Decide whether or not there exists a non-
constant polynomial Q(x) with integer coefficients with the following property:
for every positive integer n > 2, the numbers

Q(0), Q(1), Q(2), . . . , Q(n − 1)

produce at most 0.499n distinct residues when taken modulo n. Link

30 CHAPTER 1. PROBLEMS

1.5 Digits
Problem 214 (Argentina Intercollegiate Olympiad Second Level). Find all
positive integers x and y which satisfy the following conditions:
1. x is a 4−digit palindromic number, and
2. y = x + 312 is a 5−digit palindromic number.
Note. A palindromic number is a number that remains the same when its digits
are reversed. For example, 16461 is a palindromic number.
Problem 215 (Bundeswettbewerb Mathematik). A number with 2016 zeros
that is written as 101010 . . . 0101 is given, in which the zeros and ones alternate.
Prove that this number is not prime. Link
Problem 216 (Caltech Harvey Mudd Math Competition (CHMMC) Fall). We
say that the string dk dk−1 · · · d1 d0 represents a number n in base −2 if each di is
either 0 or 1, and n = dk (−2)k + dk−1 (−2)k−1 + · · · + d1 (−2) + d0 . For example,
110−2 represents the number 2. What string represents 2016 in base −2? Link
Problem 217 (CentroAmerican). Find all positive integers n that have 4 digits,
all of them perfect squares, and such that n is divisible by 2, 3, 5, and 7. Link
Problem 218 (Croatia IMO TST, Bulgaria TST). Let p > 109 be a prime
number such that 4p + 1 is also a prime. Prove that the decimal expansion of
1
4p+1 contains all the digits 0, 1, . . . , 9. Link
Problem 219 (Germany National Olympiad Second Round Eleventh/Twelfth
Grade). The sequence x1 , x2 , x3 , . . . is defined as x1 = 1 and
xk+1 = xk + yk for k = 1, 2, 3, . . .
where yk is the last digit of decimal representation of xk . Prove that the sequence
x1 , x2 , x3 , . . . contains all powers of 4. That is, for every positive integer n, there
exists some natural k for which xk = 4n .
Problem 220 (Germany National Olympiad Fourth Round Tenth Grade1 ). A
sequence of positive integers a1 , a2 , a3 , . . . is defined as follows: a1 is a 3 digit
number and ak+1 (for k ≥ 1) is obtained by
ak+1 = ak + 2 · Q(ak ),
where Q(ak ) is the sum of digits of ak when represented in decimal system. For
instance, if one takes a1 = 358 as the initial term, the sequence would be
a1 = 358,
a2 = 358 + 2 · 16 = 390,
a3 = 390 + 2 · 12 = 414,
a4 = 414 + 2 · 9 = 432,
..
.
1 Thanks to Arian Saffarzadeh for translating the problem.
1.5. DIGITS 31

Prove that no matter what we choose as the starting number of the sequence,
(a) the sequence will not contain 2015.
(b) the sequence will not contain 2016.
Problem 221 (IberoAmerican). Let k be a positive integer and suppose that
we are given a1 , a2 , . . . , ak , where 0 ≤ ai ≤ 9 for i = 1, 2, . . . , k. Prove that
there exists a positive integer n such that the last 2k digits of 2n are, in the
following order, a1 , a2 , . . . , ak , b1 , b2 , . . . , bk , for some digits b1 , b2 , . . . , bk . Link
Problem 222 (India IMO Training Camp). Given that n is a natural number
such that the leftmost digits in the decimal representations of 2n and 3n are the
same, find all possible values of the leftmost digit. Link
Problem 223 (Middle European Mathematical Olympiad). A positive inte-
ger n is called Mozart if the decimal representation of the sequence 1, 2, . . . , n
contains each digit an even number of times. Prove that:
1. All Mozart numbers are even.
2. There are infinitely many Mozart numbers.

