Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 5.2 AIME, harder Prove it United States

Problem:

There are eleven positive integers nn such that there exists a convex polygon with nn sides whose angles, in degrees, are unequal integers that are in arithmetic progression. Find the sum of these values of nn.

Solution

Solution:

The sum of the angles of an nn-gon is (n2)180(n-2) 180, so the average angle measure is (n2)180/n(n-2) 180 / n. The common difference in this arithmetic progression is at least 11, so the difference between the largest and smallest angles is at least n1n-1. So the largest angle is at least (n1)/2+(n2)180/n(n-1)/2 + (n-2) 180 / n. Since the polygon is convex, this quantity is no larger than 179179: (n1)/2360/n1(n-1)/2 - 360/n \leq -1, so that 360/nn/21/2360/n - n/2 \geq 1/2. Multiplying by 2n2n gives 720n2n720 - n^{2} \geq n. So n(n+1)720n(n+1) \leq 720, which forces n26n \leq 26.

Of course, since the common difference is an integer, and the angle measures are integers, (n2)180/n(n-2) 180 / n must be an integer or a half integer, so (n2)360/n=360720/n(n-2) 360 / n = 360 - 720 / n is an integer, and then 720/n720 / n must be an integer. This leaves only n=3,4,5,6,8,9,10,12,15,16,18,20,24n = 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15, 16, 18, 20, 24 as possibilities.

When nn is even, (n2)180/n(n-2) 180 / n is not an angle of the polygon, but the mean of the two middle angles. So the common difference is at least 22 when (n2)180/n(n-2) 180 / n is an integer. For n=20n=20, the middle angle is 162162, so the largest angle is at least 162+38/2=181162 + 38/2 = 181, since 3838 is no larger than the difference between the smallest and largest angles. For n=24n=24, the middle angle is 165165, again leading to a contradiction. So no solution exists for n=20,24n=20,24. All of the others possess solutions:

nnangles
359,60,6159, 60, 61
487,89,91,9387, 89, 91, 93
5106,107,108,109,110106, 107, 108, 109, 110
6115,117,119,121,123,125115, 117, 119, 121, 123, 125
8128,130,132,134,136,138,140,142128, 130, 132, 134, 136, 138, 140, 142
9136,,144136, \ldots, 144
10135,137,139,,153135, 137, 139, \ldots, 153
12139,141,143,,161139, 141, 143, \ldots, 161
15149,150,,163149, 150, \ldots, 163
16150,151,,165150, 151, \ldots, 165
18143,145,,177143, 145, \ldots, 177

(These solutions are quite easy to construct.) The desired value is then 3+4+5+6+8+9+10+12+15+16+18=1063 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 8 + 9 + 10 + 12 + 15 + 16 + 18 = 106.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.