UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND MATHEMATICS COMPETITION

                           PART II,  1998

                      No calculators are allowed.

                  PROOFS MUST BE GIVEN FOR ALL ANSWERS

1. Four positive numbers are placed at the vertices of a rectangle.
Each number is at least as large as the average of the two numbers 
at the adjacent vertices.  Prove that all four numbers are equal.

2. The sum 498+499+500+501=1998 is one way of expressing 1998
as a sum of consecutive positive integers. Find all ways of expressing 
1998 as a sum of two or more consecutive positive integers. Prove 
your list is complete.

3. An infinite strip (two parallel lines and the region between them)
has a width of 1 inch. What is the largest value of A such that every 
triangle with area A square inches can be placed on this strip?
Justify your answer.

4. A plane divides space into two regions. Two planes that intersect
in a line divide space into four regions. Now suppose that twelve planes 
are given in space so that a) every two of them intersect in a line, 
b) every three of them intersect in a point, and c) no four of them have
a common point. Into how many regions is space divided?
Justify your answer.

5. Five robbers have stolen 1998 identical gold coins. They agree to 
the following: The youngest robber proposes a division of the loot. All 
robbers, including the proposer, vote on the proposal. If at least half the 
robbers vote yes, then that proposal is accepted. If not, the proposer is 
sent away with no loot and the next youngest robber makes a new proposal
to be voted on by the four remaining robbers, with the same rules as above.
This continues until a proposed division is accepted by at least half the 
remaining robbers. Each robber guards his best interests: He will vote for a 
proposal if and only if it will give him more coins than he will acquire 
by rejecting it, and the proposer will keep as many coins for himself as he 
can. How will the coins be distributed? Explain your reasoning.