RAFFLES INSTITUTION

H3 Mathematics (9820)

Chapter 2: Introduction to Problem Solving

SYLLABUS INCLUDES
Solving mathematical problems using problem solving heuristics
• Working backwards
• Uncovering pattern and structure
• Solving a simpler/similar problem
• Considering cases
• Restating the problem (e.g. contrapositive)
• Symmetry principle

CONTENT
1 Introduction
1.1 Problem Solving according to Polya
1.2 Metacognition
1.3 The Art and Craft of Problem Solving by Zeitz
1.4 Your own problem solving model

2 Problem Solving Strategies

2.1 Symmetry Principle
2.1.1 Geometric Symmetry
2.1.2 Algebraic Symmetry
2.2 Guess and check, looking for patterns
2.3 Working Backwards

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1 Introduction

There have been various attempts at dissecting problem solving, with the name most commonly
associated being George Polya and his 4 steps of problem solving, which we have attached in
Section 1.1.

In Section 1.3 are generalities on problem solving, adapted from the book The Art and Craft of
Problem Solving by Paul Zeitz. You may not agree with the two versions of problem solving,
but what we hope is that you gain at least a different perspective of problem solving. However,
it is quite ironic that we are trying to prescribe a set of guidelines / rules to a process which is
creative in nature.

1.1 Problem Solving according to Polya

In 1945 George Polya published the book “How To Solve It” which quickly became his most
prized publication. It sold over one million copies and has been translated into 17 languages.
In this book he identifies four basic principles of problem solving.

Polya’s First Principle: Understand the Problem

This seems so obvious that it is often not even mentioned, yet students are often stymied in
their efforts to solve problems simply because they don't understand it fully, or even in part.
Polya taught teachers to ask students questions such as:

• Do you understand all the words used in stating the problem?

• What are you asked to find or show?
• Can you restate the problem in your own words?
• Can you think of a picture or diagram that might help you understand the problem?
• Is there enough information to enable you to find a solution?

Polya’s Second Principle: Devise a Plan

Polya mentions that there are many reasonable ways to solve problems. The skill at choosing
an appropriate strategy is best learned by solving many problems. You will find choosing a
strategy increasingly easy. A partial list of strategies is included:

• Guess and check

• Make an orderly list
• Use symmetry
• Consider special cases
• Look for a pattern
• Draw a picture
• Solve a simpler problem
• Work backwards
• Be ingenious (hmm)

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Polya’s Third Principle: Carry out the Plan

This step is usually easier than devising the plan. In general, all you need is care and patience,
given that you have the necessary skills. Persist with the plan that you have chosen. If it
continues not to work discard it and choose another. Don’t be misled, this is how mathematics
is done, even by professionals.

Polya’s Fourth Principle: Look Back

Polya mentions that much can be gained by taking the time to reflect and look back at what
you have done, what worked, and what didn’t. Doing this will enable you to predict what
strategy to use to solve future problems.

So here is a summary, in the master’s own words, on strategies for attacking problems in
mathematics class. This is taken from the book, How To Solve It, by George Polya, 2nd ed.,
Princeton University Press, 1957, ISBN 0-691-08097-6.

UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEM

• First. You have to understand the problem.

• What is the unknown? What are the data? What is the condition?
• Is it possible to satisfy the condition? Is the condition sufficient to determine the
unknown? Or is it insufficient? Or redundant? Or contradictory?
• Draw a figure. Introduce suitable notation.
• Separate the various parts of the condition. Can you write them down?

DEVISING A PLAN

• Second. Find the connection between the data and the unknown. You may be obliged
to consider auxiliary problems if an immediate connection cannot be found. You should
obtain eventually a plan of the solution.
• Have you seen it before? Or have you seen the same problem in a slightly different
form?
• Do you know a related problem? Do you know a theorem that could be useful?
• Look at the unknown! Try to think of a familiar problem having the same or a similar
unknown.
• Here is a problem related to yours and solved before. Could you use it? Could you use
its result? Could you use its method? Should you introduce some auxiliary element in
order to make its use possible?
• Could you restate the problem? Could you restate it still differently? Go back to
definitions.
• If you cannot solve the proposed problem, try to solve first some related problem. Could
you imagine a more accessible related problem? A more general problem? A more
special problem? An analogous problem? Could you solve a part of the problem? Keep
only a part of the condition, drop the other part; how far is the unknown then
determined, how can it vary? Could you derive something useful from the data? Could
you think of other data appropriate to determine the unknown? Could you change the

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unknown or data, or both if necessary, so that the new unknown and the new data are
nearer to each other?
• Did you use all the data? Did you use the whole condition? Have you taken into account
all essential notions involved in the problem?

