2

1 Quickies
1. Determine the extreme values of r1 /h1 + r2 /h2 + r3 /h3 + r4 /h4 where h1 , h2 ,
h3 , h4 are the four altitudes of a given tetrahedron T and r1 , r2 , r3 , r4 are the
corresponding signed perpendicular distances from any point in the space of T to
the faces.
2. Determine the minimum value of the product

P = (1 + x1 + y1 )(1 + x2 + y2 ) . . . (1 + xn + yn )

where xi , yi ≥ 0, and x1 x2 . . . xn = y1 y2 . . . yn = an .
3. Prove that if F (x, y, z) is a concave function of x, y, z, then {F (x, y, z)} −2 is
a convex function of x, y, z.
4. If a, b, c are sides of a given triangle of perimeter p, determine the maximum
values of
(i) (a − b)2 + (b − c)2 + (c − a)2 ,
(ii) |a − b| + |b − c| + |c − a|,
(iii) |a − b||b − c| + |b − c||c − a| + |c − a||a − b|.
5. If A, B, C are three dihedral angles of a trihedral angle, show that sin A, sin B,
sin C satisfy the triangle inequality.
6. Are there any integral solutions (x, y, z) of the Diophantine equation

(x − y − z)3 = 27xyz

other than (−a, a, a) or such that xyz = 0?

7. Does the Diophantine equation

(x − y − z)(x − y + z)(x + y − z) = 8xyz

have an infinite number of relatively prime solutions?

8. It is an easy result using calculus that if a polynomial P (x) is divisible by
its derivative P ′ (x), then P (x) must be of the form a(x − r)n . Starting from the
known result that
P ′ (x) X 1
=
P (x) x − ri
where the sum is over all the zeros ri of P (x) counting multiplicities, give a
non-calculus proof of the above result.
9. Solve the simultaneous equations

x2 (y + z) = 1, y 2 (z + x) = 8, z 2 (x + y) = 13.