Olympiad Maths Prep

Track / Stage 8 / 63 of 180 #1763 of 2000

Problem 1763

IMO Shortlist mid-range; USAMO P2/P5
Geometry Difficulty 8.2 Find the answer china_team_selection_test

Determine the greatest positive integer n n such that in three-dimensional space, there exist n points P1,P2,,Pn, P_{1},P_{2},\cdots,P_{n}, among n n points no three points are collinear, and for arbitary 1i<j<kn 1\leq i < j < k\leq n, PiPjPk P_{i}P_{j}P_{k} isn't obtuse triangle.

Official solution

To determine the greatest positive integer n n such that in three-dimensional space, there exist n n points P1,P2,,Pn P_{1}, P_{2}, \cdots, P_{n} where no three points are collinear and for any 1i<j<kn 1 \leq i < j < k \leq n , the triangle PiPjPk P_{i}P_{j}P_{k} is not obtuse, we need to consider the geometric constraints.

In three-dimensional space, the maximum number of points that can be arranged such that no three are collinear and no triangle formed by any three points is obtuse is 8. This arrangement can be visualized as the vertices of a cube.

If we attempt to add a ninth point, it is inevitable that at least one of the triangles formed will be obtuse. This is because in any arrangement of more than 8 points, there will be at least one set of three points where the angle between two of the points exceeds π2 \frac{\pi}{2} .

Therefore, the greatest positive integer n n such that no three points are collinear and no triangle is obtuse is 8.

The answer is: 8\boxed{8}.

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