General strategies

Euclid Club 2022

March 31st , 2022

Today, we will be going over how to present your solution, as well as general strategies on the Euclid. While it’s
important to be able to practice problems so you can solve them, it’s also important that you can get full points on them.
Make sure to read some other’s solutions so you can get a feel for how to structure your own solution.

1 Strategy
Before going into the Euclid, you should have done some practice questions. In doing so, you know your limits; which
difficulty of questions you can solve easily, which ones you need time to solve, and which ones are pretty much impossible.

During the contest, solve the early questions quickly but efficiently (don’t make silly errors!), then move on to the
mid-range questions. Read all the mid-range questions first before solving them! This way, you can ensure that time isn’t
wasted while you’re writing down solutions. Finally, make sure to have a try at the early parts of later questions, do not
be intimidated that they are the highest ranked questions. Sometimes part a or b of those question are much more easier
despite the later parts being very challenging. An example from 2019 Euclid problem 9.
a b 1
For positive integers a and b, define f (a, b) = + +
b a ab
(a) Determine the value of f (2, 5)
(b) Determine all positive integers a for which f (a, a) is an integer.
(c) If a and b are positive integers and f (a, b) is an integer, prove that f (a, b) must be a multiple of 3.
(d) Determine four pairs of positive integers (a, b), with 2 < a < b, for which f (a, b) is an integer.
Part a and b are much easier than c and d and in a case you don’t get the full question, writing down solution for the
earlier parts could will you a few points in your overall score.

2 Solution writing
Make sure to have clean, neat and clear solutions, as well as your work being properly organized.

In “lightbulb” questions, it’s not recommended to write out a full solution (unless you can’t get an answer and you
are going for partials). Don’t waste your time writing out a full solution, with complete let statements and such; instead,
use the space as scrap paper. Try to write it somewhat neatly, and box important observations, so the markers can give
you partial marks.

In “proof” questions, this depends whether it’s a word problem or if they just give you some equations.

If it’s a word problem, your proof should look something like this:
1. Defining variables (let x be ...)
2. Creating equations/ineq. from the variables used, explaining how to get to some of them if they aren’t trivial.
3. Manipulating the equations
4. Interpreting the results + THEREFORE STATEMENTS!

If it’s not a word problem (so just given equations), then you don’t have to interpret the results or do much defining
of variables. Instead, you would just manipulate the equations. To do this, you would label your equations (1), (2), etc.
and then describe what you are doing by using the labels. For example, if I wanted to add both equations, I would do
(1)+(2), then write the result. If I wanted to multiply both sides of equation (1) by 5, I would write (1)x5, etc. You can
even combine them into one step if you’re comfortable; (1)x5+(2)
1
A good check to see if you have a good solution is to imagine that you’re explaining it to a math teacher. The math
teacher knows all the theorems you’re using, but they want to make sure that it’s clear how to go from step to step.

Another thing: it’s a common misconception that solutions to a problem should be like showing how to solve the problem.
However, you don’t want to explain how you got your ideas; you’re only focused on applying the ideas. Sometimes, this
can make it seem like you’re doing something that’s completely useless only to magically use it later, but this is exactly
how a solution should go.