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SAMC

Saudi Arabia algebra

Problem

Find all non-empty sets of nonzero real numbers such that

a) has at most 5 elements;

b) If is in , then so are and .
Solution
Let . Then (1) Since , it follows that at least two of these numbers are equal. Considering all 15 possible cases it follows or . We get
Final answer
{-1, 1/2, 2}

Techniques

Functional EquationsPigeonhole principlePermutations / basic group theory