Each year a committee appointed by the Unione Matematica Italiana, called “Pro-

getto Olimpiadi della Matematica”, organizes the selection process of the Italian
team for the International Mathematical Olympiad. The program is sponsored by
the Italian Ministry of Education and is actively supported by a large number of
mathematics teachers throughout the country. The selection process consists of four
steps:
1. Giochi di Archimede: this is a popular competition (with about 200,000 par-
ticipants) held in November. The students take the test in their own schools.
It consists of 16 to 20 multiple choice questions, which are meant to be suit-
able for a large number of students and mainly require ingenuity rather than
technical ability. This competition has two levels: junior (ages 14-16) and
senior (ages 16-19).
2. Gara di secondo livello: this competition is held in February in about one hun-
dred locations in Italy. Only the best students from “I giochi di Archimede”
are admitted. The test consists of three kinds of problems: multiple choice
questions, problems that require a numerical answer, and problems that re-
quire a mathematical proof.
3. Olimpiadi Italiane di Matematica: this competition is held at the beginning of
May in Cesenatico, a town on the Adriatic coast, among the 300 best students
of step 2. Students are invited for a three day event, but the competition
itself is held on just one day. The test consists of 6 problems that require a
mathematical proof, to be solved in 4 hours and a half. At the end there is an
award ceremony in the style of the IMO.
4. Practice for the Team Selection: for the best students from the Olimpiadi Ital-
iane di Matematica three one-week-long practice stages are held, in September,
January and May. The last stage ends with the Team Selection Test, a two-day
competition in the style of the Olympiads.
This booklet collects all the problems given during the selection process for the 2018
I.M.O. in Cluj-Napoca. For the problems in the first two sections we only include
the answers and some sketches of the required proofs. We provide full solutions for
all the problems from the “Olimpiadi Italiane di Matematica”.

Pavia, 13 June 2018 Ludovico Pernazza

chairman of the Committee
Progetto Olimpiadi della Matematica
I Giochi di Archimede
23 November 2017
Problems for junior students
1 What is the hundreds digit of 52017 ?
(A) 5 (B) 2 (C) 1 (D) 3 (E) 6
2 Around a table sit 4 people, each of whom may be either a knight (who always
tells the truth) or a knave (who always lies). Each person says, “Of the three other
people sitting at this table with me, exactly two are knaves.” What is the total
number of knaves sitting at the table? (A) none (B) definitely 2
(C) definitely all 4 (D) definitely 1
(E) it cannot be determined from the information provided
3 How many are the pairs of positive integers (m, n) such that mn = 212 ?
(A) 2 (B) 1 (C) 3 (D) 6 (E) 4
4 There are 2017 rooms in a row. The first contains 2017 people and all the others
are initially empty. Every minute, if a room contains more than one person, one
person in that room at random moves to the next room. After 1001 minutes, how
many of the rooms will be empty?
(A) 1017 (B) 1515 (C) 1016 (D) 1517 (E) 1015
5 Let n be an integer that is a multiple of 1000 but not of 10000. Which of the
following statements is certainly true?
(A) n/3 is a number whose integer part ends with the digits 333 or 666.
(B) n/8 is an integer that ends with the digits 25 or 75.
(C) n/125 is an integer that ends with the digits 8 or 6.
(D) n is divisible by 16. (E) None of the above.
6 Marco writes down the integers from 1 to 64 (inclusive) in a row. Then he begins
to erase some: he erases the number 1, leaves the number 2, erases 3, leaves 4, etc.
Once he has reached the end of the row, he starts again going backwards, erasing
the first number he finds among those remaining, leaving the second, etc. He keeps
going back and forth, erasing every other number, until only one is left. What is
this last number?
(A) 22 (B) 14 (C) 6 (D) 54 (E) 38
7 The six semicircles shown in the figure to the side
all have 1 cm radii. What is the area of the shaded
shape in cm2 ?
(A) 8 + 3π/4 (B) 9 + π/2 (C) 9 + π/3
(D) 6 + 3π/2 (E) 10 + π/6
8 How many are the pairs of positive integers (a, b), with a < b, such that
GCD(a, b) = 2 and lcm(a, b) = 60?
(A) 0 (B) 4 (C) 3 (D) 2 (E) 6
2

9 Let ABC be a triangle and let D be a point on the side BC. Suppose that
BAD
’ = ACD’ and CAD’ = ABD. ’ Which of the following statements is certainly
true?

(A) ABC is an equilateral triangle (B) ABC is an obtuse triangle

(C) ABC is an isosceles triangle (D) ABC is a scalene triangle
(E) ABC is a right triangle

10 How many prime numbers are there such that if you erase any group of digits,
not necessarily consecutive, (without erasing the all) and read the remaining digits
in order, you obtain another prime number?

(A) 7 (B) 3 (C) 5 (D) 8 (E) 10

11 The triangle ABC has area 60 m2 . Let D, E be points on AB such that AD =

DE = EB and let F , G, H be points on AC such that AF = F G = GH = HC.
What is the area of the triangle AEH?