Link

Problem 224 (Philippine Mathematical Olympiad Area Stage). The 6 digit

number 739ABC is divisible by 7, 8, and 9. What values can A, B, and C take?
Problem 225 (Romanian Mathematical Olympiad District Round Grade 5).
If A and B are positive integers, then AB will denote the number obtained by
writing, in order, the digits of B after the digits of A. For instance, if A = 193
and B = 2016, then AB = 1932016. Prove that there are infinitely many perfect
squares of the form AB in each of the following situations:
(a) A and B are perfect squares.
(b) A and B are perfect cubes.
(c) A is a perfect cube and B is a perfect square.
(d) A is a perfect square and B is a perfect cube.
Problem 226 (Romanian Mathematical Olympiad District Round Grade 8).
For each positive integer n denote xn the number of the positive integers with
n digits, divisible by 4, formed with digits 2, 0, 1, or 6.
(a) Compute x1 , x2 , x3 , and x4 ;
(b) Find n so that
     
x2 x3 xn+1
1+ + + ··· + = 2016.
x1 x2 xn
32 CHAPTER 1. PROBLEMS

Problem 227 (Romanian National Mathematical Olympiad Small Juniors

Shortlist). Prove that there are no positive integers of the form

n = aa . . . a} +5a,
| {z k>1
k times

divisible by 2016.
Problem 228 (Romanian National Mathematical Olympiad Small Juniors
Shortlist). Find the smallest positive integer of the form

n = aa . . . a} +a(a − 2)2 ,
| {z k>1
k times

divisible by 2016.
Problem 229 (Romanian National Mathematical Olympiad Small Juniors
Shortlist). We will call a number good if it is a positive integer with at least two
digits and by removing one of its digits we get a number which is equal to the
sum of its initial digits (for instance, 109 is good: remove 9 to get 10 = 1+0+9).
(a) Find the smallest good number.
(b) Find how many numbers are good.
Problem 230 (Romanian National Mathematical Olympiad Small Juniors
Shortlist). A positive integer k will be called of type n (n 6= k) if n can be
obtained by adding to k the sum or the product of the digits of k.
(a) Show that there are at least two numbers of type 2016.
(b) Find all numbers of type 216.
Problem 231 (Romanian National Mathematical Olympiad Juniors Short-
list).
(a) Find all perfect squares of the form aabcc.
(b) Let n be a given positive integer. Prove that there exists a perfect square
of the form
· · · }c .
aab |cc {z
2n times

Problem 232 (Slovakia School Round Category C Mathematical Olympiad).

Find all four digit numbers abcd such that

abcd = 20 · ab + 16 · cd.

Problem 233 (Tuymaada Junior League). Is there a positive integer N > 1020
such that all its decimal digits are odd, the numbers of digits 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 in its
decimal representation are equal, and it is divisible by each 20−digit number
obtained from it by deleting digits? (Neither deleted nor remaining digits must
be consecutive.)
1.5. DIGITS 33

Problem 234 (Ukraine TST for UMO). Find all numbers n such, that in
[1, 1000] there exist exactly 10 numbers with digit sum equal to n. Link
Problem 235 (USA AIME). A strictly increasing sequence of positive integers
a1 , a2 , a3 , . . . has the property that for every positive integer k, the subsequence
a2k−1 , a2k , a2k+1 is geometric and the subsequence a2k , a2k+1 , a2k+2 is arith-
metic. Suppose that a13 = 2016. Find a1 . Link
Problem 236 (USAJMO). Prove that there exists a positive integer n < 106
such that 5n has six consecutive zeros in its decimal representation. Link
√
Problem 237 (USA TST). Let 3 = 1.b1 b2 b3 . . .(2) be the binary representa-
√
tion of 3. Prove that for any positive integer n, at least one of the digits bn ,
bn+1 , . . . , b2n equals 1. Link
34 CHAPTER 1. PROBLEMS