CARRYING OUT THE PLAN

• Third. Carry out your plan.

• Carrying out your plan of the solution, check each step. Can you see clearly that the
step is correct? Can you prove that it is correct?

LOOKING BACK

• Fourth. Examine the solution obtained.

• Can you check the result? Can you check the argument?
• Can you derive the solution differently? Can you see it at a glance?
• Can you use the result, or the method, for some other problem?

Problem Understanding
posing the problem

Looking Meta- Making

Back Cognition a Plan

Carrying Out
the Plan

Figure 1: Framework emphasizing the dynamic and cyclic nature of problem-solving activity

1.2 Metacognition
Metacognition is thinking about our thinking and it comprises of the following three important
aspects: knowledge about our own thought processes, control or self-regulation, and beliefs
and intuition. The point according to an educator, Schoenfeld is that students should wisely
divide their time among (a) understanding the problem, (b) planning, (c) making decisions on
what to do, and (d) executing the decisions for a solution within the time frame. In the process
of solving a problem, they should be monitoring and keeping track of the progress to a solution.
When the decisions seem not to work, they should try other alternatives or make some
adjustment. Once a decision is made to go for new alternatives, the work done should not be
thrown away. There is always a risk that the curtailed efforts might have led to success.

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1.3 The Art and Craft of Problem Solving by Zeitz

Solving a problem is not unlike climbing a mountain. And for inexperienced climbers, the task
may seem daunting. It will take effort, skill, and perhaps, luck. Several reconnaissance trips
may be needed before the summit is reached.

Likewise, a good math problem, will not solve itself. You need to expend effort to discover the
combination of the right tools with proper strategies. For beginners especially, strategy is
especially important. When faced with a new and seemingly difficult problem, often you don't
know where to start. First, you must get the right frame of mind.

Mental Toughness

Most beginners give up too soon, because they lack the mental toughness attributes of
confidence and concentration. It is hard to work on a problem if you don't believe that you can
solve it, and it is impossible to keep working past your “frustration threshold”

If you are a beginner, you most likely lack some confidence and powers of concentration, but
you can increase both simultaneously. You may think that building up confidence is a difficult
and subtle thing, but let me assure you, math problems are easier than building Rome (ok, it
will still take more than a day). I hope you are at least confident about your math ability. You
build upon your preexisting confidence by working with the “easy” problems, where “easy”
means that you can solve it after expending a decent amount of effort. Your brain gets a
workout, and your sub-consciousness gets used to success. Your confidence automatically
rises.

As your confidence grows, so too will your frustration threshold, if you gradually increase the
intellectual load. Start from easy problems, then work on harder and harder problems to
challenge and stretch yourself. At first, you may burn out after 30 minutes of hard thinking.
Eventually, you will be able to work for hours single-mindedly on a problem.

Creativity

A good problem solver is highly open and receptive to ideas that are floating around in plain
view, yet invisible to most people. This elusive receptiveness to new ideas is what we call
creativity. The natural reaction to seeing a “brilliant, imaginative” solution is to say, “Wow,
how did someone think of that” Sometimes, seeing a creative solution can be inhibiting, for we
may think that we would not be capable of doing it on our own. While it is true that some
people do seem to be naturally more creative than others, almost everyone can learn to be more
creative. Part of this process comes from cultivating a confident attitude, so that when you see
a beautiful solution, you think instead, “Nice idea, it's similar to the ones I've had.”

One way to heighten your receptiveness to new ideas is to stay “loose”, to cultivate a mental
peripheral vision; think out of the box. Gazing at things directly won't help. You need to relax
your vision and get ideas from the periphery. Don't get locked into one method. Try consciously
to break or bend the rules. Don't be afraid to play around, and try not to let failure inhibit you.
It's important to remember that, you won't die if you don't know how to solve a problem.
Problem solving isn't easy, but it should be fun, at least most of the time!
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Finally, practice by working on lots and lots and lots of problems. Solving them is not as
important. It is very healthy to have several unsolved problems banging around your conscious
and unconscious mind.

