March 7, 2022 17:13 Problems and Solutions in Mathematical. . .

- 9in x 6in b4278-Solch01 page 359

Solution 1
Concepts and Operations
of Sets

1. 983. Since A and B are subsets of U , it follows that

0 ≤ a ≤ 31, 1014 ≤ b ≤ 2012.
Hence, A ∩ B = {x|b − 1014 ≤ x ≤ a + 1981}, namely A ∩ B = {x|a ≤
x ≤ b.
Therefore, the length of A ∩ B is minimal if and only if a = 0 and
b = 2012 or a = 31 and b = 2014, and the minimum value is 1981 −
998 = 1014 − 31 = 983.
2. {−3, 0, 2, 6}. Apparently, every element of A appears three times in all
the three-element subsets of A. Hence,
3 (a1 + a2 + a3 + a4 ) = (−1) + 3 + 5 + 8 = 15.
This means that a1 + a2 + a3 + a4 = 5, so the four elements of A are
5−(−1) = 6, 5−3 = 2, 5−5 = 0, and 5−8 = −3, thus A = {−3, 0, 2, 6}.
3. By discussing the signs of x, y, and z, we find that the desired set is
{−3, −1, 1, 5}.
4. Since A∩ B ={2, 5}, we have 5 ∈ A, so a3 − 2a2 − a + 7 = 5, that is
(a − 2) a2 − 1 = 0, from which a = 2 or a = ±1.
If a = 2, then 5a − 5 = 5 and − 21 a2 + 32 a + 4 = 5, and the set B has
duplicating elements, which is impossible.
If a = 1, then A = {2, 4, 5} and B = {1, 0, 5, 12}. In this case,
A ∩ B = {5}, which is contradictory to the condition.

359
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360 Problems and Solutions in Mathematical Olympiad: High School 1

If a = −1, then A = {2, 4, 5} and B = {1, −10, 2, 4}. In this case,

A ∩ B = {2, 4}, which is also contradictory to the condition.
Therefore, such a real number a does not exist.
5. Since X is a set with at most two elements and X ∩ A = Ø, we have
/ X. Also X ⊆ {4, 10} since X ∩ B = X. If X = Ø, then p2 − 4q <
1, 7 ∈
2
0; if X = {4}, then x2 + px + q = (x − 4) , so p = −8 and q = 16; if
2 2
X = {10}, then x + px + q = (x − 10) , so p = −20 and q = 100; if
X = {4, 10}, then by Vieta’s theorem p = −14 and q = 40.
Therefore, (p, q) = (−8, 16) , (−20, 100) , (−14, 40), or any pair of real
numbers such that p2 < 4q.
6. With the graph of the function, we see that the value range of a is
(−∞, −1] ∪ [1, +∞).
7. Since y = b2 − 6b + 10 = (b − 3)2 + 1, when b = 4, 5, . . ., we see that y
takes the same values as the function in A when a = 1, 2, . . .. However,
when b = 3, we have y = 1 ∈ B, while 1 ∈ / A, so the relationship
between A and B is A  B.
8. Note that in the set N, the numbers x and y are both nonzero, so
by M = N it follows that lg(xy) = 0, namely xy = 1, so 1 ∈ N . If
y = 1, then x = 1, thus N = {0, 1, 1}, which is impossible. Similarly,
if x = 1 then y = 1, and we also get a contradiction. If x = −1, then
y = −1, which is valid. Therefore,
     
1 1 1
x+ + x2 + 2 + · · · + x2006 + 2006 = 0.
y y y
9. By 1 ≤ a ≤ b ≤ 2, we have a3 + b ≤ 31 + 2 = 5. When a = 1 and b = 2,
the maximum value M = 5. On the other hand, since

3 3 3 √
+b≥ +a≥2 · a = 2 3,
a a a
√ √
√ m = 2 3, attained when a = b = 3. Therefore,
the minimum value
M − m = 5 − 2 3.
10. (1) Since s, t ∈ A, we can assume that s = m21 + n21 and t = m22 + n22 ,
where m1 , n1 , m2 and n2 are integers. Hence,
  
st = m21 + n21 m22 + n22
2 2
= m21 m2 + n21 n2 + m21 n22 + n21 m22
= (m1 m2 + n1 n2 )2 + (m1 n2 − n1 m2 )2 ,

which implies that st ∈ A.

