2019 Entrance Examination for the BSc Programmes at

CMI
Pallab Das
Feb 17, 2019

Part A.

Part A is worth a total of (4*10 = 40) points. Points will be given based only on clearly legible final answers.
Write all answers for a single question in the order in which they are asked, separated by commas.
Unless specified otherwise, each answer is either a number (rational/ real/ complex) or, where appropriate, one
of the phrases “infinite”/“does not exist”/“not possible to decide”. Write integer answers in the usual decimal form.
Write non-integer rationals as ratios of two integers.

1. Let ABC be a triangle with AB = 13, BC = 14, and CA = 15. The line ` passes through two sides of triangle
ABC and cuts it into two figures, a triangle and a quadrilateral, bisecting the perimeter. Find out the maximum
possible area of the latter triangle .

2. g : R → R is a differentiable map satisfying g(0) = 0, g(1) = 1, and |g 0 (x)| ≤ 2 for all reals x. Suppose a and
R1
b are real numbers such that the range of 0 g(x)dx, over all such possible maps g, is the open interval (a, b).
Determine b − a.

3. How many real numbers x are there such that

6
x(2x )
=3 ?

4. Evaluate !2019
Z ∞
ln x
dx.
1 x

2
5. List all primes p such that 5p can be expressed as b n5 c for some n ∈ N.

6. Let a be a real number. It is known that the graphs of the equation y = |x − 20| + |x + 18| and the line y = x + a
meet at at a unique point. What is a?

7. Let P (x) = a0 + a1 x + · · · + an xn be an integral polynomial, and 0 ≤ ai < 3 for all 0 ≤ i ≤ n.

√ √
Given that P ( 3) = 20 + 17 3, compute P (2).

8. A line through the right focus of the hyperbola

y2
x2 − =1
2
intersects the hyperbola at A and B. If the number of such lines for which AB = λ is exactly 3, what is the
value of λ?

9. Suppose g : R → R is a function such that g(x)g(y) = g(x − y). List all possible values of g(2019).

10. Let x, y, z be positive reals satisfying x + y + z = 10 and xy + yz + zx = 25. Obtain the maximum possible value
of min(xy, yz, zx).