JOM 2023 Solutions

BIMO 1 2023 Seniors & Alumni

22 February 2023

§1 Problem 1
Does there exist a positive integer, x, such that (x + 2)2023 − x2023 has exactly 20232023
factors?

(Wong Jer Ren)

Answer. No.
Solution. (Wong Jer Ren)
Since x3 ≡3 x,
(x + 2)2023 − x2023 ≡3 (x + 2) − x ≡3 2
Therefore (x + 2)2023 − x2023 cannot be a perfect square and hence cannot have exactly
an odd number of (in particular 20232023 ) divisors. ■

1
BIMO 1 2023 Seniors & Alumni — 22 February 2023 JOM 2023 Solutions

§2 Problem 2
Ruby has a non-negative integer n. In each second, Ruby replaces the number she has
with the product of all its digits. Prove that Ruby will eventually have a single-digit
number (including 0).

(Wong Jer Ren)

Solution 1. (Wong Jer Ren)

Denote P (n) as the product of digits in n.

Claim — P (n) < n for all n ≥ 10.

Proof. Let n = a1 a2 a3 ...ak , then P (n) = a1 a2 a3 ...ak ≤ 9k−1 a1 < 10k−1 a1 ≤ n.

Therefore, for any n ≥ 10,

n > P (n) > P 2 (n) > P 3 (n) > ...

until P r (n) eventually is a single digit number. ■

Solution 2. (Wong Jer Ren)

Claim — P (n) ≤ n for all positive integers n with equality case only when 0 ≤ n ≤ 9.

Proof. We induct on the number of digits, m,.

Base case: m = 1. Trivial.
Inductive step: Let n = 10k + l where 0 ≤ l ≤ 9.

P (n) = P (k) × l
≤ kl
< 10k
≤n

Therefore, for any n ≥ 10,

n > P (n) > P 2 (n) > P 3 (n) > ...

until P r (n) eventually is a single digit number. ■

2
BIMO 1 2023 Seniors & Alumni — 22 February 2023 JOM 2023 Solutions

§3 Problem 3
Given an acute triangle ABC with AB < AC, let D be the foot of altitude from A to
BC and let M ̸= D be a point on segment BC. J and K lie on AC and AB respectively
such that K, J, M lies on a common line perpendicular to BC. Let the circumcircles of
△ABJ and △ACK intersect at T . Prove that K, J, T are collinear if and only if M is
the midpoint of BC.

(Wong Jer Ren)

Answer. M is the midpoint of BC.

Solution. (Wong Jer Ren)

A
J

Tc
O
T
Tb

B M C

Let P Q intersect (ABP ), (ACQ) again at Tb , Tc respectively, and O be the circumcenter

of △ABC. It suffices for us to determine when Tb = Tc .

Claim — Tb ∈ BO

Proof. ∠ABTb = ∠Tb JC = 90◦ − ∠ACB = ∠ABO

Similarly Tc ∈ OC, therefore

Tb = Tc ⇐⇒ Tb = Tc = O ⇐⇒ M is the midpoint of BC

■
Remark (Anzo Teh). An easier observation can be yield via the following:
∠(AB, AC) = ∠(AB, AJ) = ∠(BTb , Tb J) = ∠(BTb , JK) and similarly
∠(AB, AC) = ∠(JK, CTc ), so if Tb = Tc then JK will have to be the perpendicular
bisector of BC.

3
BIMO 1 2023 Seniors & Alumni — 22 February 2023 JOM 2023 Solutions

§4 Problem 4
Given n positive real numbers x1 , x2 , x3 , ..., xn such that
    
1 1 1
1+ 1+ ... 1 + = (n + 1)n
x1 x2 xn

Determine the minimum value of x1 + x2 + x3 + ... + xn .

(Loh Kwong Weng)

1
Answer. The minimum value is 1 with equality case when x1 = x2 = ... = xn = n .

Solution 1. (Loh Kwong Weng)

Suppose 1 > x1 + x2 + ... + xn . Then by AM-GM inequality
n
Y xi + 1
(n + 1)n =
xi
i=1
n Pn
Y xi + j=1 xj
>
xi
i=1
 Q  1
n (n + 1) xi n n+1
Y x
j=1 j
≥
xi
i=1
= (n + 1)n

This gives a contradiction. Therefore x1 + x2 + ... + xn ≥ 1. ■

Solution 2. (Loh Kwong Weng)  

1
Here’s an alternative way to finish from here. Let yi = logn+1 1 + xi so that
1
1+ xi = (n + 1)yi . Therefore we have
n   n
1 Pn
= (n + 1)( yi )
Y X
n
(n + 1) = 1+ i=1 =⇒ yi = n
xi
i=1 i=1

Also we have xi = (n+1)1yi −1 Notice function f (y) = 1

(n+1)y −1 is convex in positive reals,
therefore by Jensen’s inequality we have that
n
X n
X
xi = f (yi )
i=1 i=1
≥ n · f (1)
=1

4
BIMO 1 2023 Seniors & Alumni — 22 February 2023 JOM 2023 Solutions

§5 Problem 5
Given a m × n rectangle where m, n ≥ 2023. The square in the i-th row and j-th column
is filled with the number i + j for 1 ≤ i ≤ m, 1 ≤ j ≤ n. In each move, Alice can pick a
2023 × 2023 subrectangle and add 1 to each number in it. Alice wins if all the numbers
are multiples of 2023 after a finite number of moves. For which pairs (m, n) can Alice
win?
(Boon Qing Hong)
Answer. 20232 |m, n
Solution. (Wong Jer Ren)
Congruencies in this proof all refer to congruencies mod 2023.
Necessity

Claim — 2023|m

Proof. The sum in each column must be a multiple of 2023. However the sum in column
2 is m more than the sum in column 1.

Claim — 20232 |m

Proof. In column 1, let Si be the sum of numbers in the k-th row where k ≡ i. Realise
that S2 − S1 is an invariant since each move either increases both S1 , S2 by 1 or does not
increase any of them. Therefore,
m
2023|S2 − S1 = =⇒ 20232 |m
2023

Sufficiency
We say we make a move on (i, j) where 1 ≤ i ≤ m − 2022, 1 ≤ j ≤ n − 2022 if we choose
the 2023 × 2023 square with (i, j) being its top left corner.

Claim — At any point, in column i, if the numbers in row 1 to m − 2022 are all
multiples of 2023, then the entire column is filled with multiples of 2023.

Proof.
20232 |m =⇒ Si ≡ Sj ∀ i, j
Moreover, S1 ≡ 0 by the condition. Therefore the last 2022 numbers must be multiples
of 2023 too in order to have the remaining Si ≡ 0.

Claim — We can make the number in each (i, j) to be “0” for all
1 ≤ i ≤ m − 2022, 1 ≤ j ≤ n − 2022

Proof. Apply a suitable number of moves on (i, j) one-by-one in increasing order of i + j

to make each of them be zero.

At this point, we can invoke the previous claim on column 1 to n − 2022 to show they
are filled with multiples of 2023. Then we can invoke the row version of the previous
claim on all rows to show the entire board is filled with multiples of 2023. ■