1.6 Sequences
Problem 238 (Argentina Intercollegiate Olympiad Third Level). Let a1 , a2 , . . . , a15
be an arithmetic progression. If the sum of all 15 terms is twice the sum of the
d
first 10 terms, find , where d is the common difference of the progression.
a1
Problem 239 (Baltic Way). Prove or disprove the following hypotheses.
(a) For all k ≥ 2, each sequence of k consecutive positive integers contains a
number that is not divisible by any prime number less than k.
(b) For all k ≥ 2, each sequence of k consecutive positive integers contains a
number that is relatively prime to all other members of the sequence.
Link
Problem 240 (Baltic Way). Let p > 3 be a prime such that p ≡ 3 (mod 4).
Given a positive integer a0 define the sequence a0 , a1 , . . . of integers by an =
n
a2n−1 for all n = 1, 2, . . . . Prove that it is possible to choose a0 such that the sub-
sequence aN , aN +1 , aN +2 , . . . is not constant modulo p for any positive integer
N. Link
Problem 241 (Bosnia and Herzegovina TST). We call an infinite sequence
a1 < a2 < a3 < · · · of positive integers nice if for every positive integer n, we
have
a2n = 2an .
Prove the following statements:
(a) If there is given a nice sequence {an }∞
n=1 and a prime number p > a1 , then
there exists some term of the sequence which is divisible by p.
(b) For every prime number p > 2, there exists a nice sequence such that no
terms of the sequence are divisible by p.
Link
Problem 242 (China Second Round Olympiad Second Test). Let p > 3 and
p + 2 be prime numbers and define the sequence {an }∞
n=1 by a1 = 2 and
j pa k
n−1
an = an−1 + , n = 2, 3, . . .
n
show that for any all n with 3 ≤ n ≤ p − 1, we have n|pan−1 + 1. Link
Problem 243 (China South East Mathematical Olympiad). Let {an } be a
sequence consisting of positive integers such that
n
X
n2 | ai and an ≤ (n + 2016)2
i=1

for all n ≥ 2016. Define bn = an+1 − an . Prove that the sequence {bn } is
eventually constant. Link
1.6. SEQUENCES 35

Problem 244 (China TST). Let c ≥ 2 and d ≥ 2 be positive integers. Let

{an } be the sequence satisfying a1 = c and an+1 = adn + c for n = 1, 2, . . . .
Prove that for any n ≥ 2, there exists a prime number p such that p | an and
p - ai for i = 1, 2, . . . , n − 1. Link

Problem 245 (Croatia First Round Competition). A sequence {an }∞

n=1 is de-
fined by a1 = a2 = 1, and

a22 a2 a2
an+1 = + 3 + ··· + n for n ≥ 2.
a1 a2 an−1

Find a2016 .

Problem 246 (ELMO). Cookie Monster says a positive integer n is crunchy

if there exist 2n real numbers x1 , x2 , . . . , x2n , not all equal, such that the sum
of any n of the xi ’s is equal to the product of the other n ones. Help Cookie
Monster determine all crunchy integers. Link

Problem 247 (Germany TST, Taiwan TST First Round, Slovakia TST). De-
termine all positive integers M such that the sequence a0 , a1 , a2 , . . . defined by

1
a0 = M + and ak+1 = ak bak c for k = 0, 1, 2, · · ·
2
contains at least one integer term. Link

Problem 248 (Greece TST). Given is the sequence {an }∞ n=0 which is defined
as follows: a0 = 3 and an+1 − an = n(an − 1) for all n ≥ 0. Determine all
positive integers m such that gcd(m, an ) = 1 for all n ≥ 0. Link
2
Problem 249 (Hong Kong Preliminary Selection Contest). Let a1 = 3 and
r
an 24an + 9 9
an+1 = + −
4 256 48
for all integers n ≥ 1. Find the value of

a1 + a2 + a3 + . . .

Problem 250 (India TST). Let n be a natural number. We define sequences

{ai }∞ ∞
i=0 and {bi }i=0 of integers as follows. We let a0 = 1 and b0 = n. For i > 0,
we let 
(2ai−1 + 1, bi−1 − ai−1 − 1) if ai−1 < bi−1 ,

(ai , bi ) = (ai−1 − bi−1 − 1, 2bi−1 + 1) if ai−1 > bi−1 ,

(ai−1 , bi−1 ) if ai−1 = bi−1 .


Given that ak = bk for some natural number k, prove that n + 3 is a power of

two. Link
36 CHAPTER 1. PROBLEMS

Problem 251 (India National Olympiad). Consider a non-constant arithmetic

progression a1 , a2 , . . . , an , . . .. Suppose there exist relatively prime positive in-
tegers p > 1 and q > 1 such that a21 , a2p+1 and a2q+1 are also the terms of the
same arithmetic progression. Prove that the terms of the arithmetic progression
are all integers. Link
Problem 252 (International Olympiad of Metropolises). Let a1 , a2 , . . . , an be
positive integers satisfying the inequality
n
X 1 1
≤ .
a
i=1 n
2

Every year, the government of Optimistica publishes its Annual Report with n
economic indicators. For each i = 1, 2, . . . , n,the possible values of the i − th
indicator are 1, 2, . . . , ai . The Annual Report is said to be optimistic if at least
n − 1 indicators have higher values than in the previous report. Prove that
the government can publish optimistic Annual Reports in an infinitely long
sequence. Link
∞
Problem 253 (Iran Third Round National Olympiad). A sequence P = {an }n=1
is called a permutation of natural numbers if for any natural number m, there
exists a unique natural number n such that an = m.
We also define Sk (P ) as

Sk (P ) = a1 + a2 + · · · + ak

(the sum of the first k elements of the sequence).