(A) 20 m2 (B) 45 m2 (C) 30 m2 (D) 40 m2 (E) 24 m2

12 Andrea and Chiara play a game where they repeatedly roll a die. Every time
the result is odd Andrea gains a point, and when it is even Chiara gains a point.
The winner is the first player to reach 5 points. After 6 rolls, Andrea is winning 4
to 2. What is the probability that Chiara will win?

(A) 1/8 (B) 1/3 (C) 1/6 (D) 1/4 (E) 1/5

13 A one liter bottle of orange-flavored beverage contains 80% water and 20%
orange juice. Gianni wants to replace some of the beverage in the bottle with
orange juice, in order to obtain a new beverage that is 50% orange juice. How many
milliliters of the initial beverage must Gianni replace with orange juice?

(A) 300 (B) 400 (C) 375 (D) 320 (E) 350

14 The isosceles trapezoid ABCD, with bases AB and CD, is inscribed in a circle of
radius 13 m. The center of the circle lies inside the trapezoid ABCD and AB = 24
m, CD = 10 m. What is the area of ABCD?

(A) 272 m2 (B) 289 m2 (C) 170 m2 (D) 306 m2 (E) 340 m2

15 Caterina starts writing down all the integers, one after the other:
12345678910111213... What will be the 2017th digit?

(A) 8 (B) 5 (C) 1 (D) 7 (E) 2

 3

16 After drawing the triangular figure shown 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

to the side, Alberto fills in the circles of the
2 6 12 ... ... ...
top row with the integers from 1 to 7. Then
he fills in the other circles with the product of 12 ... ... ... ...
the numbers in the two circles above it, which
are connected to it with an arrow (therefore ... ... ... ...

obtaining 2, 6, 12, ... and so on). With how ... ... ...
many zeros will the number in the bottommost
circle end? ... ...
(A) 15 (B) 12 (C) 16 (D) 13
...
(E) 14

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
A D B C A C D E B D A E B D E C
4

Problems for senior students

1 How many are the pairs of positive integers (m, n) such that mn = 224 ?
(A) 2 (B) 8 (C) 1 (D) 6 (E) 4
2 Six years ago, Anna was five times as old as her son Mario. Now she is three
times as old as Mario. In how many years will Anna be twice as old as Mario?
(A) 8 (B) 6 (C) 10 (D) 9 (E) 12
3 A factorial, denoted by n!, is the product of the positive integers from 1 to n.
For example, 4! = 1 · 2 · 3 · 4. Consider H = 1! + 2! + 3! + 4! + ... + 2016! + 2017! (a
sum with 2017 addends). What is the tenths digit of H?
(A) 5 (B) 7 (C) 1 (D) 3 (E) 6
4 Around a table sit 6 people, each of whom may be either a knight (who always tells
the truth) or a knave (who always lies). Each person says, “Of my two neighbors
and the person sitting directly opposite me, exactly two out of three are knaves.”
What is the total number of knights sitting at the table?
(A) none (B) 1 (C) 3 (D) 4
(E) it cannot be determined from the information provided
D C
5 In the figure to the side, ABCD is a square with E

side length 2 cm and ABE and CDF are equilateral

triangles. What is the area of the quadrilateral F GEH H G
in cm2√? √ √ √
(A) 8 4 3 (B) 2 3 3 (C) 8 3 3 −4 (D) 2 3 3 −1
(E) 12
F
A B

6 A 33 cl bottle of orange-flavored beverage contains 75% water and 25% orange

juice. Enrica wants to replace some of the beverage in the bottle with orange juice,
in order to obtain a new beverage that is 50% orange juice. How many centiliters
of the initial beverage must Enrica replace with orange juice?
(A) 8,25 (B) 10 (C) 9, 75 (D) 12 (E) 11
7 Carlo writes down the integers from 1 to 128 (inclusive) in a row. Then he begins
to erase some: he erases the number 1, leaves the number 2, erases 3, leaves 4, etc.
Once he has reached the end, of the row, he starts again going backwards, erasing
the first number he finds among those remaining, leaving the second, etc. He keeps
going back and forth, erasing every other number, until only one is left. What is
this last number?
(A) 86 (B) 54 (C) 70 (D) 22 (E) 38
8 How many are the pairs of positive integers (a, b), with a < b, such that
GCD(a, b) = 2 and lcm(a, b) = 660?
(A) 0 (B) 8 (C) 3 (D) 10 (E) 5
9 Let LM N be a triangle and let P be a point on the side M N . Suppose that
M
’ LP = LN
’ P and N
’ LP = LM’ P . Which of the following statements is false?
 5