Getting Started

There are two parts to any successful solution: the investigation and the argument. Commonly,
the investigation is obscured by the polished (or not) formal argument. But most always, the
investigation is the heart of the solution. Once the problem is solved, it is easy to look over
your prolonged investigation and wonder why it took you so long to see the light. But that is
the nature of problem solving for almost everyone: you don't get rewarded with the flash of
insight until you have paid your dues by prolonged, sometimes fruitless toil. Therefore,
anything that stimulates investigation is good. Here are some specific suggestions.

The First Step: Orientation

• Read the problem carefully. Pay attention to details such as positive vs negative, finite
vs infinite, etc.
• Carefully identify the hypothesis and the conclusion.
• Try some quick preliminary brainstorming
• Think of convenient notation.
• Can you guess a possible solution?
• Are there key words or concepts that seem important. For example, might prime
numbers or perfect squares play an important role?

Don't spend too much time on orientation. You are done once you have a clear idea of what the
problem asks and what the given is. Promising guesses about answers are bonuses, and nothing
you should expect. So, now what?

At this point, you understand what the problem is asking and you have some ideas about what
to do next. Here are some basic “startup” strategies:

Get your hands dirty: This is easy and fun to do. Experiment. Plug in lots of numbers. Look
for a pattern. Then play around some more, and try to figure out why the pattern you see is
happening. The great Carl Gauss, was a huge fan of this method. In one of his investigations,
he painstaking computed the number of solutions to x2 + y2 ≤ 90000. (The answer is 282,697
in case you are interested.)

Penultimate Step: Once you know what the desired conclusion is, ask yourself, “What will
yield the conclusion in a single step?” Sometimes a penultimate step is obvious, once you start
looking for one. Sometimes, this fails, and sometimes it helps one instead plan a proof strategy.

Wishful thinking and Make it easier: These strategies combine psychology and mathematics
to help break initial impasses in your work. Ask yourself, “What is it about the problem that
makes it hard?” Then, make it disappear! You may not be able to do it legally, but who cares?
Temporarily avoiding the hard part of the problem will allow you to make progress and may
shed light on the difficulties.

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In the next section a few examples that illustrate the use of these strategies. We will not
concentrate on solving problems here, just making some initial progress. It is important to keep
in mind that any progress is OK. You may not believe this, but try:

Time spent thinking about a problem is always time worth spent.

Even if you seem to make no progress at all.

1.4 Your own problem solving model

Having read a couple of perspectives on problem solving, you will find that there are quite a
few similarities. What is important is throughout this H3 course, you are able to develop your
own that works best for yourself. It could be something as simple as the beginning, middle and
the end which we talked about during the lecture in Chapter 1.

Polya Zeitz
Beginning Understanding the Problem Orientation
Middle Devising/Carrying out the Working backwards, and
plan other problem solving
strategies
End Looking back N/A

What is clear is that the most difficult part should be the middle, i.e. how to develop problem
solving strategies.

2 Problem Solving Strategies

Many fundamental problem-solving tactics involve the search for order. Often problems are
hard because they seem chaotic; they appear to missing facts, variables or the parts do not seem
connected. Finding order can quickly simplify such problems. We will begin by studying
problem-solving tactics that help us find or impose order where there seemingly is none. The
most dramatic form of order is symmetry.

Symmetry involves finding or imposing in a concrete way, for example, by reflection. Other
tactics find or exploit order, but in more abstract ways. The extreme principle (which we will
not touch on) works by focusing on the largest and smallest entities within a problem.

2.1 Symmetry Principle

Why is symmetry important? Because it gives you “free information”. If you know that
something is symmetric with respect to 90-degree rotation about some point, then you only
need to look at one-quarter of the object. And you also know the center of rotation is a “special”
point, worthy of close investigation.

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2.1.1 Geometric Symmetry

Most geometric investigations profit by a look at symmetry. Ask these questions about
symmetry:
• Is it present?
• If not, can it be imposed?
• How can it then be exploited?

