All vertices of a regular 100-gon are colored in 10 colors. Prove that there exist 4 vertices of the given 100-gon which are the vertices of a rectangle and which are colored in at most 2 colors.
Solution
1. Applying the Pigeonhole Principle:
Since there are 100 vertices and 10 colors, by the Pigeonhole Principle, there must be at least one color that is used for at least vertices. Let's denote this color as color .
2. **Considering the 10 vertices of color :**
We have 10 vertices all colored with . We need to check if any of these vertices are diametrically opposite to each other.
3. Checking for diametrically opposite vertices:
If there exists a pair of diametrically opposite vertices among these 10 vertices, let's denote them as and . Since the 100-gon is regular, the vertex diametrically opposite to any vertex is exactly 50 positions away from . Thus, is 50 positions away from .
4. **Forming a rectangle with another vertex of color :**
If we can find another vertex of color , then the vertex diametrically opposite to (denote it as ) will also be 50 positions away from . The vertices will form a rectangle, and since and are of the same color , the rectangle will have vertices of at most 2 colors.
5. Considering the case where no diametrically opposite vertices are of the same color:
If no pair of the 10 vertices of color are diametrically opposite, then each of the 10 vertices of color must have their diametrically opposite vertices colored with one of the remaining 9 colors. This gives us 10 vertices (each diametrically opposite to one of the 10 vertices of color ) and 9 colors.
6. Applying the Pigeonhole Principle again:
By the Pigeonhole Principle, among these 10 vertices, at least two must share the same color. Let's denote these two vertices as and , and their diametrically opposite vertices as and , respectively. Since and are of the same color, and and are of color , the vertices form a rectangle with vertices of at most 2 colors.
Thus, in both cases, we have shown that there exist 4 vertices of the 100-gon which form a rectangle and are colored in at most 2 colors.