MN
(A) LN > LP (B) M N · LP > LM · LN (C) LP ≤ 2
(D) LM < M N (E) M P · N P = LP 2
10 At 12 : 00 : 00 the hour hand and the minute hand of a clock overlap. After how
many minutes will they be aligned and opposite each other for the first time?
(A) around 30 (B) around 98 (C) around 100 (D) around 33
(E) around 34
11 Silvia and Luigi play a game where they repeatedly roll a die. Every time the
result is odd Silvia gains a point, and when it is even Luigi gains a point. The
winner is the first player to reach 5 points. After 5 rolls, Silvia is winning 4 to 1.
What is the probability that Silvia will win?
(A) 4/5 (B) 5/6 (C) 7/8 (D) 3/4 (E) 15/16
12 The triangle ABC has area 60 m2 . Let D, E be points on AC such that AD =
DE = EC and let F , G, H be points on AB such that AF = F G = GH = HB.
What is the area of the triangle DEG?
(A) 20 m2 (B) 15 m2 (C) 10 m2 (D) 12 m2 (E) 18 m2
13 Each month, for every chess player a score indicating their current skill level is
calculated from their results and publicly released. Gerardo is about to participate
in a chess tournament with 64 contestants. It is a single-elimination tournament (it
opens with the 32nd finals, then the 16th finals, then the eighth finals, etc.): the
winner moves to the next round, while the loser is eliminated (if there is a draw,
they play again). The previous tournament was rather lacking in surprises: every
match was won by the player with the higher score. Before the bracket is drawn (this
is done randomly among all contestants), Gerardo looks up all the other players’
scores (which are all different) and concludes that, if this tournament unfolds as the
previous one did, he can at most reach the semifinals. It follows that, among the
contestants in the tournament, Gerardo’s score...
(A) could be in any position after the 32nd
(B) could be in any position from the 32nd to the 48th (inclusive)
(C) could be in any position before the 50th
(D) could be in any position before the 49th
(E) could be in any position from the 34th to the 49th (inclusive)
14 A square ABCD with side length 2 cm is inscribed D C

in a circle. Four rectangles are inscribed in the circu-

lar segments defined by the sides of the square. What
must be the length, in cm, of each side of these rect-
angles√in order for them to be squares?
(A) 2/4 (B) 1/3 (C) 3/8 (D) 2/5
A B
(E) 1/4
15 How many prime numbers are there such that if you erase any group of digits,
not necessarily consecutive, (without erasing the all) and read the remaining digits
6

in order, you obtain another prime number?

(A) 8 (B) 10 (C) 5 (D) 7 (E) 3
16 Consider a 7 × 7 grid, and consider the squares
(1 × 1 to 7 × 7) formed by the boxes of the grid. How
many of these squares contain the box at the center of
the grid?
(A) 50 (B) 30 (C) 44 (D) 42 (E) 28
17 Carolina starts writing down all the even integers, one after the other: 246810121416...
What will be the 2017th digit?
(A) 8 (B) 7 (C) 2 (D) 5 (E) 1
18 In a polynomial of degree 5 p(x) = ax5 + bx4 + cx3 + dx2 + ex + f , each of the
coefficients a, b, c, d, e, f is either 1 or −1. Knowing that p(2) = 11, what is the
value of p(3)?
(A) 178 (B) 244 (C) 126 (D) 142 (E) 196
19 After drawing the triangular figure shown 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
to the side, Roberto fills in the circles of the 2 6 12 ... ... ... ...
top row with the integers from 1 to 8. Then
he fills in the other circles with the product of 12 ... ... ... ... ...

the numbers in the two circles above it, which ... ... ... ... ...
are connected to it with an arrow (therefore
... ... ... ...
obtaining 2, 6, 12, ... and so on). With how
many zeros will the number in the bottommost ... ... ...
circle end? ... ...
(A) 35 (B) 36 (C) 34 (D) 32
...
(E) 33
20 Given a rectangle ABCD, let P be a point on the side CD. The line AP
intersects the line BC in T . Calling M the midpoint of the side BC, we know that
AP
÷ M = 2 AT ’ C. Knowing that the triangle CP T has area 10 cm2 , what is the area
of the rectangle ABCD?
(A) 90 cm2 (B) 120 cm2 (C) 60 cm2 (D) 80 cm2 (E) 160 cm2

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
E C A B E A B C E D C B D E C A B A D E
Gara di secondo livello
22 February 2018

1 A mathematical competition consists of 90 multiple choice questions. Camilla

answers all of them; given that 5 points are awarded for each correct answer and one
point is deducted for each wrong one, which of the following cannot be Camilla’s
final score?
(A) −78 (B) 116 (C) 204 (D) 318 (E) 402

2 How many sequences of zeros and ones of length 8 contain the substring 01?
(A) 64 (B) 128 (C) 192 (D) 247 (E) 255

3 Let ABC be an isosceles triangle with base BC = 10 and AB = AC. Two other
isosceles triangles DAB and EAC, both similar to ABC, are constructed externally
on sides AB and AC, so that DA = DB and EA = EC. Given that DE = 45,
what is the length of AB?
√
(A) 15 (B) 20 (C) 9 5 (D) 22.5
(E) It cannot be determined from the information provided

4 Given two positive real numbers a, b let

ab + 1
a?b= .
a+b

What is the value of the expression 1 ? (2 ? (3 ? (· · · (2017 ? 2018))))?