The simplest geometric symmetries are rotational and reflectional. Always check to see if
rotations and reflections will impose order on your problem. The next example shows the
power of imposing reflectional symmetry.

Example 1

Your house is 2km due north of a stream which runs east-west. Your grandmother's house is
located 12km west and 1km north of your house. Every day, you go from your cabin to
Grandma's, but first visit the stream to get fresh water for grandma. What is the length of the
route of minimum distance?

Solution. The first thing you should do is to use a diagram to illustrate the situation so as to
better understand the problem.
y

(0, 3)
(12, 2)

x
(x, 0)

Let me first present the brute force method, which was actually posed during the promotional
exams in 2008. Introduce coordinates for the grandma's house (0, 3) and your house (12, 2).
The river runs along the x-axis, and denote the point where you need to fetch water as (x, 0).
The problem is to determine x such that
f ( x=
) x 2 + 9 + (12 − x) 2 + 4
is minimum. The straightforward approach is to differentiate this with respect to x, and obtain
x x − 12
= f ′( x) +
x2 + 9 (12 − x) 2 + 4
Equating this to 0, we solve the equation by moving one of the terms to the other side of the
equality and square both sides to obtain
x 2 ( 4 + (12 − x) 2 ) = ( x − 12) 2 ( x 2 + 9) ⇒ 4 x 2 = 9( x − 12) 2 ⇒ (2 x + 3 x − 36)(2 x − 3 x + 36) = 0
which yields x = 36 or x = 36/5. Using the first/second derivative test, it is easy to see that
x = 365 yields the minimum (please check), and for this value of x, we have f(x) = 13 and we
are done.
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You shouldn't be pleased with this solution. It is algebraically tedious, and the answer (13)
together with numbers like 2, 3 and 12 suggest a nicer method. This is part of looking back,
reflecting on your work.

Now back to the problem. The geometric symmetry idea is actually simple. If there wasn't a
restriction of fetching water from the river, you would have walked in a straight line to your
grandma's house. So how do we walk “straight” in this case? If only grandma's house was
opposite the river, you would say! So let us make it the case!

(0, 3)
(12, 2)

x
(x, 0)

(0, −3)

Reflect grandma's house which is at (0, 3) to (0, −3). Then note that the distance from (x, 0) to
(0, 3) is the same as the distance from (x, 0) to (0, −3) (congruent triangles) and hence the
shortest distance would be the straight line joining (0, −3) and (12, 2), which from Pythagora's
theorem yields √(122 + 52) = 13, and we are done!

2.1.2 Algebraic Symmetry

Don't restrict your notion of symmetry to physical or geometric objects. You would know of
the symmetry that exists in

• The Pascal Triangle

• Gaussian Pairing Tool

Algebra problems with many variables or of high degree are often intractable unless there is
some underlying symmetry to exploit.

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Example 2

An arithmetic series has common difference d and a convergent geometric series has common
ratio r. The sum of the first three terms of the arithmetic series is 126. The first three terms
obtained by adding the corresponding terms of the arithmetic series and geometric series are
85, 76 and 84. Find the sum to infinity of the geometric series.

Solution

Since only the first three terms are used to set up the two series, let us use some symmetry in
the following manner:

b
Let the first three terms of both series be a – d, a, a + d and , b, br .
r
We know that
(a − d ) + a + (a + d ) = 3a = 126 ⇒ a = 42 .
From the next condition we have
b
(a − d ) + = 85 ---- (1)
r
a+b = 76 ---- (2)
(a + d ) + br =
84 ---- (3)
(2) implies that b = 34. Substituting into (1) and (3) we have
34 34
(42 − d ) + = 85 ⇒ = 43 + d
r r
(42 + d ) + 34r = 84 ⇒ 34r = 42 − d
Eliminating d from the two equations above, we have
34
− 43 = 42 − 34r ⇒ 34r 2 − 85r + 34 = 0.
r
Further simplifying, we have
1
2r 2 − 5r + 2 = 0 ⇒ (2r − 1)(r − 2) = 0 ⇒ r = 2 or r = .
2
1
Since the series is convergent, we must have r = .
2
b
68
The sum of the geometric series is thus = r
= 136.
1 − r 1 − 12

You should see how this solution is cleaner compared to if we had used a, a + d, a + 2d and
to represent the first three terms of both series.

