Find all ordered pairs of integers $(a,b)$ such that $3^a + 7^b$ is a perfect square.

For each integer $C>1$ decide whether there exist pairwise distinct positive integers $a_1,a_2,a_3,...$ such that for every $k\ge 1$, $a_{k+1}^k$ divides $C^ka_1a_2...a_k$. [i]Proposed by Daniel Liu

A "Hishgad" lottery ticket contains the numbers $1$ to $mn$, arranged in some order in a table with $n$ rows and $m$ columns. It is known that the numbers in each row increase from left to right and the numbers in each column increase from top to bottom. An example for $n=3$ and $m=4$: [asy] size(3cm); Label[][] numbers = {{"$1$", "$2$", "$3$", "$9$"}, {"$4$", "$6$", "$7$", "$10$"}, {"$5$", "$8$", "$11$", "$12$"}}; for (int i=0; i<5;++i) { draw((i,0)--(i,3)); } for (int i=0; i<4;++i) { draw((0,i)--(4,i)); } for (int i=0; i<4;++i){ for (int j=0; j<3;++j){ label(numbers[2-j][i], (i+0.5, j+0.5)); }} [/asy] When the ticket is bought the numbers are hidden, and one must "scratch" the ticket to reveal them. How many cells does it always suffice to reveal in order to determine the whole table with certainty?

The town of Hamlet has $3$ people for each horse, $4$ sheep for each cow, and $3$ ducks for each person. Which of the following could not possibly be the total number of people, horses, sheep, cows, and ducks in Hamlet? $\textbf{(A) } 41 \qquad\textbf{(B) } 47 \qquad\textbf{(C) } 59 \qquad\textbf{(D) } 61 \qquad\textbf{(E) } 66 $

The points $P$ and $Q$ are placed in the interior of the triangle $\Delta ABC$ such that $m(\angle PAB)=m(\angle QAC)<\frac{1}{2}m(\angle BAC)$ and similarly for the other $2$ vertices($P$ and $Q$ are isogonal conjugates). Let $P_{A}$ and $Q_{A}$ be the intersection points of $AP$ and $AQ$ with the circumcircle of $CPB$, respectively $CQB$. Similarly the pairs of points $(P_{B},Q_{B})$ and $(P_{C},Q_{C})$ are defined. Let $PQ_{A}\cap QP_{A}=\{M_{A}\}$, $PQ_{B}\cap QP_{B}=\{M_{B}\}$, $PQ_{C}\cap QP_{C}=\{M_{C}\}$. Prove the following statements: $1.$ Lines $AM_{A}$, $BM_{B}$, $CM_{C}$ concur. $2. $ $M_{A}\in BC$, $M_{B}\in CA$, $M_{C}\in AB$

The sum of the distances from one vertex of a square with sides of length two to the midpoints of each of the sides of the square is $\textbf{(A) }2\sqrt{5}\qquad\textbf{(B) }2+\sqrt{3}\qquad\textbf{(C) }2+2\sqrt{3}\qquad\textbf{(D) }2+\sqrt{5}\qquad \textbf{(E) }2+2\sqrt{5}$

Two subsets of the set $ S\equal{}\{a,b,c,d,e\}$ are to be chosen so that their union is $ S$ and their intersection contains exactly two elements. In how many ways can this be done, assuming that the order in which the subsets are chosen does not matter? $ \textbf{(A)}\ 20 \qquad \textbf{(B)}\ 40 \qquad \textbf{(C)}\ 60 \qquad \textbf{(D)}\ 160 \qquad \textbf{(E)}\ 320$

In a triangle $ABC, AM$ is a median, $BK$ is a bisectrix, $L=AM\cap BK$. It is known that $BC=a, AB=c, a>c$. Given that the circumcenter of triangle $ABC$ lies on the line $CL$, find $AC$ I. Voronovich

Eight spheres of radius 1, one per octant, are each tangent to the coordinate planes. What is the radius of the smallest sphere, centered at the origin, that contains these eight spheres? $ \textbf{(A)}\ \sqrt 2\qquad \textbf{(B)}\ \sqrt 3\qquad \textbf{(C)}\ 1 \plus{} \sqrt 2\qquad \textbf{(D)}\ 1 \plus{} \sqrt 3\qquad \textbf{(E)}\ 3$