(A) 1/2018 (B) 1 (C) 2018/2017 (D) 1009 (E) 2018

5 Veronica, having noticed that 81 · 3 = 243 and 81 · 4 = 324, wonders how many
integers m with 10 ≤ m ≤ 99 are such that 3m = ABC and 4m = CAB, where A,
B and C are decimal digits (and one or more of A, B, C can be zero).
(A) 1 (B) 2 (C) 3 (D) 4 (E) 6

6 Each inhabitant of the village of Asip belongs to one of two tribes: the Knights,
who always tell the truth, or the Knaves, who always lie. Today, the High Notary
is visiting the village for the annual census; the villagers queue in front of him, and
each declares, “The number of people before me in the queue that do not belong
to my tribe is even.” Furthermore, the fist three villagers in the queue make the
following statements. The first one says, “There are 999 villagers in Asip.” The
second one says, “There are exactly 666 Knights,” The third one says, “There are
at least three Knaves.” How many Knights are there in Asip?
(A) 0 (B) 1 (C) 501 (D) 666 (E) 997
8

D1 C2

D2 C1
7 ABCD is an isosceles trapezium with AB = D C
15, BC = DA = 5, CD = 7. On the sides of
A1 B2
ABCD, externally to ABCD, we construct
A B
four squares. What is the area of the poly-
gon A1 A2 B1 B2 C1 C2 D1 D2 , where vertices are
named as in the
√ figure?
(A) 297 + 35 √ 5 (B) 396 √ (C) 423
A2 B1
(D) 105 + 144 5 (E) 200 5
8 Annalisa, Bruna and Cecilia play a variant of football: one of them plays as
goalkeeper, the other two aim to score; whenever one of the girls scores, the other
two trade roles (the attacker who did not score becomes goalkeeper, while the former
goalkeeper joins the scorer in the field). Given that Annalisa was an attacker for 12
turns and Bruna for 21, while Cecilia was goalkeeper for 8 turns, which girl was the
goalkeeper at the beginning of the game?
(A) Annalisa (B) Bruna (C) Cecilia
(D) Annalisa or Bruna (but certainly not Cecilia)
(E) It could be any of the three
9 Let a and b be two different real numbers. Knowing that the two equations

x2 + ax + 3b = 0

x2 + bx + 3a = 0
have a common solution, what are the possible values of the sum a + b?
(A) 0 or −3 (B) 0 or 3 (C) Only 0 (D) Only −3
(E) There is an infinite number of possible values
10 How many quadruples (a, b, x, y) of positive integers are such that x + y = a · b
and a + b = x · y?
(A) 1 (B) 5 (C) 9 (D) 17 (E) Infinitely many
11 Given three circles Γ, Γ1 , Γ2 with radii 6, 3, 2 respectively, we know that Γ1
and Γ2 are externally tangent at a point A, Γ and Γ1 are internally tangent at A1
and Γ and Γ2 are internally tangent at A2 . Compute the radius of the circumcircle
of AA1√A2 . √ √ √ √
(A) 2 6 (B) 5 (C) 2 + 3 + 6 (D) 4 + 3 (E) 6
12 Given a positive integer n, let f (n) be the product of all odd natural numbers
n
less than or equal to 2n + 1 (for instance, f (4) = 1 · 3 · 5 · 7 · 9). Let g(n) = f (n) .
What can be said of the sum S = g(1) + g(2) + · · · + g(30)?
(A) S ≤ 0.35 (B) 0.35 < S ≤ 0.49 (C) 0.49 < S ≤ 0.50
(D) 0.50 < S ≤ 0.51 (E) S > 0.51
 9

13 Angela sorts each of the polynomials x − 1, (x − 1)(x − 2), (x − 1)(x − 2)(x −

3), . . . , (x − 1)(x − 2) · · · (x − 2017)(x − 2018) into two groups. Calling p(x) the
product of all polynomials in the first group and q(x) that of the polynomials in the
second, Angela realises that the polynomial p(x) divides the polynomial q(x) and
q(x)
that the degree of the quotient p(x) has the smallest possible value: what is this
degree?
14 Given a digital clock, consider the numbers formed by the four digits (hours and
minutes): 10:45, for example, will represent the number 1045. What is the smallest
positive integer that does not divide any of the numbers that appear on the clock
between 11:00 and 12:59?
15
1. Find all two-digit positive integers n with the following property: both of the
integers obtained by erasing one of the two decimal digits of n are positive
divisors of n.
2. Let n > 10 be an integer with k decimal digits, all of them nonzero. Suppose
each of the integers obtained by erasing one of the k digits of the decimal
representation of n is a positive divisor of n. Show that k = 2.
Example. For n = 123, k = 3 and the integers obtained by erasing digits of
n are 23, 13, 12.

16 Alice and Barbara invented the following game. They have a 1 × 2018 grid
whose squares are numbered from 1 to 2018, left to right, as well as 2018 tiles,
also numbered 1 to 2018. At the start of the game, the grid is empty, and the
game consists of alternating moves from the two players; the player whose turn it is
chooses one of the following moves:
• selecting a tile which has not yet been placed on the grid and placing it on an
empty grid square in such a way that the numbers of the tiles placed on the
grid, if read from left to right, are increasing;
• selecting a tile which has been placed on the grid and sliding it to the square
immediately to the right or left of the one it’s on, as long as the destination
square is free and the tile moves closer to the square labelled with its own
number (for example, if tile number 7 is on square number 18, then it can
slide left and not right; if tile number k is on square k, then it can no longer
be moved).
1. Show that at any point, if there are tiles which have not yet been placed on
the grid, then there is a move the current player can make.
2. Supposing that Alice plays first and that the winning player is the one who
places the last tile, who has a winning strategy?