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Exercise 1

Find the value(s) of m such that the equation x 4 − ( 3m + 2 ) x 2 + m 2 =

0 has four real roots which
are in arithmetic progression.

Solution

We first make the observation that the equation contains even powers of x, which means that
there is symmetry in the graph of y =x 4 − ( 3m + 2 ) x 2 + m 2 . In particular if r is a root, then −r
is also a root. So without loss of generality, let the smallest positive root be α. Then, since −α
must also be a root.

Now using the fact that the roots are in arithmetic progression, we deduce that the common
difference must be 2α, which means that the roots must be −3α , −α , α ,3α .

Hence
y =x 4 − ( 3m + 2 ) x 2 + m 2
= ( x − 3α )( x − α )( x + α )( x + 3α )
( x 2 − 9α 2 )( x 2 − α 2 )
=
x 4 − 10α 2 x 2 + 9α 4
=

Comparing coefficients, we have 10α 2 =+

3m 2, 9α 4 =.
m 2 Solving for m, we have
2 2
m 2  m   3m + 2 
α=
4
=  =   
9  3   10 
m 3m + 2
⇒ = ±
3 10
6
⇒m= 6 or m = −
19

Algebra problems with many variables or of high degree are often intractable unless there is
some underlying symmetry to exploit.

Example 3

Solve x 4 + x3 + x 2 + x + 1 =0.

Solution.

For those who are familiar with complex roots of unity, the solutions are simply the 5th roots
of unity (except for 1). However, we do not have expressions for them (a priori), and we are
going to derive them here. We can solve by hand up to all quartic equations (which is very
tedious), but for equations of higher degree, there is no general method. For this case, our best
hope is to reduce it to a quadratic, which we fully know how to solve.

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In fact, since x is clearly not 0, divide the equation by x2 to obtain

1 1
x2 + x + 1 + + =0.
x x2
1
The natural thing to do here is to pair terms up and introduce the substitution u= x + , which
x
1
would “reduce” the order of the equation. In fact, since u 2 = x 2 + 2 + 2 , we have
x
−1 ± 5 1
u 2 + u − 1 =0 , from which we obtain u = . Solving u= x + , we get x 2 − ux + 1 =0,
2 x
u ± u2 − 4
or x = . Putting these altogether gives
2
2
−1 ± 5  −1 ± 5 
±   −4
2  2  −1 ± 5 ± i 2 5 ± 10
=x = .
2 4

Exercise 2

8?
What are the real solutions of ( x + 1)( x + 2)( x + 3)( x + 4) =

Solution

To start, we observe that we can have symmetry on the left hand side if we change our
perspective just a bit, by taking the ‘center’ to be x + 2.5 . To be concise, let y= x + 2.5 . Then
the equation transforms to
 3  1  1  3
 y −  y −  y +  y +  = 8.
 2  2  2  2
This immediately solves the problem as we see that it is now reduced to a quadratic equation
in y 2 , which we have all the tools to find the solutions.

We have
25 119
2.5 ± +
5 9 5 119 4 4 =5 ± 12 17 7
y4 − y2 + = 8 ⇒ y4 − y2 − = 0 ⇒ y2 = = (reject − )
2 16 2 16 2 4 4 4
5 ± 17
and thus only real solutions are x = − .
2

Now let us look at some other problems, and how we can break down and approach novel
problems.

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2.2 Guess and check, looking for patterns

When first given a problem, one of the common strategies to get acquainted with the problem
is to first simplify the problem so that you can have a better feel of what is required for the
general case. Of course, if the problem is too simplified, you may not be able to make any
useful generalisations.

For problems involving statements involving positive integers n, one can usually try to work
with small n first. From there, we look for patterns and arguments that can be generalized,
before applying tools like mathematical induction to confirm our conjectures.

Example 4

The sequence a0 , a1 ,... satisfies

1
( a2 m + a2 n )
am + n + am − n =
2
for all nonnegative integers m and n with m ≥ n. If a1 = 1 , determine an for all positive integers
n.

Solution (Partial). A common strategy is to find some pattern. The question mentions that the
sequence is defined for a0 , but we are not given a0 . We could perhaps start off with finding
the value of a0 , as it probably is a fundamental building block for the rest. To do that, we look
at the relation given, and since it is true for all m, n ≥ 0, we let m = n = 0 and find that 2 a0 =
a0 which implies that a0 = 0.

