Model Question Paper

MTRP 2015

{ For 11th standard }

”I have hardly ever known a mathematician who was capable of reasoning.”

–Plato

1. find all functions f : R+ → R+ such that

x2 (f (x) + f (y)) = (x + y)f (yf (x))∀x, y ∈ R+

2. Show that for any n ∈ N, the polynomial

x2 x3 xn
1+x+ + + ··· +
2! 3! n!
can not have repeated roots.

3. Shown below are the co-ordinate axes. Ar is the circle on the plane having radius r,
r = 1, 2, . . .. A man starts from the origin moves an unit length on the positive X- axis
reaching point P1 . From there he again moves 1cm along the circumference of A1 reaching
P2 There he moves along the outward normal an unit distance reaching P3 and then does the
same along A2 reaching P4 . He then continues the process indefinitely. Find his Y -co-ordinate
when he hits the Y -axis.

P4
P3
A2

A1 P2

P1
O X

4. Let f : R → R be a function such that f (f (x)) = −x for all x ∈ R.

i. Prove that f is one-one.

ii. Prove that f cannot be continuous.

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5. Consider a set Ω and a collection of subsets of Ω denoted by Γ. It is given that Γ has the
following properties:
a. Ω ∈ Γ.
b. If A, B ∈ Γ then A \ B ∈ Γ. (Note: A \ B is same as A ∩ B c ).
Hence, show that:
i. If A ∈ Γ, then Ac ∈ Γ.
ii. If A, B ∈ Γ, then A ∪ B ∈ Γ.
6. Prove for a, b > 0
(a − b)2 ((a + b)2 + 4ab)
≤1
(a + b)4
7. The set 1,2..,3n is partitioned into three sets A,B and C with each set containing n numbers.
Prove that it’s always possible to choose one number out of each set so that one of these
numbers is the sum of the other two.

8. Let a, b, c and x, y, z be non-negative real numbers such that

a+b+c=x+y+z
Prove that
ax(a + x) + by(b + y) + cz(c + z) ≥ 3(abc + xyz)

Hints & Solutions:

1. Let G(x, y) be the assertion of this functional equation. Now
G(x, x) ⇒ f (xf (x)) = xf (x)
Hence
f (1) = f (f (1))
.
G(xf (x), f (1))
⇒ x2 f 2 (x)(f (xf (x)) + f (f (1))) = (xf (x) + f (1))f (f (1)xf (x))
⇒ x2 f 2 (x)(xf (x) + f (1)) = (xf (x) + f (1))f (f (1)xf (x))
⇒ x2 f 2 (x) = f (f (1)xf (x))
Again
G(f (1), xf (x))
⇒ f 2 (1)(f (f (1)) + f (xf (x))) = (f (1) + xf (x))f (f (1)xf (x))
⇒ f 2 (1)((f (1)) + xf (x)) = (f (1) + xf (x))f (f (1)xf (x))
⇒ f 2 (1) = f (f (1)xf (x))

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 Here we just used the facts we have proved earlier that f (f (1)) = f (1) and f (xf (x)) = xf (x).
So, comparing the above two equations we get f 2 (1) = x2 f 2 (x) i.e. f (1) = xf (x) as both of
them are equal to f (f (1)xf (x)). So, f (x) = f (1)
x . Putting this in the original equation we get

f (1) f (1) f (1)

x2 ( + ) = (x + y) f (1)
x y y x
x+y x
⇒ x2 f (1) = (x + y)
xy y
x x
⇒ f (1)(x + y) = (x + y)
y y
⇒ f (1) = 1

So, the final answer is f (x) = x1 .

2. Let LHS = fn (x).

Observe fn0 (x) = fn−1 (x).
If x0 is a repeated root, then fn (xo ) = 0 = fn0 (x0 ) ⇒ fn (xo ) − fn−1 (x0 ) = 0 ⇒ x0 = 0.
But fn (0) 6= 0.

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3. ∠P2n OP2n−1 = .
n
Observe, 1 + 21 < π2 < 1 + 21 + 13 .
So, when he will hit Y -axis, he will be on the circle A3 . Hence his Y -coordinate will be 3.

4. i. Suppose f (x) = f (y) for some x, y ∈ R. Then by composing f on both sides, we get:

f (f (x)) = f (f (y)) =⇒ −x = −y =⇒ x = y.

Hence, f is one-one.
ii. In this part of the problem we shall use the fact that a continuous one-one function
is always monotonic (proved in Example 1.17 in the MTRP Problem Primer). Suppose
that f is continuous. From the first part, we already have f to be one-one. So the quoted
result implies that f is strictly monotonic.
Fix x > y ∈ R.
Suppose f is strictly increasing. Then,

f (x) > f (y) =⇒ f (f (x)) > f (f (y)) =⇒ −x > −y =⇒ x < y.

contradiction!
Suppose f is strictly decreasing. Then,

f (x) < f (y) =⇒ f (f (x)) > f (f (y)) =⇒ −x > −y =⇒ x < y.

contradiction!
So, f cannot be continuous.

