2016 IMO Problems/Problem 5

Problem

The equation

$(x-1)(x-2)\cdots(x-2016)=(x-1)(x-2)\cdots (x-2016)$

is written on the board, with $2016$ linear factors on each side. What is the least possible value of $k$ for which it is possible to erase exactly $k$ of these $4032$ linear factors so that at least one factor remains on each side and the resulting equation has no real solutions?

Solution

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See Also

2016 IMO (Problems) • Resources
Preceded by
Problem 4
1 2 3 4 5 6 Followed by
Problem 6
All IMO Problems and Solutions