Prove that there exists infinitely many distinct permutations of natural num-
bers like P1 , P2 , . . . such that

Sk (Pi )|Sk (Pj )

holds for all positive integers i, j, and k with i < j.

Link
Problem 254 (Korea Summer Program Practice Test). An infinite sequence
{an }∞ 2
n=0 of real numbers satisfies an ≥ n for all n ≥ 0. Suppose that for any
two non-negative integers i and j, there exist non-negative integers k and l with
(i, j) 6= (k, l), l − k = j − i, and al − ak = aj − ai . Prove that an ≥ (n + 2016)2
for some n. Link
Problem 255 (Korea Winter Program Practice Test). Find all sequences {an }∞
n=0
that satisfy the following conditions.
1. an ∈ Z,
2. a0 = 0 and a1 = 1,
3. For infinitely many m, we have am = m, and
1.6. SEQUENCES 37

4. For every n ≥ 2,
{2ai − ai−1 : i = 1, 2, 3, · · · , n} ≡ {0, 1, 2, · · · , n − 1} (mod n).

Link
Problem 256 (Nordic Mathematical Competition). Determine all sequences
(an )2016
n=1 of non-negative integers such that all sequence elements are less than
or equal to 2016 and
i + j | iai + jaj
for all i, j ∈ {1, 2, . . . , 2016}.
Problem 257 (Romanian Masters in Mathematics). A cubic sequence is a
sequence of integers given by an = n3 + bn2 + cn + d, where b, c and d are integer
constants and n ranges over all integers, including negative integers.
(a) Show that there exists a cubic sequence such that the only terms of the
sequence which are squares of integers are a2015 and a2016 .
(b) Determine the possible values of a2015 · a2016 for a cubic sequence satisfying
the condition in part (a).
Link
Problem 258 (Romanian Mathematical Olympiad Final Round Grade 8).
Let n be a non-negative integer. We will say that the non-negative integers
x1 , x2 , . . . , xn have property (P ) if
x1 x2 . . . xn = x1 + 2x2 + · · · + nxn .
(a) Show that for every non-negative integer n, there exists n positive integers
with property (P ).
(b) Find all integers n ≥ 2 so that there exists n positive integers x1 , x2 , . . . , xn
with x1 < x2 < · · · < xn , having property (P ).
Problem 259 (Romanian Stars of Mathematics Senior Level). Let n be a
positive integer and let a1 , a2 , . . . , an be n positive integers. Show that
n √ n2
X ak X1
< .
1 + a1 + a2 + · · · + ak k
k=1 k=1

Problem 260 (Romania TST). Let n be a positive integer and let a1 , a2 , . . . , an

be pairwise distinct positive integers. Show that
n
X 1
< 4,
lcm(a1 , a2 , . . . , ak )
k=1

where lcm(a1 , a2 , . . . , ak ) is the least common multiple of the integers a1 , a2 , . . . , ak .

Link
38 CHAPTER 1. PROBLEMS

Problem 261 (Romania TST). Prove that:

(a) If {an }∞
n=1 is a strictly increasing sequence of positive integers such that
(a2n−1 + a2n )/an is constant as n runs through all positive integers, then
this constant is an integer greater than or equal to 4; and
(b) Given an integer N ≥ 4, there exists a strictly increasing sequence {an }∞
n=1
of positive integers such that (a2n−1 + a2n )/an = N for all indices n.
Link
Problem 262 (Saudi Arabia TST for Balkan Mathematical Olympiad). Let p
and q be given primes and the sequence {pn }∞ n=1 defined recursively as follows:
p1 = p, p2 = q, and pn+2 is the largest prime divisor of the number (pn + pn+1 +
2016) for all n ≥ 1. Prove that this sequence is bounded. That is, there exists
a positive real number M such that an < M for all positive integers n.
Problem 263 (Saudi Arabia IMO TST). Let n ≥ 3 be an integer and let
x1 , x2 , . . . , xn be n distinct integers. Prove that

(x1 − x2 )2 + (x2 − x3 )2 + · · · + (xn − x1 )2 ≥ 4n − 6.