17 Let ABC be a triangle and P a point in its interior. Let H be the point on side
BC such that the angle bisector of AHP
’ is orthogonal to the line BC. Under the
10

assumption that ABC

’ = HP
’ C and BP
’ C = 130, determine the amplitude of the
angle BAC.
’

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
B D A B C E C A D C E C 1009 84

Sketch of proof of 15: Write n = 10a + b Sketch of proof of 17: Consider Q symmet-
with a > 0. So a | b, hence a ≤ b. ric to P with respect to BC. The quadrilateral
Sketch of proof of 16: Each point is proved ABQC is cyclic because ∠AQC = ∠HQC =
for grids 1 × n by induction on n. ∠HP C = ∠ABC.
XXXIV Olimpiadi Italiane della Matematica
Cesenatico, 4 May 2018
1 A bottle in the shape of a cone lies on its base. Water is poured into the
bottle until its level reaches a distance of 8 centimetres from the vertex of the cone
(measured vertically). We now turn the bottle upside down without changing the
amount of water it contains; this leaves an empty space in the upper part of the
cone that is 2 centimetres high.
Find the height of the bottle.
2 Let ABC be an acute-angled triangle, with AB 6= AC and with centroid G. Let
M be the midpoint of BC, let Γ be the circle with centre G and radius GM , and
let N be the point of intersection of Γ and BC that is distinct from M . Let S be
the symmetric point of A with respect to N , i.e. the point on the line AN such that
AN = N S and A 6= S.
Prove that GS is perpendicular to BC.
3 Let x1 , x2 , . . . , xn be positive integers. Assume that in their decimal representa-
tions no xi is an “extension” of xj with i 6= j. For instance, 123 is an extension of
12, 459 is an extension of 4, but 124 is not an extension of 123.
Prove that
1 1
+ ··· + < 3.
x1 xn
4 Let N be an integer greater than 1. Let x be the smallest positive integer with
the following property: there exists a positive integer y, strictly less than x − 1, such
that x divides N + y.
Prove that x is either two times a prime number or a prime power.
Note: a positive integer x is called a prime power if there exist a prime number p and a
positive integer n such that x = pn .
5 Let x be a real number with 0 < x < 1 and let 0.c1 c2 c3 . . . be the decimal
expansion of x. Let B(x) be the set of all subsequences of c1 c2 c3 . . . that consist of
6 consecutive digits.
For instance, B(1/22) = {045454, 454545, 545454}.
Find the minimum number of elements of B(x) as x varies over the irrational num-
bers between 0 and 1 (i.e. among all real numbers in that range whose decimal
expansion is neither finite nor eventually periodic).
6 Let ABC be a triangle with AB = AC and with incentre I. Let Γ be the
circumcircle of ABC. The lines BI and CI meet Γ again in M and N , respectively.
Let D be a point of Γ inside the arc BC not containing A, and let E, F be the
intersections of AD and the lines BI and CI, respectively. Finally, let P and Q be
the intersections of DM and CI, and between DN and BI, respectively.
(i) Prove that the points D, I, P, Q both lie on a circle Ω.
(ii) Prove that the lines CE and BF intersect in Ω.
12

Solution to 1: Let h be the height of the bottle in centimeters and r the radius
2
of the base of the cone. The volume of the bottle is equal to πr3 h . When the bottle
lies on its base, the water fills a volume equal to the difference between the volume
of the bottle and that of the cone of height 8 centimeters obtained by sectioning the
bottle with the plane at the level of the liquid. Since the plane is parallel to the
base of the bottle, this cone is similar to the bottle. The scale factor is equal to the
ratio of the two heights, which is 8/h. Therefore the volume occupied by the water
is
πr2 h π( 8r 2
h ) ·8
− .
3 3
After turning the bottle upside down, the water occupies the volume of a cone of
height h − 2 similar to the bottle. Therefore the volume occupied by the water is

