Suppose $a$ and $b$ are two positive real numbers such that the roots of the cubic equation $x^3 - ax + b = 0$ are all real. If $\alpha$ is a root of this cubic with minimal absolute value, prove that \[ \dfrac{b}{a} < \alpha < \dfrac{3b}{2a}. \]

$a,b,c$ are reals, such that every pair of equations of $x^3-ax^2+b=0,x^3-bx^2+c=0,x^3-cx^2+a=0$ has common root. Prove $a=b=c$

Two parallelograms $ABCD$ and $A'B'C'D'$ are given in space. Points $A'',B'',C'',D''$ divide the segments $AA',BB',CC',DD'$ in the same ratio. What can be said about the quadrilateral $A''B''C''D''$?

Let the set $S = \{P_1, P_2, \cdots, P_{12}\}$ consist of the twelve vertices of a regular $12$-gon. A subset $Q$ of $S$ is called communal if there is a circle such that all points of $Q$ are inside the circle, and all points of $S$ not in $Q$ are outside of the circle. How many communal subsets are there? (Note that the empty set is a communal subset.)

A cubical box with sides of length $7$ has vertices at $(0,0,0)$, $(7,0,0)$, $(0,7,0)$, $(7,7,0)$, $(0,0,7)$, $(7,0,7)$, $(0,7,7)$, $(7,7,7)$. The inside of the box is lined with mirrors and from the point $(0,1,2)$, a beam of light is directed to the point $(1,3,4)$. The light then reflects repeatedly off the mirrors on the inside of the box. Determine how far the beam of light travels before it first returns to its starting point at $(0,1,2)$.

Let be a natural number $ n\ge 2 $ and three $ n\times n $ complex matrices that have the properties that they commute pairwise, their sum is thrice the identity matrix, and their squares are the identity matrix. Prove that these three matrices are equal. [i]Marius Cavachi[/i]

[b]p1.[/b] Find any integer solution of the puzzle: $WE+ST+RO+NG=128$ (different letters mean different digits between $1$ and $9$). [b]p2.[/b] A $5\times 6$ rectangle is drawn on the piece of graph paper (see the figure below). The side of each square on the graph paper is $1$ cm long. Cut the rectangle along the sides of the graph squares in two parts whose areas are equal but perimeters are different by $2$ cm. $\begin{tabular}{|l|l|l|l|l|l|} \hline & & & & & \\ \hline & & & & & \\ \hline & & & & & \\ \hline & & & & & \\ \hline \end{tabular}$ [b]p3.[/b] Three runners started simultaneously on a $1$ km long track. Each of them runs the whole distance at a constant speed. Runner $A$ is the fastest. When he runs $400$ meters then the total distance run by runners $B$ and $C$ together is $680$ meters. What is the total combined distance remaining for runners $B$ and $C$ when runner $A$ has $100$ meters left? [b]p4.[/b] There are three people in a room. Each person is either a knight who always tells the truth or a liar who always tells lies. The first person said «We are all liars». The second replied «Only you are a liar». Is the third person a liar or a knight? [b]p5.[/b] A $5\times 8$ rectangle is divided into forty $1\times 1$ square boxes (see the figure below). Choose 24 such boxes and one diagonal in each chosen box so that these diagonals don't have common points. $\begin{tabular}{|l|l|l|l|l|l|l|l|} \hline & & & & & & & \\ \hline & & & & & & & \\ \hline & & & & & & & \\ \hline & & & & & & & \\ \hline \end{tabular}$ PS. You should use hide for answers. Collected [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h2760506p24143309]here[/url].

Let $p$ be a prime of the form $p=4n-1$ where $n$ is a positive integer. Prove that $$\prod_{k=1}^p(k^2+1)\equiv4\pmod p.$$

Determine the maximal possible length of the sequence of consecutive integers which are expressible in the form $ x^3\plus{}2y^2$, with $ x, y$ being integers.

If a polynomial $f(x)$ is divided by $(x-a)^{2} (x-b)$, where $a\ne b$, derive a formula for the remainder.

