2010 ISI B.

Stat Entrance Exam

ISI B.Stat Entrance Exam 2010

1 Let a1 , a2 , · · · , an and b1 , b2 , · · · , bn be two permutations of the numbers 1, 2, · · · , n.

Show that
Xn Xn X
n
i(n + 1 − i) ≤ a i bi ≤ i2
i=1 i=1 i=1

2 Let a, b, c, d be distinct digits such that the product of the 2-digit numbers ab
and cb is of the form ddd. Find all possible values of a + b + c + d.

3 Let I1 , I2 , I3 be three open intervals of R such that none is contained in another.

If I1 ∩ I2 ∩ I3 is non-empty, then show that at least one of these intervals is
contained in the union of the other two.

4 A real valued function f is defined on the interval (−1, 2). A point x0 is said to
be a fixed point of f if f (x0 ) = x0 . Suppose that f is a differentiable function
such that f (0) > 0 and f (1) = 1. Show that if f ′ (1) > 1, then f has a fixed
point in the interval (0, 1).

5 Let A be the set of all functions f : R → R such that f (xy) = xf (y) for all
x, y ∈ R.
(a) If f ∈ A then show that f (x + y) = f (x) + f (y) for all x, y ∈ R
(b) For g, h ∈ A, define a function g ◦ h by (g ◦ h)(x) = g(h(x)) for x ∈ R. Prove
that g ◦ h is in A and is equal to h ◦ g.

6 Consider the equation n2 + (n + 1)4 = 5(n + 2)3

(a) Show that any integer of the form 3m + 1 or 3m + 2 can not be a solution
of this equation.
(b) Does the equation have a solution in positive integers?

7 Consider a rectangular sheet of paper ABCD such that the lengths of AB and
AD are respectively 7 and 3 centimetres. Suppose that B ′ and D′ are two
points on AB and AD respectively such that if the paper is folded along B ′ D′
then A falls on A′ on the side DC. Determine the maximum possible area of
the triangle AB ′ D′ .

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 2010 ISI B.Stat Entrance Exam

8 Take r such that 1 ≤ r ≤ n, and consider all subsets of r elements of the set
{1, 2, . . . , n}. Each subset has a smallest element. Let F (n, r) be the arithmetic
mean of these smallest elements. Prove that:
n+1
F (n, r) = .
r+1

9 Let f : R2 → R2 be a function having the following property: For any two

points A and B in R2 , the distance between A and B is the same as the distance
between the points f (A) and f (B).
Denote the unique straight line passing through A and B by l(A, B)
(a) Suppose that C, D are two fixed points in R2 . If X is a point on the line
l(C, D), then show that f (X) is a point on the line l(f (C), f (D)).
(b) Consider two more point E and F in R2 and suppose that l(E, F ) intersects
l(C, D) at an angle α. Show that l(f (C), f (D)) intersects l(f (E), f (F )) at an
angle α. What happens if the two lines l(C, D) and l(E, F ) do not intersect?
Justify your answer.

10 There are 100 people in a queue waiting to enter a hall. The hall has exactly
100 seats numbered from 1 to 100. The first person in the queue enters the
hall, chooses any seat and sits there. The n-th person in the queue, where n
can be 2, ..., 100, enters the hall after (n − 1)-th person is seated. He sits in
seat number n if he finds it vacant; otherwise he takes any unoccupied seat.
Find the total number of ways in which 100 seats can be filled up, provided the
100-th person occupies seat number 100.

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