5. i. From property (a) we have Ω ∈ Γ. So, if A ∈ Γ then by using property (b), we can
conclude that Ω \ A = Ac ∈ Γ (proved).

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 ii. If A, B ∈ Γ, then from part i. we have Ac , B c ∈ Γ. Also, Ac , B ∈ Γ implies by property
(b) that Ac \ B = Ac ∩ B c ∈ Γ.
Now from De-Morgan’s Law, we know that Ac ∩ B c = (A ∪ B)c . So, by the last argument,
(A ∪ B)c ∈ Γ.
Now from part i. again we can conclude that ((A ∪ B)c )c = A ∪ B ∈ Γ. (proved)

6. We rewrite this as :
(a − b)2 ((a + b)2 + 4ab)
≤1
(a + b)4
(a − b)2 (a + b)2 + (a + b)2 − (a − b)2


1
⇐⇒ 4
≤
8(a + b) 8
2 2
 
(a − b) 2(a − b) 1
⇐⇒ 2
· 1− 2
≤ (?)
4(a + b) 4(a + b) 8

Now let us consider an isosceles triangle ∆ABC with base |a − b| = BC, and other two sides
|a − b| A |a − b|
having length a + b. Then cos B = cos C = and sin = =⇒ cos A =
2(a + b) 2 2(a + b)
2(a − b)2
1− Now (?) becomes
(a + b)2
1
cos A cos B cos C ≤
8
Which is obviously true for any triangle, hence the desired inequality holds.

7. We will prove this by using prove by contradiction method. Let us say that there are no such
”good” triplet. Let without loss of generality we consider that 1 ∈ A. Let k be the minimum
element which does not belong to A and let’s say that k ∈ B. We will at first prove the
following claim:
x∈C ⇒x−1∈A
Suppose not, i.e. for some x ∈ C , x − 1 ∈ / A. Then x − 1 ∈ C because if x − 1 ∈ B then
(1, x − 1, x) will make a good triplet. Now by the minimality condition again x − 1 > k. Now
as (x − k, k, x) is good so lets consider that x − k ∈ / A. Again, as k is the minimum elelment
not in A so k − 1 ∈ A. Again (k − 1, x − k, x − 1) makes a good triplet so x − k ∈ / B. That
means x − k ∈ C. Similarly (x − k − 1, k, x − 1) makes a good triplet, so, x − k − 1 ∈ / A.
Again, (1, x − k − 1, x − k) makes a good triplet, so, x − k − 1 ∈ / B. That means x − k − 1 ∈ C.
Here we showed that bot x − k and x − k − 1 belongs to C. Again using a simple induction
we can prove that all numbers of the form x − ik, x − ik − 1 belongs to C. But this cannot
cannot be true because there is some i such that x − ik < k then contradicts the minimality
of k which belongs to B. So our claim that x − 1 ∈ A is established. The claim implies
that if c1 , c2 , . . . , cn ∈ C then c1 − 1, c2 − 1, . . . , cn − 1 ∈ A. But none of the ci − 1 can be
1 because then ci = 2 ∈ C which again contradicts the minimality of k belongs to B. So, A
contains at least c1 − 1, c2 − 1, . . . , cn − 1, 1 i.e. |A| ≥ n + 1 which contradicts the condition
of the question. So, the claim of the question is correct i.e. it’s always possible to choose one
number out of each set so that one of these numbers is the sum of the other two.

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8. To prove this we will apply Cauchy-Schwarz inequality on the following two sets of numbers
√ √ √ √ √ √
(a x, b y, c z) and ( yz, zx, xy). We get thus the following inequality

(a2 x + b2 y + c2 z)(yz + zx + xy) ≥ xyz(a + b + c)2

Again from the given condition we get that (a + b + c)2 = (x + y + z)2 . From the trivial and
useful inequality (x + y + z)2 ≥ 3(xy + yz + zx) we get that

(a + b + c)2 = (x + y + z)2 ≥ 3(xy + yz + zx)

So we get that

(a2 x + b2 y + c2 z)(yz + zx + xy) ≥ 3xyz(xy + yz + zx)

i.e.
(a2 x + b2 y + cz ) ≥ 3xyz
Similarly interchanging the role of (a, b, c) and (x, y, z) we get by applying above process

(ax2 + by 2 + cz 2 ) ≥ 3abc

So summing up we get that

(a2 x + b2 y + c2 z) + (ax2 + by 2 + cz 2 ) ≥ 3(xyz + abc)

or
ax(a + x) + by(b + y) + cz(c + z) ≥ 3(abc + xyz)
Hence proved.