π( (h−2)r
h )2 (h − 2)
.
3
3h2
Comparing these two expressions after multiplying them by we obtain
πr2
h3 − 83 = (h − 2)3 ,
which is equivalent to
h2 − 2h − 84 = 0.
√
This is a quadratic equation in h with a single positive root, which is h = 1 + 85.
Second solution: Note that the following three cones are similar: the entire
bottle, the cone without water when the bottle is lying on its base, the cone occupied
by the water when the bottle is upside down. The scale factors are the ratios of the
heights: if h is the height of the bottle, they are, in order, h : 8 : h − 2. Since the
ratio of the volumes of two similar solids is the cube of the scale factor, the ratio of
the volumes is h3 : 83 : (h − 2)3 . The volume of the water is the same in both cases.
3 3
It follows that, calling V the volume of the bottle, V (1− h8 3 ) = V (h−2)
h3 ; multiplying
by h3 , we obtain h3 − 512 = h3 − 6h2 +√12h − 8, and therefore h2 − 2h − 84 = 0, the
only positive root of which is h = 1 + 85.
Solution to 2: Let X be the midpoint of M N . Obviously, GX is perpendicular to
BC. If we show that XS is also perpendicular to BC, it would follow that G, X, S
lie on the same line and therefore GS is perpendicular to BC.
Find the altitude from A of the triangle ABC; let H be its intersection with BC.
The right triangles AHM and GXM are obviously similar and, since G is the
centroid of ABC, we see that AM = 3GM , from which HM = 3XM . It follows
that HN = N X = XM .
Since HN
÷ A = XN
’S as they are vertical angles, AN = N S by construction and
XN = N H as was just shown, the triangles AN H and SN X are congruent, and
therefore SXN
’ is a right angle.
 13

Second solution: Using Cartesian coordinates, we can assume, without loss of

generality, that the coordinates of the vertices A, B, C are
A = (a, b), B = (0, 0), C = (c, 0) .
The coordinates of G are therefore ( a+c b c
3 , 3 ). It is simple to calculate M = ( 2 , 0)
4a+c
and N = ( 6 , 0).
Finally, the coordinates of S are ( a+c a+c
3 , −b), therefore G and S lie on the line x = 3 ,
which is perpendicular to BC, which is y = 0.
Third solution: Let P be the intersection point, distinct from M , of the circle
and the median AM . From Apollonius’s theorem it follows that AG = 2GM ; on
the other hand P G = GM as they are both radii and therefore AP = P G = GM .
Note that, since its sides pass through the extremes of the diameter P M , P ÷ N M is
a right angle. Furthermore, as P is the midpoint of AG and N is the midpoint of
AS, the triangles AP N and AGS are similar and the lines P N and GS are parallel:
GS is therefore perpendicular to BC, as is P N .
Solution to 3: Let S = {x1 , . . . , xn } and let k the greatest number of decimal
digits of an element of S. We will now use induction on k.
If k = 1, then S ⊆ {1, . . . , 9}, and therefore the sum of of the inverses of the elements
of S is less than or equal to
1 1 1 7129
+ + ··· + = < 3.
1 2 9 2520
Now we assume that the property holds for k and we will prove that it holds for
k + 1. We sort all the elements of S with exactly k + 1 digits into subsets, the
elements of which all have the first k digits in common, i.e. each subset contains
elements of the form 10a + b, where a is a fixed positive integer with k decimal
digits, while b can be any integer between 0 and 9.
The idea is to replace S with the set S 0 obtained by replacing each group of these
k + 1 digit numbers the corresponding k digit number a.
Note that
1. the greatest number of decimal digits of an element of S 0 is now k;
2. the set S 0 has the same properties as S, i.e. no element of S 0 is an extension
of another element of the same set: if a were an extension of an a0 ∈ S 0 (where
a0 would have less than k digits and therefore also belong to S), then every
number of the form 10a + b ∈ S would also be an extension of a0 ; furthermore,
since all extensions of a have been removed from S, no extension of a exists
in S 0 ;
3. the sum of the inverses of the elements of S is less than or equal to the sum
of the inverses of the elements of S 0 , since
9
X 1 1 1
≤ 10 = .
10a + b 10a a
b=0
14

Since, by the inductive hypothesis, the sum of the inverses of the elements of S 0 is
less than 3, the same holds for the sum of the inverses of the elements of S.
Solution to 4: Let a pair of positive integers (x, y) be beautiful if x | N + y and
0 < y < x − 1.
First note that, since given any positive integer x0 among x0 consecutive integers
there is always a multiple of x0 , it is always possible to (uniquely) choose an integer
y 0 in the interval {0, 1, . . . , x0 − 1} such that x0 | N + y 0 . The pair (x0 , y 0 ) is therefore
beautiful as long as y 0 is not 0 or x0 −1. Similarly, x0 is the first member of a beautiful
pair if and only if x0 divides neither N +0 = N nor N +(x0 −1); this second condition
is equivalent to the fact that x0 does not divide N − 1. Now consider the beautiful
pair (x, y) with the least possible x. As noted above, x can divide neither N nor
N − 1. It follows that there exists some prime power pk that divides x but not N ,
and similarly there exists a prime power q h (not necessarily different from pk ) that
divides x but not N − 1. If every prime power that divides x also divided N , then
x would also divide N due to unique prime factorization, but we have already seen
that this cannot be the case; similarly for N − 1. Now note that, if q h does not
divide N , then q h divides neither N nor N − 1, and therefore q h is the first member
of a beautiful pair. On the other hand q h divides x, therefore q h ≤ x, and since x
is the smallest possible first member, it must be the case that x = q h is a prime
power. Similarly, if pk does not divide N − 1, then x = pk . We can then assume
that pk | N − 1 e q h | N ; in this case pk and q h are distinct (remember that pk does
not divide N ) and since both divide x it follows that x ≥ 2pk ≥ 2p, x ≥ 2q h ≥ 2q.
In conclusion, we will show that in this case one of 2p, 2q is the first member of a
beautiful pair, and therefore, by minimality, it must be equal to x. If N is even
then 2p works: clearly 2p cannot divide N − 1, which is odd, and p (and 2p) cannot
divide N , because by hypothesis p divides N − 1 and no prime divides consecutive
numbers. Similarly, if N is odd then 2q works: 2q (even) does not divide N (odd),
and 2q does not divide N − 1 since q divides N .
Solution to 5: The required number is seven. We will show that (a) there exists
an irrational x such that B(x) has no more than seven elements, and that (b) each
real y such that B(y) has six or fewer elements is rational.
Part (a). Consider the following number x. The first digit of the decimal expansion
of x is 1, followed by five zeros, then another 1, followed by six zeros, followed by 1,
followed by seven zeros, and so on, so that the decimal expansion of x is comprised
of ones separated by sequences of zeros of increasing length. Clearly

