Let $ ABCDE$ be a convex pentagon such that \[ \angle BAC \equal{} \angle CAD \equal{} \angle DAE\qquad \text{and}\qquad \angle ABC \equal{} \angle ACD \equal{} \angle ADE. \]The diagonals $BD$ and $CE$ meet at $P$. Prove that the line $AP$ bisects the side $CD$. [i]Proposed by Zuming Feng, USA[/i]

Five identical empty buckets of $2$-liter capacity stand at the vertices of a regular pentagon. Cinderella and her wicked Stepmother go through a sequence of rounds: At the beginning of every round, the Stepmother takes one liter of water from the nearby river and distributes it arbitrarily over the five buckets. Then Cinderella chooses a pair of neighbouring buckets, empties them to the river and puts them back. Then the next round begins. The Stepmother goal's is to make one of these buckets overflow. Cinderella's goal is to prevent this. Can the wicked Stepmother enforce a bucket overflow? [i]Proposed by Gerhard Woeginger, Netherlands[/i]

Chitoge is painting a cube; she can paint each face either black or white, but she wants no vertex of the cube to be touching three faces of the same color. In how many ways can Chitoge paint the cube? Two paintings of a cube are considered to be the same if you can rotate one cube so that it looks like the other cube.

Write the following polynomial as a product of irreducible polynomials in $\mathbb{Z}[X]$ \[ f(X) = X^{2005} - 2005 X + 2004 . \]Justify your answer.

Let $P_{n}$ denote the number of paths in the coordinate plane traveling from $(0, 0)$ to $(n, 0)$ with three kinds of moves: [i]upstep[/i] $u = [1, 1]$, [i]downstep[/i] $d = [1,-1]$, and [i]flatstep[/i] $f = [1, 0]$ with the path always staying above the line $y = 0.$ Let $C_{n}= \frac{1}{n+1}\binom{2n}{n}$ be the $n^{th}$ Catalan number. Prove that $P_{n}= \sum_{i = 0}^\infty \binom{n}{2i}C_{i}$ and $C_{n}= \sum_{i = 0}^{2n}(-1)^{i}\binom{2n}{i}P_{2n-i}.$ [hide="Solution to Part 1"] Let a path string, $S_{k}$, denote a string of $u, d, f$ corresponding to upsteps, downsteps, and flatsteps of length $k$ which successfully travels from $(0, 0)$ to $(n, 0)$ without passing below $y = 0.$ Also, let each entry of a path string be a slot. Lastly, denote $u_{k}, d_{k}, f_{k}$ to be the number of upsteps, downsteps, and flatsteps, respectively, in $S_{k}.$ Note that in our situation, all such path strings are in the form $S_{n},$ so all our path strings have $n$ slots. Since the starting and ending $y$ values are the same, the number of upsteps must equal the number of downsteps. Let us observe the case when there are $2k$ downsteps and upsteps totally. Thus, there are $\binom{n}{2k}$ ways to choose the slots in which the upsteps and the downsteps appear. Now, we must arrange the downsteps and upsteps in such a way that $d_{n}= u_{n}$ and a greater number of upsteps preceed downsteps, as the path is always above $y = 0$. Note that a bijection exists between this and the number of ways to binary bracket $k$ letters. The number of binary brackets of $k$ letters is just the $k^{th}$ Catalan number. We then place the flatsteps in the rest of the slots. Thus, there are a total of $\sum_{k = 0}^\infty \binom{n}{2k}C_{k}$ ways to get an $S_{n}.$ [/hide]

Let $a$ and $b$ be positive integers that satisfy $ab-7a-11b+13=0$. What is the minimum possible value of $a+b$?