Each of the $39$ students in the eighth grade at Lincoln Middle School has one dog or one cat or both a dog and a cat. Twenty students have a dog and $26$ students have a cat. How many students have both a dog and a cat? $\textbf{(A)}\ 7\qquad \textbf{(B)}\ 13\qquad \textbf{(C)}\ 19\qquad \textbf{(D)}\ 39\qquad \textbf{(E)}\ 46$

Let us denote the midpoint of $AB$ with $O$. The point $C$, different from $A$ and $B$ is on the circle $\Omega$ with center $O$ and radius $OA$ and the point $D$ is the foot of the perpendicular from $C$ to $AB$. The circle with center $C$ and radius $CD$ and $\omega$ intersect at $M$, $N$. Prove that $MN$ cuts $CD$ in two equal segments.

A rectangle with a diagonal of length $ x$ is twice as long as it is wide. What is the area of the rectangle? $ \textbf{(A)}\ \frac14x^2 \qquad \textbf{(B)}\ \frac25x^2 \qquad \textbf{(C)}\ \frac12x^2 \qquad \textbf{(D)}\ x^2 \qquad \textbf{(E)}\ \frac32x^2$

Let $n$ be a positive integer and $u_1,u_2,\cdots ,u_n$ be positive integers not larger than $2^k, $ for some integer $k\geq 3.$ A representation of a non-negative integer $t$ is a sequence of non-negative integers $a_1,a_2,\cdots ,a_n$ such that $t=a_1u_1+a_2u_2+\cdots +a_nu_n.$ Prove that if a non-negative integer $t$ has a representation,then it also has a representation where less than $2k$ of numbers $a_1,a_2,\cdots ,a_n$ are non-zero.

Let $n$ be a positive integer, and let $a_1, \ldots, a_n, b_1, \ldots, b_n$ be real numbers. Alex the Kat writes down the $n^2$ numbers of the form $\min(a_i, a_j)$, and Kelvin the Frog writes down the $n^2$ numbers of the form $\max(b_i, b_j)$. Let $x_n$ be the largest possible size of the set $\{a_1, \ldots, a_n, b_1, \ldots, b_n\}$, such that Alex the Kat and Kelvin the Frog write down the same collection of numbers. Determine the number of distinct integers in the sequence $x_1, x_2, \ldots, x_{10,000}$.

Finished with rereading Isaac Asimov's $\textit{Foundation}$ series, Joshua asks his father, "Do you think somebody will build small devices that run on nuclear energy while I'm alive?" "Honestly, Josh, I don't know. There are a lot of very different engineering problems involved in designing such devices. But technology moves forward at an amazing pace, so I won't tell you we can't get there in time for you to see it. I $\textit{did}$ go to a graduate school with a lady who now works on $\textit{portable}$ nuclear reactors. They're not small exactly, but they aren't nearly as large as most reactors. That might be the first step toward a nuclear-powered pocket-sized video game. Hannah adds, "There are already companies designing batteries that are nuclear in the sense that they release energy from uranium hydride through controlled exoenergetic processes. This process is not the same as the nuclear fission going on in today's reactors, but we can certainly call it $\textit{nuclear energy}$." "Cool!" Joshua's interest is piqued. Hannah continues, "Suppose that right now in the year $2008$ we can make one of these nuclear batteries in a battery shape that is $2$ meters $\textit{across}$. Let's say you need that size to be reduced to $2$ centimeters $\textit{across}$, in the same proportions, in order to use it to run your little video game machine. If every year we reduce the necessary volume of such a battery by $1/3$, in what year will the batteries first get small enough?" Joshua asks, "The battery shapes never change? Each year the new batteries are similar in shape - in all dimensions - to the bateries from previous years?" "That's correct," confirms Joshua's mother. "Also, the base $10$ logarithm of $5$ is about $0.69897$ and the base $10$ logarithm of $3$ is around $0.47712$." This makes Joshua blink. He's not sure he knows how to use logarithms, but he does think he can compute the answer. He correctly notes that after $13$ years, the batteries will already be barely more than a sixth of their original width. Assuming Hannah's prediction of volume reduction is correct and effects are compounded continuously, compute the first year that the nuclear batteries get small enough for pocket video game machines. Assume also that the year $2008$ is $7/10$ complete.

