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All-Soviet-Union Mathematical Olympiad

Combinatorics Difficulty 4.7 AIME Prove it Soviet Union

Problem:
Given a set of nn different positive reals {a1,a2,…,an}\{a_{1}, a_{2}, \ldots , a_{n}\}. Take all possible non-empty subsets and form their sums. Prove we get at least n(n+1)2\frac{n(n + 1)}{2} different sums.

Solution

Solution:
Assume a1<a2<…<ana_{1} < a_{2} < \ldots < a_{n}. We have the following collection of increasing sums:

a1<a2<…<ana_{1} < a_{2} < \ldots < a_{n} (nn sums)

a1+an<a2+an<…<an−1+ana_{1} + a_{n} < a_{2} + a_{n} < \ldots < a_{n - 1} + a_{n} (n−1n-1 sums)

a1+an−1+an<a2+an−1+an<…<an−2+an−1+ana_{1} + a_{n - 1} + a_{n} < a_{2} + a_{n - 1} + a_{n} < \ldots < a_{n - 2} + a_{n - 1} + a_{n} (n−2n-2 sums)

⋮\vdots

a1+a2+…+ana_{1} + a_{2} + \ldots + a_{n} (1 sum)

A total of 1+2+…+n=n(n+1)21 + 2 + \ldots + n = \frac{n(n + 1)}{2}.

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