Problem 264 (Saudi Arabia IMO TST). Define the sequence a1 , a2 , . . . as

follows: a1 = 1 and for every n ≥ 2, an = n − 2 if an−1 = 0 and an = an−1 − 1
otherwise. Find the number of 1 ≤ k ≤ 2016 such that there are non-negative
integers r and s and a positive integer n satisfying k = r + s and an+r = an + s.
Problem 265 (Serbia National Olympiad). Let a1 , a2 , . . . , a22016 be positive
integers not bigger than 2016. We know that for each n ≤ 22016 , a1 a2 . . . an + 1
is a perfect square. Prove that for some i , ai = 1. Link
Problem 266 (Spain National Olympiad). Two real number sequences are
given, one arithmetic {an }∞ ∞
n=1 and another geometric {gn }n=1 , none of which
is constant. We know that a1 = g1 6= 0, a2 = g2 and a10 = g3 . Find, with
proof, that for every positive integer p, there is a positive integer m such that
gp = am . Link
Problem 267 (Switzerland Final Round). Let {an }∞ n=1 be a sequence of pos-
itive integers defined by a1 = m and an = a2n−1 − 1 for n = 2, 3, 4, . . .. A pair
(ak , al ) is called interesting if
(i) 0 < l − k < 2016, and
(ii) ak divides al .
Prove that there exists a positive integer m such that the sequence an contains
no interesting pair.
Problem 268 (Taiwan TST Third Round). Let k be a positive integer. A
sequence a0 , a1 , . . . , an of positive integers (with n > 0) satisfies the following
conditions:
1.6. SEQUENCES 39

(i) a0 = an = 1;
(ii) 2 ≤ ai ≤ k for each k = 1, 2, . . . , n − 1
(iii) For each j = 2, 3, . . . , k, the number j appears ϕ(j) times in the sequence
a0 , a1 , . . . , an (ϕ(j) is the number of positive integers that do not exceed
j and are coprime to j);
(iv) For any i = 1, 2, . . . , n−1, gcd(ai−1 , ai ) = 1 = gcd(ai , ai+1 ), and ai divides
ai−1 + ai+1
There is another sequence b0 , b1 , . . . , bn of integers such that
bi+1 bi
>
ai+1 ai

for all i = 0, 1, . . . , n − 1. Find the minimum value for bn − b0 . Link

Problem 269 (USA AIME). The sequences of positive integers 1, a2 , a3 , . . . and
1, b2 , b3 , . . . are an increasing arithmetic sequence and an increasing geometric
sequence, respectively. Let cn = an + bn . There is an integer k such that
ck−1 = 100 and ck+1 = 1000. Find ck . Link
40 CHAPTER 1. PROBLEMS

1.7 Miscellaneous
Problem 270 (Azerbaijan Junior Mathematical Olympiad). Prove that if for
a real number a, a + a1 is an integer, then an + a1n is also an integer for any
positive integer n. Link

Problem 271 (Bundeswettbewerb Mathematik). There are n(n+1) 2 distinct

sums of two distinct numbers, if there are n numbers. For which n (n ≥ 3)
do there exist n distinct integers, such that those sums are n(n−1)
2 consecutive
numbers? Link

Problem 272 (Chile2 ). Find all prime numbers that do not have a multiple
ending in 2015.

Problem 273 (Chile). Find the number of different numbers of the form
i2
b c, where i = 1, 2, . . . , 2015.
2015
Link

Problem 274 (China South East Mathematical Olympiad). Define the sets

A = {a3 + b3 + c3 − 3abc : a, b, c ∈ N},

B = {(a + b − c)(b + c − a)(c + a − b) : a, b, c ∈ N},
P = {n : n ∈ A ∩ B, 1 ≤ n ≤ 2016}.

Find the number of elements of P . Link

Problem 275 (China TST). Does there exist two infinite sets S and T of
positive integers such that any positive integer n can be uniquely expressed in
the form
n = s1 t1 + s2 t2 + · · · + sk tk ,
where k is a positive integer dependent on n, s1 < s2 < · · · < sk are elements
of S, and t1 , t2 , . . . , tk are elements of T ? Link

Problem 276 (Croatia First Round Competition). Find all pairs (a, b) of pos-
itive integers such that 1 < a, b ≤ 100 and
1 1
+
loga 10 logb 10

is a positive integer.

