37TH UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS COMPETITION
APRIL 4, 2020
Rules:
(1) The competition starts on April 4 at 1pm and ends at 4pm.
(2) Between 4pm and 4:30pm you can scan your written solutions and upload
it to the canvas website. The 4:30pm deadline is strict. (If you have issues
with uploading your solutions and you cannot resolve it, then you can also
email your solutions to hderksen@[Link] before the deadline.)
(3) It is probably not possible to solve all problems. Work on the problems
that seem most inviting to you.
(4) Prove all your answers to get credit.
(5) Participants are not allowed to consult books, the internet, other people
or other resources.
(6) Calculators are not allowed.
Problem 1. Consider the unit grid in R2 and let f (t) be the number of 1 × 1 squares in
the grid that intersect with the circle defined by x2 + y 2 = t. (A circle C intersects a square
S = [p, p + 1] × [q, q + 1] if C ∩ S 6= ∅.) For example, f (6) = 20 because x2 + y 2 = 6 intersects
10 squares:
Determine f (999999).
Problem 2. For which positive integers n do we have
Z π
cos(x) cos(2x) cos(3x) · · · cos(nx) dx = 0?
0
Problem 3. Suppose that k and n are positive integers, a1 , a2 , . . . , ak ∈ {1, 2, . . . , n} and
b1 , b2 , . . . , bn ∈ {1, 2, . . . , k}. Show that the sequences a1 , a2 , . . . , ak and b1 , b2 , . . . , bn have
nonempty subsequences with the same sum.
1
Problem 4. Define a sequence C0 , C1 , C2 , . . . by C0 = 0, C1 = 1 and Cn+1 = Cn − 2Cn−1
for n ≥ 1. Suppose that a, b, g, n are positive integers such that a and b divide n and
g = gcd(a, b) is the greatest common divisor. Show that Ca Cb divides Cg Cn .
Problem 5. In tetrahedron P ABC, face ABC is an equilateral triangle and P is equally
distant from A, B and C, so that the other three faces are congruent isosceles triangles. In
each of these three triangles, the cosine of the angle φ at P is 35 . Find the cosine of the
(smaller) angle θ between the planes of P AB and P AC. (Note that for any xed point Q on
the line L through P and A, then angle between the planes is the angle between a line in
the plane of P AB perpendicular to L at Q and a line in the place of P AC perpendicular to
L at Q.) Your answer should be an explicit rational number.
Problem 6. Find explicitly a complex root of x2021 = x2020 + 1 that satisfies a quadratic
equation with integer coefficients.
Problem 7. Consider a chess board with a coin on each of the 64 squares. Each coin shows
either head or tail. In each move you can choose a 3 × 3 or a 4 × 4 square area and flip all
the coins in this square area. Is it possible to make a sequence of moves to get the whole
board showing head for any starting configuration of heads and tails?
an
Problem 8. The sequence an is defined recursively so that a1 = 2, a2 = 4 and an+1 = an−1
for all integers n ≥ 2. For example, a3 = 42 = 6 and a4 = 64 = 15. Determine, with proof,
an−1 1/an−1
lim an .
n→∞ an
Problem 9. Suppose we have several identical dice that are biased (so the probability of
each of the numbers 1,2,3,4,5,6 facing up could be different from 16 ). If we roll three dice the
probability that all three are the same is p. If we roll four dice then the probability that all
are the same is q and the probability that all are distinct is r. If we roll two dice, what is
the probability that they are distinct? Express your answer in p, q and r.
Problem 10. For which integers n does there exists a nonzero rational function f (x) that
satisfies
f 0 (x)2 = f (x)xn (x − 1)?
(Here f 0 (x) is the derivative of f (x).)