Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 5.7 AIME, harder Prove it Soviet Union

Problem:

Given a finite set XX of points in the plane. SS is a set of vectors ABAB where (A,B)(A, B) are some pairs of points in XX. For every point AA the number of vectors ABAB (starting at AA) in SS equals the number of vectors CACA (ending at AA) in SS. Show that the sum of the vectors in SS is zero.

Solution

Solution:

Let X={P1,P2,,Pn}X = \{P_1, P_2, \ldots, P_n\}. For each vector ABAB in SS, let vAB\vec{v}_{AB} denote the vector from AA to BB.

The sum of all vectors in SS is:
ABSvAB=ABS(OBOA) \sum_{AB \in S} \vec{v}_{AB} = \sum_{AB \in S} (\vec{OB} - \vec{OA})
where OO is the origin and OA\vec{OA} is the position vector of AA.

This can be rewritten as:
ABSOBABSOA \sum_{AB \in S} \vec{OB} - \sum_{AB \in S} \vec{OA}

For each point AA, let dA+d^+_A be the number of vectors in SS starting at AA (i.e., the number of ABAB in SS for fixed AA), and dAd^-_A be the number of vectors in SS ending at AA (i.e., the number of CACA in SS for fixed AA).

Then:
ABSOA=AXdA+OA \sum_{AB \in S} \vec{OA} = \sum_{A \in X} d^+_A \vec{OA}
ABSOB=BXdBOB \sum_{AB \in S} \vec{OB} = \sum_{B \in X} d^-_B \vec{OB}

So the total sum is:
BXdBOBAXdA+OA=AX(dAdA+)OA \sum_{B \in X} d^-_B \vec{OB} - \sum_{A \in X} d^+_A \vec{OA} = \sum_{A \in X} (d^-_A - d^+_A) \vec{OA}

But by the given, for every AA, dA+=dAd^+_A = d^-_A, so dAdA+=0d^-_A - d^+_A = 0 for all AA.

Therefore, the sum is zero.

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