In the adjoining figure, points $B$ and $C$ lie on line segment $AD$, and $AB$, $BC$, and $CD$ are diameters of circle $O$, $N$, and $P$, respectively. Circles $O$, $N$, and $P$ all have radius $15$ and the line $AG$ is tangent to circle $P$ at $G$. If $AG$ intersects circle $N$ at points $E$ and $F$, then chord $EF$ has length [asy] size(250); defaultpen(fontsize(10)); pair A=origin, O=(1,0), B=(2,0), N=(3,0), C=(4,0), P=(5,0), D=(6,0), G=tangent(A,P,1,2), E=intersectionpoints(A--G, Circle(N,1))[0], F=intersectionpoints(A--G, Circle(N,1))[1]; draw(Circle(O,1)^^Circle(N,1)^^Circle(P,1)^^G--A--D, linewidth(0.7)); dot(A^^B^^C^^D^^E^^F^^G^^O^^N^^P); label("$A$", A, W); label("$B$", B, SE); label("$C$", C, NE); label("$D$", D, dir(0)); label("$P$", P, S); label("$N$", N, S); label("$O$", O, S); label("$E$", E, dir(120)); label("$F$", F, NE); label("$G$", G, dir(100));[/asy] $\textbf {(A) } 20 \qquad \textbf {(B) } 15\sqrt{2} \qquad \textbf {(C) } 24 \qquad \textbf{(D) } 25 \qquad \textbf {(E) } \text{none of these}$

Can every positive rational number $q$ be written as $$\frac{a^{2021} + b^{2023}}{c^{2022} + d^{2024}},$$ where $a, b, c, d$ are all positive integers? [i]Proposed by Dominic Yeo, UK[/i]

In trapezoid $ABCD$, $AD \parallel BC$ and $\angle ABC + \angle CDA = 270^{\circ}$. Compute $AB^2$ given that $AB \cdot \tan(\angle BCD) = 20$ and $CD = 13$. [i]Proposed by Lewis Chen[/i]

Given a positive integer $n$, there are $n$ boxes $B_1,...,B_n$. The following procedure can be used to add balls. $$\text{(Procedure) Chosen two positive integers }n\geq i\geq j\geq 1\text{, we add one ball each to the boxes }B_k\text{ that }i\geq k\geq j.$$ For positive integers $x_1,...,x_n$ let $f(x_1,...,x_n)$ be the minimum amount of procedures to get all boxes have its amount of balls to be a multiple of 3, starting with $x_i$ balls for $B_i(i=1,...,n)$. Find the largest possible value of $f(x_1,...,x_n)$. (If $x_1,...,x_n$ are all multiples of 3, $f(x_1,...,x_n)=0$.)

Each piece of candy in a store costs a whole number of cents. Casper has exactly enough money to buy either 12 pieces of red candy, 14 pieces of green candy, 15 pieces of blue candy, or $n$ pieces of purple candy. A piece of purple candy costs 20 cents. What is the smallest possible value of $n$? $\textbf{(A) } 18 \qquad \textbf{(B) } 21 \qquad \textbf{(C) } 24\qquad \textbf{(D) } 25 \qquad \textbf{(E) } 28$

A trapezoid $ABCD$ lies on the $xy$-plane. The slopes of lines $BC$ and $AD$ are both $\frac 13$, and the slope of line $AB$ is $-\frac 23$. Given that $AB=CD$ and $BC< AD$, the absolute value of the slope of line $CD$ can be expressed as $\frac mn$, where $m,n$ are two relatively prime positive integers. Find $100m+n$. [i] Proposed by Yannick Yao [/i]

Let $a_n$ be the number of n-digit integers formed by $1, 2$ and $3$ which do not contain any consecutive $1$’s. Prove that $a_n$ is equal to $$\left( \frac12 + \frac{1}{\sqrt3}\right)(\sqrt{3} + 1)^n$$ rounded off to the nearest integer.

Let $x_1,x_2,...,x_n$ be real numbers with $1 \ge x_1 \ge x_2\ge ... \ge x_n \ge 0$ and $x_1^2 +x_2^2+...+x_n^2= 1$. If $[x_1 +x_2 +...+x_n] = m$, prove that $x_1 +x_2 +...+x_m \ge 1$.

In a circle of diameter $ 1$, some chords are drawn. The sum of their lengths is greater than $ 19$. Prove that there is a diameter intersecting at least $ 7$ chords.

Prove that there is no polynomial $P(x)$ with real coefficients that satisfies $$P'(x)P''(x)>P(x)P'''(x)\qquad\text{for all }x\in\mathbb R.$$Is this statement true for all of the thrice differentiable real functions?