B(x) = {000000, 000001, 000010, 000100, 001000, 010000, 100000}

Furthermore x is irrational. If x were rational, then, after a certain k-th digit, its
decimal expansion would be periodic. Let l be the length of the repetend. Since the
expansion of x contains infinite sequences of zeros of lengths greater than 2l, one of
these must follow the k-th digit and would contain a complete repetend. Therefore
 15

the repetend would have to contain l zeros, which contradicts the fact that the
extension of x contains infinite ones.
Part (a), alias. Let [x]i be the i-th digit after the decimal point of the number x
between
√ 0 and 1. Consider any irrational number α in this interval, such as α =
2/2. For i = 1 . . . 6 and j = 0 . . . 9 we define αi,j as follows
®
1 if k = 6n + i for some n and [α]k < j
[αi,j ]k =
0 otherwise

Adding these numbers, we immediately see that, of the k-th digits, exactly [α]k are
ones and the others zeros. Therefore α is the sum of the αi,j . Consequently, at
least one of these numbers, which we will call x, is irrational. On the other hand,
the digits of all αi,j are only zeros and ones, and there is at most one 1 every six
consecutive digits. Therefore

B(x) ⊆ {000000, 000001, 000010, 000100, 001000, 010000, 100000}

Part (b). Let Bk (y) be the set of subsequences of length k of the decimal expansion
of y. We will show by induction on k that if Bk (y) has k or fewer elements, then y
is rational. This would clearly prove the thesis, as B(y) = B6 (y).
The case with k = 1 is obvious. We will assume that the property holds for k
and show that it holds for k + 1. We will base our proof on the fact that each
subsequence of the digits of y of length k + 1 begins with a subsequence, which we
will call corresponding, of length k. Conversely, given a subsequence of length k, it
must correspond to at least one subsequence of length k + 1. In particular, Bk (y)
has at most as many elements as Bk+1 (y). Given a y, we will study the number
of elements of Bk (y). If this number is less than or equal to k, the thesis follows
from the case k. On the other hand, the number of elements of Bk (y) cannot exceed
k + 1, otherwise Bk+1 (y) would also have more than k + 1 elements, contradicting
the hypothesis. We can therefore assume that both Bk (y) and Bk+1 (y) have exactly
k+1 elements. The correspondence described above is therefore one-to-one. In other
words, each digit after the k-th of the expansion of y is uniquely determined by the
previous k digits. Since there are k + 1 possible subsequences of k digits, there must
exist i and j such that i < j and the k digits of the decimal expansion of y after the
i-th coincide with the k digits after the j-th. But then the whole expansion after
the i-th digit must coincide with the expansion after the j-th. This means that the
digits between i-th exclusive and the j-th inclusive repeat periodically, therefore y
is rational.

Solution to 6: Let β be the angle CBA’ and X the point of intersection of the
lines BF and CE; we will consider the angles to be oriented.
16

N M

E
I
X
Q
F
P
B C

Ad (i): We have QIP

‘ = BIC ’ = 180◦ − ICB’ − CBI’ = 180◦ − β/2 − β/2 = 180◦ − β;
on the other hand, P’ DQ = M ÷ DA + ADN
’ = M ÷ BA + ACN
’ = β/2 + β/2 = β
(the latter due to the fact that A, M, C, D, B, N lie on Γ) from which follows that
D, Q, I, P are concyclic.
Ad (ii): Note that B, I, F, D are concyclic, since as noted above BIF ‘ = BIC’ =
◦
180 − β, while F DB = ADB = ACB = β. We will show that I, E, C, D are also
’ ’ ’
concyclic; in fact, BCD
’ = BM ÷ D (as they both subtend on the same arc of Γ) and
ICB = β/2 = M BA = M DA = M
’ ÷ ÷ ÷ DE; by the exterior angle theorem applied to
triangle DEM , IED’=M ÷ DE + EM÷ D = ICB
’ + BCD’ = ICD,’ from which follows
the desired cyclicity.
It is now easy to show that I, X, C, B are themselves concyclic: we have ECI
‘ = EDI’
due to the cyclicity of ECDI and F ’DI = F‘ BI due to the cyclicity of F DBI, from
which XCI = XBI.
’ ’
To prove the thesis we will now deduce from the above cyclicity that IXD’ = IP ’ D.
◦
’ = 180 − IXC
Due to the cyclicity of IXCB we have EXI ’ = CBI ’ = β/2; we
 17

