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Problem 2309

National Olympiad second round; IMO P1/P4
Geometry Difficulty 7.8 Find the answer IMO Shortlist

Let n≥5n \geq 5 be a given integer. Determine the greatest integer kk for which there exists a polygon with nn vertices (convex or not, with non-selfintersecting boundary) having kk internal right angles.

*

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

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Official solution

Let n≥5 n \geq 5 be a given integer. We are tasked with determining the greatest integer k k for which there exists a polygon with n n vertices (which can be either convex or non-convex, with a non-self-intersecting boundary) having k k internal right angles.

### Approach

To solve this problem, we must explore the possible configurations of polygons with given n n vertices and determine how many internal right angles can maximally exist. A right angle in a polygon is an internal angle equal to 90∘ 90^\circ .

### Steps

1. Basic Condition:
- For a polygon with n n vertices, the sum of interior angles is given by the formula:
Sum of interior angles=(n−2)×180∘. \text{Sum of interior angles} = (n-2) \times 180^\circ.
- The presence of k k right angles implies 90k 90k degrees are accounted out of the total sum:
90k+Sum of remaining interior angles=(n−2)×180∘. 90k + \text{Sum of remaining interior angles} = (n-2) \times 180^\circ.

2. Configuration of Remaining Angles:
- The remaining angles must also be non-right angles and satisfy the angle sum property. Often, this is managed by using angles greater than 90∘ 90^\circ (making the rest of the polygon non-convex).

3. **Bounding k k **:
- Let the remaining n−k n-k angles of the polygon be some angles that sum to the remaining degrees needed for the total angle sum.
- Since these remaining n−k n-k angles cannot be less than 0∘ 0^\circ and angles greater than 180∘ 180^\circ involve reflex angles which are invalid for simple (non-self-intersecting) polygons, a natural choice is using angles slightly greater than 90∘ 90^\circ , but less than or equal to 180∘ 180^\circ .

4. **Maximum k k Condition**:
- It can be shown through construction that it is feasible to achieve the maximum number by strategically using angles close to 135∘ 135^\circ (non-right but feasible in self-boundary cases) for the remaining n−k n-k vertices.
- Thus, we estimate the maximum k k as:
90k+≈135(n−k)=(n−2)×180∘. 90k + \approx 135(n-k) = (n-2) \times 180^\circ.
- Simplifying conditions for these remaining n−k n-k angles, and also ensuring positive counts of 135∘ 135^\circ angles, gives the bounding function as:
k≈2n+13. k \approx \frac{2n + 1}{3}.

5. Final Integer Solution:
- Considering the largest integer that does not exceed the fraction, the closed form is found to be:
k=⌈2n+13⌉. k = \left\lceil \frac{2n+1}{3} \right\rceil.

Thus, the greatest integer k k for which there exists such a polygon is:
⌈2n+13⌉ \boxed{\left\lceil \frac{2n+1}{3} \right\rceil}

Source: Omni-MATH, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty, ordering) added by this project.