We need more information than that. We have a1 = 1. Let us try to find a2 . To do that, we can
substitute m = n = 1 to get a2 + a0 =a2 . But wait, this does not tell us anything much! So let us
1
try m = 1, n = 0. This time we get =
2a1 ( a2 + a0 ) . Now we can get =
a2 4= a1 4 . At this point,
2
some of us might think perhaps an = n 2 . But we need more “evidence” for that. Can you try to
obtain the values of a3 and a4 ?

To get a3 to appear, we need to let m + n or m – n be 3. This means we need m or n to be at

least 2, but on the right hand side this will create the presence of a4 , which we still do not have
information on. So let us turn our attention to that. Having tried m = n = 1, as well as m = 1, n
= 0, the next thing to try is m = 2 and n = 0, which gives us 2a2= 12 ( a4 + a0 ) ⇒ a4= 16. This is
coherent with our conjecture of an = n 2 .

We leave it as an exercise for the reader to use strong induction to complete the solution.

Look Back: When working with sequences, it is always useful to work out the first few
terms, and from there, try to make reasonable conjectures about the sequence.

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Example 5

Find all real valued continuously differentiable functions f on the real line such that for all x,

x
(f ( x)) 2 =∫ [(f (t )) 2 + (f ′(t )) 2 ] dt + 31 .
0

Solution

What is the worst thing about this problem? It contains both differentiation and integration.
Differential equations are bad enough, but integral differential equations are worse! So the
strategy is obvious: make it easier by differentiating both sides of the equation with respect to
x:
d
dx
(f ( x)) 2=
d x
dx ∫0 (
[(f (t )) 2 + (f ′(t )) 2 ] dt + 31 . )
Using the chain-rule and the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus,

)f ′( x) (f ( x)) 2 + (f ′( x)) 2 .
2f ( x=

This isn't pretty (yet), but is much nicer than what we started with. Do you see what to do next?

We see that the equation is equivalent to ( f ( x) − f ′( x) ) =

2
0 , which means that we have for all
real x, f ( x) = f ′( x) . This is a differential equation (an equation that involves derivatives, whose
solution is actually just all functions of the form f ( x) = Ce x . One way to see why this is so is
to multiply the equation by e − x , and see that we have f ( x)e − x − e − x f ′( x) =
0 . But the left hand
d −x
side is actually the result of
dx
( e f ( x) ) .
d −x
Hence we have
dx
( e f ( x) ) = C . We have to be careful here. At this point, we
0 ⇒ e − x f ( x) =
x
( x)) 2
have (f= ∫0
[(f (t )) 2 + (f ′(t )) 2 ] dt + 31 ⇒=
f ( x) Ce x . However, we have not checked that
all such functions (all C) work. In fact, substituting back into the equation we have

x
C 2 e 2 x = ∫ [C 2 e 2t + C 2 e 2t ] dt + 31
0
x
⇒ C 2 e 2=
x
C 2 e 2t  + 31
0

e 2 x C 2 ( e 2 x − 1) + 31
⇒ C 2=
⇒ C2 =31 ⇒ C =± 31

Hence there are only 2 functions that satisfy the equation, f ( x) = ± 31e x .

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2.3 Working backwards

This is a good strategy for problems requiring proofs. If the statement which needs to be proven
is given to you, you can always think of the penultimate step; “What will allow me to make the
desired conclusion?”

Let us use an example of a problem which clearly involves the Pigeonhole Principle, and see
explicitly how working backwards help us.

Example 6 (Example 15 from Chapter 1)

Let B = { b1 , b2 , b3 , b4 , b5 } be a set of 5 distinct positive integers. Show that for any permutation
bi 1 bi2 bi 3 bi 4 bi 5 of B, the product ( bi 1 − b1 )( bi2 − b2 ) ... ( bi5 − b5 ) is always even.

For example, if B = {26, 7, 1, 22, 11} and a permutation of B is {1, 22, 26, 11, 7}. Then the
product (1 − 26)(22 − 7)(26 − 1)(11 − 22)(7 − 11) is even.

