Let ${\mathcal A}$ be a ${C^{\ast}}$ algebra with a unit element and let ${\mathcal A_+}$ be the cone of the positive elements of ${\mathcal A}$ (this is the set of such self adjoint elements in ${\mathcal A}$ whose spectrum is in ${[0,\infty)}$. Consider the operation \[ \displaystyle x \circ y =\sqrt{x}y\sqrt{x},\ x,y \in \mathcal A_+\] Prove that if for all ${x,y \in \mathcal A_+}$ we have \[ \displaystyle (x\circ y)\circ y = x \circ (y \circ y), \] then ${\mathcal A}$ is commutative. [i]Proposed by Lajos Molnár[/i]

In the space are given $n$ points and no four of them belongs to a common plane. Some of the points are connected with segments. It is known that four of the given points are vertices of tetrahedron which edges belong to the segments given. It is also known that common number of the segments, passing through vertices of tetrahedron is $2n$. Prove that there exists at least two tetrahedrons every one of which have a common face with the first (initial) tetrahedron. [i]N. Nenov, N. Hadzhiivanov[/i]

Consider the cube $ABCDA'B'C'D'$ (with face $ABCD$ directly above face $A'B'C'D'$). a) Find the locus of the midpoints of the segments $XY$, where $X$ is any point of $AC$ and $Y$ is any piont of $B'D'$; b) Find the locus of points $Z$ which lie on the segment $XY$ of part a) with $ZY=2XZ$.

A tetrahedron is such that the center of the its circumscribed sphere is inside the tetrahedron. Show that at least one of its edges has a size larger than or equal to the size of the edge of a regular tetrahedron inscribed in this same sphere.

The polyhedron $PABCDQ$ has the form shown in the figure. It is known that $ABCD$ is parallelogram, the planes of the triangles of the $PAC$ and $PBD$ mutually perpendicular, and also mutually perpendicular are the planes of triangles $QAC$ and $QBC$. Each face of this polyhedron is painted black or white so that the faces that have a common edge are painted in different colors. Prove that the sum of the squares of the areas of the black faces is equal to the sum of the squares of the areas of the white faces. [img]https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UM5PKEGGWqc/X1V2cXAFmwI/AAAAAAAAMdw/V-Qr94tZmqkj3_q-5mkSICGF1tMu-b_VwCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/2007.5%2Bchampions%2Btourn.png[/img]

An ant is at vertex of a cube. Every $10$ minutes it moves to an adjacent vertex along an edge. If $N$ is the number of one hour journeys that end at the starting vertex, find the sum of the squares of the digits of $N$.

Let the line $L$ be perpendicular to the plane $P$. Three spheres touch each other in pairs so that each sphere touches the plane $P$ and the line $L$. The radius of the larger sphere is $1$. Find the minimum radius of the smallest sphere.

Lengths of five edges of a tetrahedron are $1$, while the last one is $x$. Its volume is $F(x)$. On its domain of definition, we have $\text{(A)}$ $F(x)$ is an increasing function, it has no maximum value. $\text{(B)}$ $F(x)$ is an increasing function, it has maximum value. $\text{(C)}$ $F(x)$ is not an increasing function, it has no maximum value. $\text{(D)}$ $F(x)$ is an increasing function, it has maximum value.

A concrete sewer pipe fitting is shaped like a cylinder with diameter $48$ with a cone on top. A cylindrical hole of diameter $30$ is bored all the way through the center of the fitting as shown. The cylindrical portion has height $60$ while the conical top portion has height $20$. Find $N$ such that the volume of the concrete is $N \pi$. [asy] import three; size(250); defaultpen(linewidth(0.7)+fontsize(10)); pen dashes = linewidth(0.7) + linetype("2 2"); currentprojection = orthographic(0,-15,5); draw(circle((0,0,0), 15),dashes); draw(circle((0,0,80), 15)); draw(scale3(24)*((-1,0,0)..(0,-1,0)..(1,0,0))); draw(shift((0,0,60))*scale3(24)*((-1,0,0)..(0,-1,0)..(1,0,0))); draw((-24,0,0)--(-24,0,60)--(-15,0,80)); draw((24,0,0)--(24,0,60)--(15,0,80)); draw((-15,0,0)--(-15,0,80),dashes); draw((15,0,0)--(15,0,80),dashes); draw("48", (-24,0,-20)--(24,0,-20)); draw((-15,0,-20)--(-15,0,-17)); draw((15,0,-20)--(15,0,-17)); label("30", (0,0,-15)); draw("60", (50,0,0)--(50,0,60)); draw("20", (50,0,60)--(50,0,80)); draw((50,0,60)--(47,0,60));[/asy]

How many ways are there to color the vertices of a cube red, blue, or green such that no edge connects two vertices of the same color? Rotations and reflections are considered distinct colorings.

The $100$ vertices of a prism, whose base is a $50$-gon, are labeled with numbers $1, 2, 3, \ldots, 100$ in any order. Prove that there are two vertices, which are connected by an edge of the prism, with labels differing by not more than $48$. Note: In all the triangles the three vertices do not lie on a straight line.

