Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 5.3 AIME, harder Find the answer

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.

A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.

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 1 , 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 179: (n1)/2360/n1(n-1) / 2-360 / n \leq-1, so that 360/nn/21/2360 / n-n / 2 \geq 1 / 2. Multiplying by 2n2 n 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 2 when (n2)180/n(n-2) 180 / n is an integer. For n=20n=20, the middle angle is 162 , so the largest angle is at least 162+38/2=181162+38 / 2=181, since 38 is no larger than the difference between the smallest and largest angles. For n=24n=24, the middle angle is 165 , again leading to a contradiction. So no solution exists for n=20,24n=20,24. All of the others possess solutions: n angles 3 59,60,61 4 87,89,91,93 5 106,107,108,109,110 6 115,117,119,121,123,125 8 128,130,132,134,136,138,140,142 9 136, , 144 10 135,137,139, , 153 12 139,141,143, , 161 15 149,150, , 163 16 150,151, , 165 18 143,145, , 177\text{n angles 3 59,60,61 4 87,89,91,93 5 106,107,108,109,110 6 115,117,119,121,123,125 8 128,130,132,134,136,138,140,142 9 136, , 144 10 135,137,139, , 153 12 139,141,143, , 161 15 149,150, , 163 16 150,151, , 165 18 143,145, , 177} (These solutions are quite easy to construct.) The desired value is then 3+4+5+6+3+4+5+6+ 8+9+10+12+15+16+18=1068+9+10+12+15+16+18=106.

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Source: Omni-MATH, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.