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Solutions: 1. Concepts and Operations of Sets 361

(2) Since s, t ∈ A, by (1) we have st ∈ A, so we may assume that

st = m2 + n2 , where m and n are integers. For t
= 0,

s st m2 n2  m 2  n 2
= 2 = 2 + 2 = + ,
t t t t t t

where m n
t and t are rational numbers, and the assertion follows.
11. Note that for any integer x, if x ≡ 0, ±1, ±2, ±3 (mod 7), then
x2 ≡ 0, 1, 4, 2 (mod 7). This shows that if x, y ∈ Z and x2 + y 2 ≡ 0
(mod 7), then x ≡ y ≡ 0 (mod 7). From this property, the set S may
contain all the integers in 1, 2, . . . , 50 that are not divisible by 7 and
one integer that is divisible by 7. Therefore, the maximum value of |S|
is 44.
12. First, if x, y ∈ M (x < y), then x + 1, x + 2, . . . , y − 1 all belong to M .
x+y x2 +y 2
In fact, if y − x ≥ 2, then x + 1 ≤ 2 < 2 < y, so

 
x2 + y 2
x+1≤ ≤ y − 1.
2

x2 +y 2
This means that the interval [x, y] contains the integer 2 .
Therefore, any two adjacent numbers have their difference at most 2.
Hence, 2, 3, . . . , 2005 ∈ M . If p ≥ 2008 and p ∈ M , then 2007 ∈ M ,
which is a contradiction. Therefore, M = {1, 2, . . . , 2006} and the num-
ber of nonempty subsets of M is 22006 − 1.
13. It follows that if x ∈ Si and y ∈ Sj , then y − x ∈ Sk , so (y − x) − y =
−x ∈ Si . This means that Si has nonnegative numbers, hence each of
S1 , S2 and S3 contains nonnegative numbers. If one of the sets contains
0, say 0 ∈ S1 , then x − 0 ∈ S3 for each x ∈ S 2 , so S2 ⊆ S3 . For each
y ∈ S 3 we also have y − 0 ∈ S2 , thus S3 ⊆ S2 , and necessarily S2 = S3 .
Therefore, it suffices to show that one of the sets contains the number 0.
In fact, if none of them contains 0, then choose the smallest positive
integer a in S1 ∪ S 2 ∪ S3 and assume that a ∈ S1 . Also choose the
smallest positive integer b in S2 ∪ S3 and assume that b ∈ S2 . If a = b,
then b − a = 0 ∈ S3 , a contradiction. If b > a, then 0 < b − a < b
and b − a ∈ S3 , contradictory to the assumption on b. Therefore, one
of S1 , S 2 , and S3 contains 0, and the assertion follows.
14. Note that (A ∪ B) ∩ C = (A ∩ C) ∪ (B ∩ C), while A  ∩ C and B ∩
C are the solution sets to the systems of equations ax +y =1
x2 + y 2 = 1
and
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362 Problems and Solutions in Mathematical Olympiad: High School 1


x + ay = 1
x2 + y 2 = 1 , respectively. Solving the equations, we get

  
2a 1 − a2
A ∩ C = (0, 1) , , ,
1 + a2 1 + a2
  
1 − a2 2a
B ∩ C = (1, 0) , , .
1 + a2 1 + a2

Discussing different cases, we conclude that when a = 0 and 1, the√set

(A ∪ B) ∩ C contains exactly two elements, and when a = −1 ± 2,
the set contains exactly three elements.
15. Since A ∩ B = {a1 , a4 }, it follows that a1 and a4 are both perfect
squares. Since a1 + a4 = 10, the only possibility is a1 = 1 and a4 = 9.
Then by a4 < a5 we have a5 > 9. On the other hand, the sum of
numbers in A ∪ B is 224, thus

a25 ≤ 224 − 92 − (1 + 9) − 22 − 32 − (2 + 3),

which means that a5 < 11, so a5 = 10. In this case, a22 + a23 + a2 + a3 =
32, and one of a2 and a3 is 3. Therefore, a2 = 3 and a3 = 4, and
A = {1, 3, 4, 9, 10}.
16. Note that the set {1, 2, 3; 17 ∼ 80; 401 ∼ 2000} has no two numbers such
that one is equal to five times the other. Hence, the maximum value of
|A| is at least 1667. On the other hand, suppose A is such a subset of
{1, 2, . . . , 2000} and |A| ≥ 1668. Note that the set {1, 2, . . . , 2000} has
1331 integers excluding the following pairs: (1, 5) (2, 10) , (3, 15) , (k, 5k)
and (t, 5t), where 4 ≤ k ≤ 16 and 81 ≤ t ≤ 400. This implies that A
contains at least 337 numbers in the above pairs, so two of them are in
the same pair, which is a contradiction.
17. We claim that for each element a in A1 , this a belongs to at most
29 sets apart from A1 . Suppose not. Then assume that a ∈ Ai for
i = 1, 2, . . . , 31. Since A1 ∩ A2 ∩ · · · ∩ An = Ø, there exists j ≥ 32
such that a ∈ / Aj . Then using property (2) we see that any two of
A1 , . . . , A31 have no common elements other than a. Also by (2), we
see that Ai ∩ Aj has one element for i = 1, 2, . . . , 31, which implies that
Aj has at least 31 elements, a contradiction.
Therefore, each element of A1 belongs to at most 29 other sets, hence
n ≤ 29 × 30 + 1 = 871. Next, we construct 871 sets satisfying the
conditions.
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Solutions: 1. Concepts and Operations of Sets 363

Let A = {a1 , a2 , . . . , a29 } and Bi = {a0 , ai,1 , ai,2 , . . . , ai,29 } with 1 ≤

i ≤ 29;
 