can also find that BXC

’ = BIC ’ = 180◦ − β, while CDF
’ = β, from which follows
the cyclicity of DF XC and DF ’ C = DXC.
’ By subtracting from the sum of the
interior angles of the triangle DF P we obtain IP
’ D = 180◦ − P’
DF − DF
’ C =
◦ ◦
180 − β/2 − DXC = 180 − EXI − DXC = IXD, as required.
’ ’ ’ ’
Second solution: We will show an alternative proof of the cyclicity of IXCB
and a second possible conclusion derived from this fact.
Let Y, Z be the intersection point of DM and AC and the intersection point of DN
and AB, respectively. The points Z, B, D, E are concyclic since EDZ ’ = ADN ’ =
ACN
’ = β/2 = EBZ; ’ let Γ1 be the circle they all lie on. Similarly, the points
Y, C, D, F all lie on the same circle Γ2 . Let X 0 be the intersection point, distinct
from D, of the circles Γ1 and Γ2 ; BX
÷ ’ (since B, E, X 0 , D lie on Γ1 ). On
0 D = BED

the other hand, considering arcs of Γ2 , we find that F÷ X 0 D = F’CD; by difference

in the triangle F CD we have that F CD = 180 − CDF − DF C = 180◦ − CDA
’ ◦ ’ ’ ’−
◦
‘I = 180 − F‘
EF IE − EF
‘I, where we used the fact that F‘ IE = CBI
’ + ICB’ = β;
it follows that, by difference in the triangle F IE, F CD = IEF . In conclusion,
’ ‘
IEF
‘ = BX ÷ 0D = F ÷X 0 D, from which follows that B, F, X 0 lie on the same line.
We can similarly show that C, X 0 , E lie on the same line, from which follows that
X ≡ X 0.
It is now clear that B, I, X, C lie on the same circle Γ3 , since BXC
’ = BXD ÷+
DXC
’ = BED ’ + DF ’ C = IEF
‘ + EF ‘I = BIC.
’
Note that the line AC is tangent to Γ3 (since ACI
‘ = β/2 = CBI). ’ Consider now
the angle P DX; from Γ2 we find that P DX = Y CX; since the line AC is tangent
’ ’ ’
to Γ3 , Y’
CX = CIX.
’ We have therefore shown that P’ DX = P ’ IX
18
Italian Team Selection Test
Pisa, 25-26 May 2018

Day 1
A1 The lengths of the sides of a rectangle R are odd positive integers. The rectangle
is divided into smaller rectangles, each with sides of integral length.
Prove that there is at least one rectangle such that the distances from each one of
its sides to the corresponding sides of R are either all even or all odd.
A2 A sequence a1 , a2 , . . . , an , . . . of real numbers satisfies the condition

an = − max{ai + aj : i + j = n}

for every n ≥ 2018.

Prove that the sequence is bounded, i.e. there is a real number M such that |an | ≤
M for every positive integer n.
A3 A rational number is finite if its decimal expansion has a finite number of
non-zero digits. For evey positive integer m, let S(m) be the set of positive integers
k such that, for some c ∈ {1, 2, . . . , 2018}, one has that

10i − 1
ß ™
k = min i ≥ 1 : is finite rational .
c·m

Determine the greatest number of elements of the set S(m) as m varies in the
positive integers.

Day 2
B1 Let p be a prime number. Alberto e Barbara play the following game, building
a number with p digits, which may possibly have one or more 0 digit to the left. At
each turn, the player to move picks one of the p digit positions within the number
as long as that position has not been previously chosen, and decides which digit
to write in that positiion (digits runs as usual from 0 to 9). Alberto is the first to
move.
Alberto wins if the final number is divisible by p, Barbara wins othewise.
Prove that Alberto has a winning strategy.
B2 Let ABC be a triangle. The excircle ω opposed to A is tangent to BC in D, to
the line AC in E, and to the line AB in F . The circle circumscribed to the triangle
AEF intersects the line BC in P and Q. Let M be the middle point of AD.
Prove that the circle circumscribed to the triangle M P Q is tangent to ω.
B3 Let S be a finite set, and let F be the set of all functions from S to S. Let f
be an element of F, and let T = f (S) = {f (x) : x ∈ S} be its image.
20

Suppose that, for every g ∈ F, with g 6= f , there is an element s ∈ S such that

f (g(f (s))) 6= g(f (g(s))).

Prove that, for every t ∈ T , there is x ∈ T such that f (x) = t.

Sources
Problem A1: short list International Mathematical Olympiad 2017, problem C1
Problem A2: short list International Mathematical Olympiad 2017, problem A4
Problem A3: short list International Mathematical Olympiad 2017, problem N4
Problem B1: short list International Mathematical Olympiad 2017, problem N2
Problem B2: short list International Mathematical Olympiad 2017, problem G4
Problem B3: short list International Mathematical Olympiad 2017, problem A3