Let $ K$ be a convex cone in the $ n$-dimensional real vector space $ \mathbb{R}^n$, and consider the sets $ A\equal{}K \cup (\minus{}K)$ and $ B\equal{}(\mathbb{R}^n \setminus A) \cup \{ 0 \}$ ($ 0$ is the origin). Show that one can find two subspaces in $ \mathbb{R}^n$ such that together they span $ \mathbb{R}^n$, and one of them lies in $ A$ and the other lies in $ B$. [i]J. Szucs[/i]

Let $A_i$ and $A_i^{'}$ $(i=1,2,3,4)$ be diametrically opposite vertexes of a rectangular cuboid and $M{}$ a point inside it. Prove that $S\leq\sum_{i=1}^{4}MA_i\cdot MA_i^{'}$, where $S{}$ is the total surface area of the rectangular cuboid.

From a point $ M $ on the surface of a sphere, three mutually perpendicular chords $ MA $, $ MB $, $ MC $ are drawn. Prove that the segment joining the point $ M $ with the center of the sphere intersects the plane of the triangle $ ABC $ at the center of gravity of this triangle.

Marla has a large white cube that has an edge of 10 feet. She also has enough green paint to cover 300 square feet. Marla uses all the paint to create a white square centered on each face, surrounded by a green border. What is the area of one of the white squares, in square feet? $\textbf{(A)}\hspace{.05in}5\sqrt2 \qquad \textbf{(B)}\hspace{.05in}10 \qquad \textbf{(C)}\hspace{.05in}10\sqrt2 \qquad \textbf{(D)}\hspace{.05in}50 \qquad \textbf{(E)}\hspace{.05in}50\sqrt2 $

Suppose that $1985$ points are given inside a unit cube. Show that one can always choose $32$ of them in such a way that every (possibly degenerate) closed polygon with these points as vertices has a total length of less than $8 \sqrt 3.$

$8$ ants are placed on the edges of the unit cube. Prove that there exists a pair of ants at a distance not exceeding $1$.

Given a point $M$ inside a right tetrahedron. Prove that at least one tetrahedron edge is seen from the $M$ in an angle, that has a cosine not greater than $-1/3$. (e.g. if $A$ and $B$ are the vertices, corresponding to that edge, $cos(\widehat{AMB}) \le -1/3$)

Planes $ \pi _1$ and $ \pi _2$ in Euclidean space $ \mathbb{R} ^3$ partition $ S\equal{}\mathbb{R} ^3 \setminus (\pi _1 \cup \pi _2)$ into several components. Show that for any cube in $ \mathbb{R} ^3$, at least one of the components of $ S$ meets at least three faces of the cube.

Consider a plane $\epsilon$ and three non-collinear points $A,B,C$ on the same side of $\epsilon$; suppose the plane determined by these three points is not parallel to $\epsilon$. In plane $\epsilon$ take three arbitrary points $A',B',C'$. Let $L,M,N$ be the midpoints of segments $AA', BB', CC'$; Let $G$ be the centroid of the triangle $LMN$. (We will not consider positions of the points $A', B', C'$ such that the points $L,M,N$ do not form a triangle.) What is the locus of point $G$ as $A', B', C'$ range independently over the plane $\epsilon$?

The game of backgammon has a "doubling" cube, which is like a standard 6-faced die except that its faces are inscribed with the numbers 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and 64, respectively. After rolling the doubling cube four times at random, we let $a$ be the value of the first roll, $b$ be the value of the second roll, $c$ be the value of the third roll, and $d$ be the value of the fourth roll. What is the probability that $\frac{a + b}{c + d}$ is the average of $\frac{a}{c}$ and $\frac{b}{d}$ ?

We are given a cube with edges of length $n$ cm. At our disposal is a long piece of insulating tape of width $1$ cm. It is required to stick this tape to the cube. The tape may freely cross an edge of the cube on to a different face but it must always be parallel to an edge of the cube. It may not overhang the edge of a face or cross over a vertex. How many pieces of the tape are necessary in order to completely cover the cube? (You may assume that $n$ is an integer.) (A Spivak)

We consider a fixed point $P$ in the interior of a fixed sphere$.$ We construct three segments $PA, PB,PC$, perpendicular two by two$,$ with the vertexes $A, B, C$ on the sphere$.$ We consider the vertex $Q$ which is opposite to $P$ in the parallelepiped (with right angles) with $PA, PB, PC$ as edges$.$ Find the locus of the point $Q$ when $A, B, C$ take all the positions compatible with our problem.

(a) Is it possible to place five wooden cubes in space so that each of them has a part of its face touching each of the others? (b) Answer the same question, but with $6$ cubes.

Five spheres of radius $r$ are inside a right circular cone. Four of the spheres lie on the base of the cone. Each touches two of the others and the sloping sides of the cone. The fifth sphere touches each of the other four and also the sloping sides of the cone. Find the volume of the cone.