Problem 277 (Croatia Final Round National Competition). Determine the

sum
22 + 1 32 + 1 1002 + 1
+ + · · · + .
22 − 1 32 − 1 1002 − 1
2 Thanks to Kamal Kamrava and Behnam Sajadi for translating the problem.
1.7. MISCELLANEOUS 41

Problem 278 (Estonia IMO TST First Stage). Prove that for every positive
integer n ≥ 3,
√ √ 3 √
2 · 3 · 4 · · · n−1 n > n.

Problem 279 (Estonia Regional Olympiad Twelfth Grade). Determine whether

the logarithm of 6 in base 10 is larger or smaller than 79 .
Problem 280 (Estonia Regional Olympiad Twelfth Grade). Find the largest
positive integer n so that one can select n primes p1 , p2 , . . . , pn (not necessarily
distinct) such that

p1 , p1 + p2 , . . . , p1 + p2 + · · · + pn

are all primes.

Problem 281 (Hong Kong (China) Mathematical Olympiad). Find all integral
ordered triples (x, y, z) such that
r r r
2015 2015 2015
+ +
x+y y+z x+z
is a positive integer. Link
Problem 282 (Hong Kong Preliminary Selection Contest). Let k be an integer.
If the equation
kx2 + (4k − 2)x + (4k − 7) = 0
has an integral root, find the sum of all possible values of k.
Problem 283 (Hong Kong Preliminary Selection Contest). An arithmetic se-
quence with 10 terms has common difference d > 0. If the absolute value of
each term is a prime number, find the smallest possible value of d.
Problem 284 (India TST). Let N denote the set of all natural numbers. Show
that there exists two nonempty subsets A and B of N such that
1. A ∩ B = {1},
2. Every number in N can be expressed as the product of a number in A and
a number in B,
3. Each prime number is a divisor of some number in A and also some number
in B,
4. One of the sets A and B has the following property: if the numbers in this
set are written as x1 < x2 < x3 < · · · , then for any given positive integer
M there exists k ∈ N such that xk+1 − xk ≥ M , and
5. Each set has infinitely many composite numbers.

Link
42 CHAPTER 1. PROBLEMS

Problem 285 (Korea Summer Program Practice Test). A finite set S of pos-
itive integers is given. Show that there is a positive integer N dependent only
on S, such that any x1 , x2 , . . . , xm ∈ S whose sum is a multiple of N , can be
partitioned into groups each of whose sum is exactly N . Note that the numbers
x1 , x2 , . . . , xm need not be distinct. Link
Problem 286 (Philippine Mathematical Olympiad Area Stage). Find the largest
number N so that
N
X 1 1
< .
n=5
n(n − 2) 4

Problem 287 (Romania Danube Mathematical Competition). Given an integer

n ≥ 2, determine the numbers that can be written in the form
k
X
ai−1 ai ,
i=2

where k is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and a1 , a2 , . . . , ak are positive

integers that add up to n.
Problem 288 (Romanian Mathematical Olympiad District Round Grade 7,).
Let
 
M = x1 + 2x2 + 3x3 + · · · + 2015x2015 : x1 , x2 , . . . , x2015 ∈ {−2, 3} .

Prove that 2015 ∈ M but 2016 6∈ M .

Problem 289 (Romanian Mathematical Olympiad District Round Grade 9,).
Let a and n be positive integers such that
(q )
√ √
n+ n = a ,

where {·} denotes the fractional part. Prove that 4a + 1 is a perfect square.
Problem 290 (Romanian Mathematical Olympiad Final Round Grade 5,).
Two positive integers x and y are such that
2010 x 2011
< < .
2011 y 2012
Find the smallest possible value of the sum x + y.
Problem 291 (Romanian Mathematical Olympiad Final Round Grade 7,).
Find all the positive integers p with the property that the sum of the first p
positive integers is a four-digit positive integer whose decomposition into prime
factors is of the form 2m 3n (m + n), where m and n are non-negative integers.
1.7. MISCELLANEOUS 43

Problem 292 (Romanian Stars of Mathematics Junior Level). Show that there
are positive odd integers m1 < m2 < · · · and positive integers n1 < n2 < · · ·
such that mk and nk are relatively prime and mkk − 2n4k is a perfect square for
each index k.