Let $AD,BF,CE$ be altitudes of triangle $ABC$.$Q$ is a point on $EF$ such that $QF=DE$ and $F$ is between $E,Q$.$P$ is a point on $EF$ such that $EP=DF$ and $E$ is between $P,F$.Perpendicular bisector of $DQ$ intersect with $AB$ at $X$ and perpendicular bisector of $DP$ intersect with $AC$ at $Y$.Prove that midpoint of $BC$ lies on $XY$.

Let $ABC$ be an acute-angled triangle and $\Gamma$ be a circle with $AB$ as diameter intersecting $BC$ and $CA$ at $F ( \not= B)$ and $E (\not= A)$ respectively. Tangents are drawn at $E$ and $F$ to $\Gamma$ intersect at $P$. Show that the ratio of the circumcentre of triangle $ABC$ to that if $EFP$ is a rational number.

prove that for each natural number $n$ there exist a polynomial with degree $2n+1$ with coefficients in $\mathbb{Q}[x]$ such that it has exactly $2$ complex zeros and it's irreducible in $\mathbb{Q}[x]$.(20 points)

Given a fixed acute angle $\theta$ and a pair of internally tangent circles, let the line $l$ which passes through the point of tangency, $A$, cut the larger circle again at $B$ ($l$ does not pass through the centers of the circles). Let $M$ be a point on the major arc $AB$ of the larger circle, $N$ the point where $AM$ intersects the smaller circle, and $P$ the point on ray $MB$ such that $\angle MPN = \theta$. Find the locus of $P$ as $M$ moves on major arc $AB$ of the larger circle.

The average of all ten-digit base-ten positive integers $\underline{d_9} \ \underline{d_8} \ldots \underline{d_1} \ \underline{d_0}$ that satisfy the property $|d_i - i| \leq 1$ for all $i \in \{0, 1, \ldots, 9\}$ is $\tfrac{p}{q}$, where $p$ and $q$ are relatively prime integers. Compute the remainder when $p + q$ is divided by $10^6.$

Five people take a true-or-false test with five questions. Each person randomly guesses on every question. Given that, for each question, a majority of test-takers answered it correctly, let $p$ be the probability that every person answers exactly three questions correctly. Suppose that $p=\tfrac{a}{2^b}$ where $a$ is an odd positive integer and $b$ is a nonnegative integer. Compute $100a+b.$

Let $k\ge2$ be an integer. Find the smallest integer $n \ge k+1$ with the property that there exists a set of $n$ distinct real numbers such that each of its elements can be written as a sum of $k$ other distinct elements of the set.

Let $ABC$ be triangle with the symmedian point $L$ and circumradius $R$. Construct parallelograms $ ADLE$, $BHLK$, $CILJ$ such that $D,H \in AB$, $K, I \in BC$, $J,E \in CA$ Suppose that $DE$, $HK$, $IJ$ pairwise intersect at $X, Y,Z$. Prove that inradius of $XYZ$ is $\frac{R}{2}$ .

Circle $\omega$ with centre $M$ and diameter $XY$ is given. Point $A$ is chosen on $\omega$ so that $AX<AY$. Points $B, C$ are chosen on segments $XM, YM$, respectively, in a way that $BM=CM$. A parallel line to $AB$ is constructed through $C$; the line intersects $\omega$ at $P$ so that $P$ lies on the smaller arc $\widehat{AY}$. Similarly, a parallel line to $AC$ is constructed through $B$; the line intersects $\omega$ at $Q$ so that $Q$ lies on the smaller arc $\widehat{XA}$. Lines $PQ$ and $XY$ intersect at $S$. Prove that $AS$ is tangent to $\omega$.

Yesterday (=April 22, 2003) was Gittes birthday. She notices that her age equals the sum of the 4 digits of the year she was born in. How old is she?