Thought-process (working backwards):

• For a product of 5 terms to be even, it suffices for one of the terms to be even
• For one of the terms in the product to be even, it suffices for both terms in the difference
to be of the same parity
• So the problem now reduces to why given any permutation of 5 numbers, one of the
( )
corresponding terms b j , bi j have the same parity
• So naturally, consider odd and even in the original 5 positive integers, and apply
Pigeonhole Principle, which ensures that we have at least 3 of the same parity.
• What happens when we permute them? The result is obvious from there.

Tutorial
For most of these, your task is just to experiment and get your hands dirty and come up with
conjectures. Do not worry about proving your conjectures at this point. The idea is to stay loose
and uninhibited, to get used to brainstorming.

We will return to some of the problems later and develop more rigorous proofs. But it is
important that you get your hands dirty now and start thinking about them. We reiterate: it is
not important at this time to actually “solve” the problems. Having a bunch of partially solved,
possibly true conjectures at the back of your mind is not only OK, it is ideal. “Backburner”
problems ferment happily, intoxicating your brain with ideas. Some of this fermentation is
conscious, some is not. Some ideas will work, others will fail. The more ideas, the better!

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1
1. Let f ( x) = and denote r composites of f by f r . Find an expression for f n ( x) for
1− x
positive integers n.

2. (i) Write down the average of the integers n1 , (n1 + 1),..., (n2 − 1), n2 , where n1 < n2 .
Show that

1
n1 + (n1 + 1) + ... + (n2 − 1) + n=
2 (n2 − n1 + 1)(n1 + n2 ) .
2

(ii) Write down and prove a general law of which the following are special cases:

1 = 0 +1
2+3+ 4 = 1+ 8
5+6+7+8+9 = 8 + 27
10 + 11 +  + 16 = 27 + 64

1 2
Hence prove that 13 + 23 +  + =
n3 n (n + 1) 2 .
4

3. (a) How many integers greater than or equal to zero and less than 1000 are not
divisible by 2 or 5? What is the average value of these integers?

(b) How many integers greater than or equal to zero and less than 9261 are not
divisible by 3 or 7? What is the average value of these integers?

4. (a) Let f (n) = n 2 + n + 41 . Evaluate f(1), f(2), …, f(31). Are these primes? Is f(n)
a prime for all positive integers n?

(b) Let t(n) be the maximum number of different areas that you can divide a circle
into when you place n points on the circumference and draw all the possible line
segments connecting the points.

(i) Evaluate t(1), t(2), …, t(5).

(ii) Conjecture a formula for t(n).

5. Let g(n) be the number of odd terms in the row of Pascal’s Triangle that starts with 1,
n, … . For example, g(6) = 4, since the row 1, 6, 15, 20, 15, 6, 1 contains 4 odd numbers.
Conjecture a formula for g(n).

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6. Consider a triangle drawn on the coordinate plane, all of whose vertices are lattice
points (points with integer coordinates). Let A, B and I respectively denote the area,
number of boundary lattice points and number of interior lattice points of this triangle.
For example, the triangle with vertices at (0, 0), (2, 0), (1, 2) has A = 2, B = 4, I = 1.

Can you find a simple relationship between A, B and I that holds for any triangle with
vertices at lattice points?

7. (a) Find all sets of positive integers a, b and c that satisfy the equation

1 1 1
+ + =1.
a b c

(b) Determine the sets of positive integers a, b and c that satisfy the inequality

1 1 1
+ + ≥ 1.
a b c

8. Let n be a positive integer.

• Write down all ordered pairs of integers (a, b) where
o 1≤ a < b ≤ n
o a+b > n
o a and b are relatively prime (share no common factors)
• For each ordered pair (a, b), compute the reciprocal of the product of the two
1
numbers, in other words, compute .
ab
• Add up all these fractions.

For example, if n = 6, the ordered pairs are (1, 6), (5, 6), (2, 5), (3, 5), (4, 5), (3, 4) and
the corresponding sum is
.
Investigate what happens with other values of n, and make a conjecture.

Challenge: Prove your conjecture using mathematical induction.

9. Burger King in Singapore sells Chickens in 9 or 22 piece servings. What is the largest
integer n such that there is no way to buy exactly n nuggets?

Generalise the problem.