Let $p, q$ be positive integers and let $x_{0}=0$. Suppose $x_{n+1}=x_{n} + p + \sqrt{q^{2} + 4px_{n}}$. Find an explicit formula for $x_{n}$.

Given a circle $K$, find the locus of vertices $A$ of parallelograms $ABCD$ with diagonals $AC \leq BD$, such that $BD$ is inside $K$.

Find all real numbers $x$ that satisfy the following inequality $|x^2-4x+1|>|x^2-4x+5|$

Every street in the city of Hamiltonville connects two squares, and every square may be reached by streets from every other. The governor discovered that if he closed all squares of any route not passing any square more than once, every remained square would be reachable from each other. Prove that there exists a circular route passing every square of the city exactly once. [i]Author: S. Berlov[/i]

A closed non-self-intersecting polygonal chain is drawn through the centers of some squares on the $8\times 8$ chess board. Every link of the chain connects the centers of adjacent squares either horizontally, vertically or diagonally, where the two squares are adjacent if they share an edge or a corner. For the interior polygon bounded by the chain, prove that the total area of black pieces equals the total area of white pieces. (Author: D. Khramtsov)

Of how many terms does the expansion of a determinant of order $ 2n$ consist if those and only those elements $ a_{ik}$ are non-zero for which $ i\minus{}k$ is divisible by $ n$?

$p > 3$ is a prime number such that $p|2^{p-1} - 1$ and $p \nmid 2^x - 1$ for $x = 1, 2,...,p-2$. Let $p = 2k + 3$. Now we define sequence $\{a_n\}$ as $$a_i = a_{i+k} = 2^i \,\, (1 \le i \le k ), \,\,\,\, a_{j+2k} = a_ja_{j+k} \,\, (j \le 1)$$ Prove that there exist $2k$ consecutive terms of sequence $a_{x+1},a_{x+2},..., a_{x+2k}$ such that $a_{x+i } \not\equiv a_{x+j}$ (mod $p$) for all $1 \le i < j \le 2k$ .

At each node of the checkboard $n\times n$ board, a beetle sat. At midnight, each beetle crawled into the center of a cell. It turned out that the distance between any two beetles sitting in the adjacent (along the side) nodes didn't increase. Prove that at least one beetle crawled into the center of a cell at the vertex of which it sat initially. [i](A. Voidelevich)[/i]

(a) Prove that $(x+y+z)^2 \le 3(x^2 +y^2 +z^2)$ for any real numbers $x,y,z$. (b) If positive numbers $a,b,c$ satisfy $a+b+c \ge abc$, prove that $a^2 +b^2 +c^2 \ge \sqrt3 abc$

J has several cheetahs in his dresser, which has $7$ drawers, such that each drawer has the same number of cheetahs. He notices that he can take out one drawer, and redistribute all of the cheetahs (including those in the removed drawer) in the remaining $6$ drawers such that each drawer still has an equal number of cheetahs as the other drawers. If he has at least one cheetah, what is the smallest number of cheetahs that he can have?

Is there a countable set $Y$ and an uncountable family $\mathcal F$ of its subsets such that for every two distinct $A,B\in\mathcal F$, their intersection $A\cap B$ is finite?

Let $ABC$ be an acute triangle with circumcircle $\Gamma$ and let $D$ be the midpoint of minor arc $BC$. Let $E, F$ be on $\Gamma$ such that $DE \bot AC$ and $DF \bot AB$. Lines $BE$ and $DF$ meet at $G$, and lines $CF$ and $DE$ meet at $H$. Show that $BCHG$ is a parallelogram.