Prove that for two non-zero polynomials $ f(x,y),g(x,y)$ with real coefficients the system: \[ \left\{\begin{array}{c}f(x,y)\equal{}0\\ g(x,y)\equal{}0\end{array}\right.\] has finitely many solutions in $ \mathbb C^{2}$ if and only if $ f(x,y)$ and $ g(x,y)$ are coprime.

Consider a function $f:\mathbb{R}\rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ such that: 1. $f$ has one-side limits in any $a\in \mathbb{R}$ and $f(a-0)\le f(a)\le f(a+0)$. 2. for any $a,b\in \mathbb{R},\ a<b$, we have $f(a-0)<f(b-0)$. Prove that $f$ is strictly increasing. [i]Mihai Piticari & Sorin Radulescu[/i]

Each of the sides $ BC, CA, AB $ of the triangle $ ABC $ was divided into three equal parts and on the middle sections of these sides as bases, equilateral triangles were built outside the triangle $ ABC $, the third vertices of which were marked with the letters $ A', B' , C' $ respectively. In addition, points $ A'', B'', C'' $ were determined, symmetrical to $ A', B', C' $ respectively with respect to the lines $ BC, CA, AB $. Prove that the triangles $ A'B'C' $ and $ A''B''C'' $ are equilateral and have the same center of gravity as the triangle $ ABC $.

A $5\times 5$ board is covered by eight hooks (a three unit square figure, shown in the picture) so that one unit square remains free. Determine all squares of the board that can remain free after such covering. [img]https://cdn.artofproblemsolving.com/attachments/6/8/a8c4e47ba137b904bd28c01c1d2cb765824e6a.png[/img]

A matrix $A=(a_{ij})$ is called [i]nice[/i], if it has the following properties: (i) the set of all entries of $A$ is $\{1,2,\dots,2t\}$ for some integer $t$; (ii) the entries are non-decreasing in every row and in every column: $a_{i,j} \le a_{i,j+1}$ and $a_{i,j} \le a_{i+1,j}$; (iii) equal entries can appear only in the same row or the same column: if $a_{i,j}=a_{k,\ell}$, then either $i=k$ or $j=\ell$; (iv) for each $s=1,2,\dots,2t-1$, there exist $i \ne k$ and $j \ne \ell$ such that $a_{i,j}=s$ and $a_{k,\ell}=s+1$. Prove that for any positive integers $m$ and $n$, the number of nice $m \times n$ matrixes is even. For example, the only two nice $2 \times 3$ matrices are $\begin{pmatrix} 1 & 1 & 1\\2 & 2 & 2 \end{pmatrix}$ and $\begin{pmatrix} 1 & 1 & 3\\2 & 4 & 4 \end{pmatrix}$.

A school store sells 7 pencils and 8 notebooks for $ \$4.15$. It also sells 5 pencils and 3 notebooks for $ \$1.77$. How much do 16 pencils and 10 notebooks cost? $ \textbf{(A)}\ \$1.76 \qquad \textbf{(B)}\ \$5.84 \qquad \textbf{(C)}\ \$6.00 \qquad \textbf{(D)}\ \$6.16 \qquad \textbf{(E)}\ \$6.32$

Points $A_1$, $A_2$, $B_1$, $B_2$ lie on the circumcircle of a triangle $ABC$ in such a way that $A_1B_1 \parallel AB$, $A_1A_2 \parallel BC$, $B_1B_2 \parallel AC$. The line $AA_2$ and $CA_1$ meet at point $A'$, and the lines $BB_2$ and $CB_1$ meet at point $B'$. Prove that all lines $A'B'$ concur.

$\bullet$ Determine a natural $n$ such that the constant sum $S$ of a magic square of $ n \times n$ (that is, the sum of its elements in any column, or the diagonal) differs as little as possible from $1992$. $\bullet$ Construct or describe the construction of this magic square.

What is the number of degrees in the smaller angle between the hour hand and the minute hand on a clock that reads seven o'clock? $\text{(A)}\ 50^\circ \qquad \text{(B)}\ 120^\circ \qquad \text{(C)}\ 135^\circ \qquad \text{(D)}\ 150^\circ \qquad \text{(E)}\ 165^\circ$