Ai,j = {ai } ∪ ak,j+(k−1)(i−1) |k = 1, 2, . . . , 29 with 1 ≤ i, j ≤ 29.
Here ak,s = ak,s+29 while others are different elements if they have
different indices. Thus, we have constructed 292 + 29 + 1 = 871 sets.
It is easy to verify that A ∩ B, A ∩ Ai,j , Bi ∩ Bj , Br ∩ Ai,j , Ai,j ∩ As,j
are all one-element sets, and for i
= s and j
= t,
 
Ai,j ∩ As,t = ak,j+(k−1)(i−1) .
where k is the unique solution to the congruence equation
(x − 1) (i − s) ≡ t − j(mod 29).
18. Note that 2000 = 11 × 181 + 9. We choose A = {x|x = 11t + 1, 11t + 4,
11t + 6, 11t + 7, 11t + 9, 0 ≤ t ≤ 181, t ∈ Z}. Then the difference
between any two numbers of A is not 4 or 7. Therefore, the maximum
value of |A| is at least 5 × 182 = 910. On the other hand, let A be
a set satisfying the condition with |A| > 910, then there exists some
t such that the set {x|x = 11t + r, 1 ≤ r ≤ 11} contains at least six
numbers in A. We show that this is impossible. By subtracting 11t
from each of the six numbers, we see that six numbers are in A among
1, 2, . . . , 11. In fact, we can arrange the eleven numbers on a circle as
1, 5, 9, 2, 6, 10, 3, 7, 11, 4, 8, 1. Any two adjacent numbers differ by 4 or
7, and it is impossible to choose six numbers such that no two of them
are adjacent. Therefore, the maximum value of |A| is 910.
19. We discuss different cases as follows, based on the number of elements
in T .
If |T | = 2, then there is only one such T , that is {Ø, A}.
If |T | = 3, then the collection T can be {Ø, A, {a1 }}, {Ø, A, {a2 }},
{Ø, A, {a3 }}, {Ø, A, {a1 , a2 }}, {Ø, A, {a2 , a3 }}, {Ø, A, {a1 , a3 }}, with
six possibilities in all.
If |T | = 4, then since the intersection and union of any two
members of T also belong to T , the two members apart from Ø
and A have two patterns: one is a proper subset of the other, like
{Ø, A, {a1 } , {a1 , a3 }}; or the two sets are disjoint and their union is A,
like {Ø, A, {a1 } , {a2 , a3 }}. There are 2 × 3 + 3 = 9 such collections.
If |T | = 5, then the three members apart from Ø and A have the
following two patterns: one of them is a proper subset of the other two,
like {Ø, A, {a1 }, {a1 , a2 }, {a1 , a3 }}, and there are three such collections;
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364 Problems and Solutions in Mathematical Olympiad: High School 1

or one of them contains the other two, like {Ø, A, {a1 }, {a2 }, {a1 , a2 }},
and there are three such collections. Hence, there are six collections in
this case.
If |T | = 6, then T has the form {Ø, A, {a1 } , {a2 } , {a1 , a2 } , {a1 , a3 }},
and there are six such collections.
If |T | = 7, then such T does not exist.
If |T | = 8, then T is the collection of all subsets of A, and there is
only one possibility.
Overall, there are 29 such collections.
20. (1) We show by induction that there exists such a sequence of subsets
A1 , A2 , . . . , A2n , with A1 = {1} and A2n = Ø.
When n = 2, the sequence {1} , {1, 2} , {2} , Ø satisfies the con-
ditions.
Suppose such a sequence exists when n = k, written as B1 , B2 ,
. . . , B2k . For n = k + 1, we construct a sequence as follows:
A1 = B1 = {1} ; Ai = Bi−1 ∪ {k + 1} , i = 2, 3, . . . , 2k + 1; Aj =
Bj−2k , j = 2k + 2, 2k + 3, . . . , 2k+1 .
It is simple to verify that the sequence A1 , A2 , . . . , A2k+1 satisfies
the conditions. Therefore, such a sequence exists for each integer
n ≥ 2.
(2) Without loss of generality assume that A1 = {1}. Since the number
of integers in two adjacent sets differ by 1, it follows that one of
2n i
them is odd and the other is even. Hence, (−1) S (Ai ) =
  i=0
A∈P S (A) − A∈Q S(A), where P is the collection of all subsets
of {1, 2, . . . , n} whose number of integers is even, and Q is the
collection of all subsets of {1, 2, . . . , n} whose number of integers is
odd.  
For each x ∈ {1, 2, . . . , n}, it appears exactly n−1 k−1 times
in all the k-integer subsets, so its contribution in the expression
 
A∈P S (A) − A∈Q S(A) is
n
C0n−1 + C1n−1 − C2n−1 + · · · + (−1) Cn−1
n−1
n−1
= − (1 − 1) = 0.
2n i
Therefore, i=0 (−1) S (Ai ) = 0.