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2022 USAMO Problems/Problem 2

Revision as of 19:40, 26 May 2022 by Pog (talk | contribs) (→‎Problem)

Problem

Let $b\geq2$ and $w\geq2$ be fixed integers, and $n=b+w$. Given are $2b$ identical black rods and $2w$ identical white rods, each of side length $1$.

We assemble a regular $2n$-gon using these rods so that parallel sides are the same color. Then, a convex $2b$-gon $B$ is formed by translating the black rods, and a convex $2w$-gon $W$ is formed by translating the white rods. An example of one way of doing the assembly when $b=3$ and $w=2$ is shown below, as well as the resulting polygons $B$ and $W$.

[asy] size(10cm); real w = 2*Sin(18); real h = 0.10 * w; real d = 0.33 * h; picture wht; picture blk; draw(wht, (0,0)--(w,0)--(w+d,h)--(-d,h)--cycle); fill(blk, (0,0)--(w,0)--(w+d,h)--(-d,h)--cycle, black); // draw(unitcircle, blue+dotted); // Original polygon add(shift(dir(108))*blk); add(shift(dir(72))*rotate(324)*blk); add(shift(dir(36))*rotate(288)*wht); add(shift(dir(0))*rotate(252)*blk); add(shift(dir(324))*rotate(216)*wht); add(shift(dir(288))*rotate(180)*blk); add(shift(dir(252))*rotate(144)*blk); add(shift(dir(216))*rotate(108)*wht); add(shift(dir(180))*rotate(72)*blk); add(shift(dir(144))*rotate(36)*wht); // White shifted real Wk = 1.2; pair W1 = (1.8,0.1); pair W2 = W1 + w*dir(36); pair W3 = W2 + w*dir(108); pair W4 = W3 + w*dir(216); path Wgon = W1--W2--W3--W4--cycle; draw(Wgon); pair WO = (W1+W3)/2; transform Wt = shift(WO)*scale(Wk)*shift(-WO); draw(Wt * Wgon); label("$W$", WO); /* draw(W1--Wt*W1); draw(W2--Wt*W2); draw(W3--Wt*W3); draw(W4--Wt*W4); */ // Black shifted real Bk = 1.10; pair B1 = (1.5,-0.1); pair B2 = B1 + w*dir(0); pair B3 = B2 + w*dir(324); pair B4 = B3 + w*dir(252); pair B5 = B4 + w*dir(180); pair B6 = B5 + w*dir(144); path Bgon = B1--B2--B3--B4--B5--B6--cycle; pair BO = (B1+B4)/2; transform Bt = shift(BO)*scale(Bk)*shift(-BO); fill(Bt * Bgon, black); fill(Bgon, white); label("$B$", BO); [/asy]

Prove that the difference of the areas of $B$ and $W$ depends only on the numbers $b$ and $w$, and not on how the $2n$-gon was assembled.

Solution

[WIP]

See also

2022 USAMO (Problems • Resources)
Preceded by
Problem 1 		Followed by
Problem 3
1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6
All USAMO Problems and Solutions

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