In triangle $ABC$, $BC = 23$, $CA = 27$, and $AB = 30$. Points $V$ and $W$ are on $\overline{AC}$ with $V$ on $\overline{AW}$, points $X$ and $Y$ are on $\overline{BC}$ with $X$ on $\overline{CY}$, and points $Z$ and $U$ are on $\overline{AB}$ with $Z$ on $\overline{BU}$. In addition, the points are positioned so that $\overline{UV} \parallel \overline{BC}$, $\overline{WX} \parallel \overline{AB}$, and $\overline{YZ} \parallel \overline{CA}$. Right angle folds are then made along $\overline{UV}$, $\overline{WX}$, and $\overline{YZ}$. The resulting figure is placed on a level floor to make a table with triangular legs. Let $h$ be the maximum possible height of a table constructed from triangle $ABC$ whose top is parallel to the floor. Then $h$ can be written in the form $\tfrac{k \sqrt{m}}{n}$, where $k$ and $n$ are relatively prime positive integers and $m$ is a positive integer that is not divisible by the square of any prime. Find $k + m + n$. [asy] unitsize(1 cm); pair translate; pair[] A, B, C, U, V, W, X, Y, Z; A[0] = (1.5,2.8); B[0] = (3.2,0); C[0] = (0,0); U[0] = (0.69*A[0] + 0.31*B[0]); V[0] = (0.69*A[0] + 0.31*C[0]); W[0] = (0.69*C[0] + 0.31*A[0]); X[0] = (0.69*C[0] + 0.31*B[0]); Y[0] = (0.69*B[0] + 0.31*C[0]); Z[0] = (0.69*B[0] + 0.31*A[0]); translate = (7,0); A[1] = (1.3,1.1) + translate; B[1] = (2.4,-0.7) + translate; C[1] = (0.6,-0.7) + translate; U[1] = U[0] + translate; V[1] = V[0] + translate; W[1] = W[0] + translate; X[1] = X[0] + translate; Y[1] = Y[0] + translate; Z[1] = Z[0] + translate; draw (A[0]--B[0]--C[0]--cycle); draw (U[0]--V[0],dashed); draw (W[0]--X[0],dashed); draw (Y[0]--Z[0],dashed); draw (U[1]--V[1]--W[1]--X[1]--Y[1]--Z[1]--cycle); draw (U[1]--A[1]--V[1],dashed); draw (W[1]--C[1]--X[1]); draw (Y[1]--B[1]--Z[1]); dot("$A$",A[0],N); dot("$B$",B[0],SE); dot("$C$",C[0],SW); dot("$U$",U[0],NE); dot("$V$",V[0],NW); dot("$W$",W[0],NW); dot("$X$",X[0],S); dot("$Y$",Y[0],S); dot("$Z$",Z[0],NE); dot(A[1]); dot(B[1]); dot(C[1]); dot("$U$",U[1],NE); dot("$V$",V[1],NW); dot("$W$",W[1],NW); dot("$X$",X[1],dir(-70)); dot("$Y$",Y[1],dir(250)); dot("$Z$",Z[1],NE); [/asy]

For each positive integer $n$ let the set $A_n$ consist of all numbers $\pm 1 \pm 2 \pm ...\pm n$. For example, $$A_1 = \{-1,1\}, A_2 = \{ -3 ,-1 ,1 ,3 \} , A_3 = \{ -6 ,-4 ,-2 ,0 ,2 ,4 ,6 \}.$$ Find the number of elements in $A_n$ .

When simplified and expressed with negative exponents, the expression $ (x \plus{} y)^{ \minus{} 1}(x^{ \minus{} 1} \plus{} y^{ \minus{} 1})$ is equal to: $ \textbf{(A)}\ x^{ \minus{} 2} \plus{} 2x^{ \minus{} 1}y^{ \minus{} 1} \plus{} y^{ \minus{} 2} \qquad\textbf{(B)}\ x^{ \minus{} 2} \plus{} 2^{ \minus{} 1}x^{ \minus{} 1}y^{ \minus{} 1} \plus{} y^{ \minus{} 2} \qquad\textbf{(C)}\ x^{ \minus{} 1}y^{ \minus{} 1}$ $ \textbf{(D)}\ x^{ \minus{} 2} \plus{} y^{ \minus{} 2} \qquad\textbf{(E)}\ \frac {1}{x^{ \minus{} 1}y^{ \minus{} 1}}$