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10. [RI/9820/2023/Q5(modified)]

Let N be a positive integer. A collection of 4N 2 tiles each with two segments drawn
on them as shown is assembled into a 2 N × 2 N board. The segments connect the
midpoints of the sides of the square. The tiles can be rotated and one of them is shown
below.

The segments on the tiles define paths on the board. For example, when N = 1, the 4
tiles can be assembled into the board shown below and there are 4 paths.

Let p1 be the number of paths that start and end at a point on the boundary of the board,
and p2 be the number of closed paths in the interior of the board.

(a) Explain why 4 + 2 ( p1 − 4 ) + 4 p2 ≤ 8 N 2 .

Hence show that p2 ≤ N 2 + ( N − 1) .

2
(b)

(c) Deduce the minimum and maximum value of paths on a 2 N × 2 N board.

(d) Determine the least possible number and the largest possible number of paths
on a ( 2 N + 1) × ( 2 N + 1) board.

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Use the information in the mathematical text to answer Question 12. You should read the
whole mathematical text before you start answering the questions.

A Two-for-One Deal on Rational Triangles, The College Mathematics Journal, DOI:

10.1080/07468342.2023.2282345

A rational triangle is a triangle where all side lengths are positive rational numbers. Consider
the following two problems that pertain to rational triangles:

1. find rational triangles with a 120° angle;

2. find pairs of incongruent isosceles rational triangles with both a common perimeter and
a common rational area.

Essentially, these are the same problem; if we find one, then we find the other. We begin our
work on this two-sided problem by proving Theorem 1.

Theorem 1. Suppose that an isosceles triangle has a base of length b, a perimeter P and an area
A. Then

1. b is a positive real root of

 −P  2  8A 
2
x3 + 
f ( x) = x + =0;
 2   P 
2. f ( x) = 0 has exactly two positive real roots (counting multiplicity) and one negative
real root;
3. if a denotes the other positive real root of f ( x) = 0 , then
2(a 2 + ab + b 2 ) ab a 2 + ab + b 2
= P = , A ;
a+b 2(a + b)
4. there exists an isosceles triangle with a base length a, a perimeter P, and an area A.

Theorem 1 motivates the definition below.

Definition. A pair of distinct positive rational numbers {a, b} is an isosceles base pair if and
only if there exists a pair of incongruent isosceles rational triangles that satisfy both of the
following conditions:

1. one triangle has a base of length a, while the other has a base of length b;
2. the triangles have both a common perimeter and a common rational area.

Theorem 2 characterizes isosceles base pairs.

Theorem 2. A pair of distinct positive rational numbers {a, b} is an isosceles base pair if and
only if a 2 + ab + b 2 is rational.

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Suppose that a triangle has sides of lengths a, b and c; let the side of length c be opposite an
angle whose measure equals 120°. The law of cosines implies that c 2 = a 2 + ab + b 2 , and it thus
follows that c is rational if and only if a 2 + ab + b 2 is rational. This motivates the following
definition.

Definition. A pair of distinct positive rational numbers {a, b} is a 120°-pair if and only if
a 2 + ab + b 2 is rational.

Theorem 3 immediately follows.

Theorem 3. Consider the pair of distinct positive rational numbers {a, b} . Then {a, b} is an
isosceles base pair if and only if {a, b} is a 120°-pair.

11. (a) Let l be the length of the legs of an isosceles triangle with base length b. By
expressing the perimeter P and area A of the isosceles triangle in terms of b and
l, show part 1 of Theorem 1.

(b) Let a and c denote the other two roots of f ( x) = 0 . Show that
P
a+b+c = ;
2
ab + ac + bc =0;
8 A2
abc = − .
P

(c) Hence complete the proof of Theorem 1.

(d) Write down two pairs of distinct positive rational numbers {a, b} such that
a 2 + ab + b 2 is rational.

(e) Use Theorem 1 to prove Theorem 2.

(f) Give a pair of incongruent isosceles rational triangles with both a common
perimeter and a common area.

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Additional Practice Questions

Refer to the compilation of 2010 to 2019 STEP I, II and III problems.

1. 2011/STEP III/7

2. 2014/STEP II/8

3. 2015/STEP I/3

4. 2015/STEP II/3

5. 2018/STEP I/5

6. 2019/STEP II/8

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