Problem 293 (Romanian Stars of Mathematics Junior Level). Given an integer

n ≥ 3 and
√ a permutation a1 , a2 , . . . , an of the first n positive integers, show that
at least n distinct residue classes modulo n occur in the list

a1 , a1 + a2 , . . . , a1 + a2 + · · · + an .

Problem 294 (Romania TST). Determine the integers k ≥ 2 for which the
sequence
 
2n
(mod k), n = 0, 1, 2, . . . ,
n
is eventually periodic.

Link

Problem

295 (Romania TST). Given positive integers k and m, show that m
and nk are coprime for infinitely many integers n ≥ k. Link

Problem 296 (Romaina TST). Given a positive √ integer n, show that for no
set of integers modulo n, whose size exceeds 1 + n + 4, it is possible that the
pairwise sums of unordered pairs be all distinct. Link

Problem 297 (All-Russian Olympiads, Grade 11). Let n be a positive integer

and let k0 , k1 , . . . , k2n be nonzero integers such that k0 + k1 + · · · + k2n 6= 0. Is
it always possible to find a permutation (a0 , a1 , . . . , a2n ) of (k0 , k1 , . . . , k2n ) so
that the equation

a2n x2n + a2n−1 x2n−1 + · · · + a0 = 0

does not have integer roots? Link

Problem 298 (Saudi Arabia Preselection Test). Let u and v be positive rational
numbers with u 6= v. Assume that there are infinitely many positive integers n
with the property that un − v n is an integer. Prove that u and v are integers.

Problem 299 (Saudi Arabia Preselection Test).

1. Prove that there are infinitely many positive integers n such that there
exists a permutation of 1, 2, 3, . . . , n with the property that the difference
between any two adjacent numbers is equal to either 2015 or 2016.

2. Let k be a positive integer. Is the statement in part 1 still true if we

replace the numbers 2015 and 2016 by k and k + 2016, respectively?
44 CHAPTER 1. PROBLEMS

Problem 300 (Saudi Arabia IMO TST). Find the number of permutations
(a1 , a2 , . . . , a2016 ) of the first 2016 positive integers satisfying the following two
conditions:
1. ai+1 − ai ≤ 1 for all i = 1, 2, . . . , 2015, and

2. There are exactly two indices i < j with 1 ≤ i < j ≤ 2016 such that ai = i
and aj = j.
Problem 301 (Saudi Arabia IMO TST). Call a positive integer N ≥ 2 special
if for every k such that 2 ≤ k ≤ N , N can be expressed as a sum of k positive
integers that are relatively prime to N (although not necessarily relatively prime
to each other). Find all special positive integers.
Problem 302 (Slovakia Regional Round Category C Mathematical Olympiad).
Find the least possible value of

3x2 − 12xy + y 4 ,

where x and y are non-negative integers.

Problem 303 (Slovenia IMO TST, Philippine 2015). Prove that for all positive
integers n ≥ 2,
r r r
1 1 3 2 n n − 1 n2
+ + + ··· + < .
2 2 3 n n+1
Problem 304 (Switzerland TST). Let n be a positive integer. We call a pair
of natural numbers incompatible if their greatest common divisor is equal to
1. Find the minimum value of incompatible pairs when one divides the set
{1, 2, . . . , 2n} into n pairs.
Problem 305 (Ukraine TST for UMO). Number 125 is written as the sum of
several pairwise distinct and relatively prime numbers, greater than 1. What is
the maximal possible number of terms in this sum? Link
Problem 306 (Zhautykov Olympiad). Suppose that a1 , a2 , . . . , a100 is a per-
mutation of 1, 2, . . . , 100. Define S1 = a1 , S2 = a1 + a2 , . . . , and S100 =
a1 + a2 + · · · + a100 . Find the maximum number of perfect squares among
the numbers Si , 1 ≤ i ≤ 100? Link
Problem 307 (Zhautykov Olympiad). We call a positive integer q a convenient
denominator for a real number α if
 
α − p  < 1
 
 q  10q

for some integer p. Prove that if two irrational numbers α and β have the same
set of convenient denominators, then either α + β or α − β is an integer. Link