Sara makes a staircase out of toothpicks as shown:[asy] size(150); defaultpen(linewidth(0.8)); path h = ellipse((0.5,0),0.45,0.015), v = ellipse((0,0.5),0.015,0.45); for(int i=0;i<=2;i=i+1) { for(int j=0;j<=3-i;j=j+1) { filldraw(shift((i,j))*h,black); filldraw(shift((j,i))*v,black); } }[/asy] This is a 3-step staircase and uses 18 toothpicks. How many steps would be in a staircase that used 180 toothpicks? $\textbf{(A)}\ 10\qquad\textbf{(B)}\ 11\qquad\textbf{(C)}\ 12\qquad\textbf{(D)}\ 24\qquad\textbf{(E)}\ 30$

Let $n$ be a positive integer. Let $B_n$ be the set of all binary strings of length $n$. For a binary string $s_1\hdots s_n$, we define it's twist in the following way. First, we count how many blocks of consecutive digits it has. Denote this number by $b$. Then, we replace $s_b$ with $1-s_b$. A string $a$ is said to be a [i]descendant[/i] of $b$ if $a$ can be obtained from $b$ through a finite number of twists. A subset of $B_n$ is called [i]divided[/i] if no two of its members have a common descendant. Find the largest possible cardinality of a divided subset of $B_n$. [i]Remark.[/i] Here is an example of a twist: $101100 \rightarrow 101000$ because $1\mid 0\mid 11\mid 00$ has $4$ blocks of consecutive digits. [i]Viktor Simjanoski[/i]

Pasha and Vova play the following game, making moves in turn; Pasha moves first. Initially, they have a large piece of plasticine. By a move, Pasha cuts one of the existing pieces into three(of arbitrary sizes), and Vova merges two existing pieces into one. Pasha wins if at some point there appear to be $100$ pieces of equal weights. Can Vova prevent Pasha's win?

Let $n$ be a positive integer and let $(1+iT)^n=f(T)+ig(T)$ where $i$ is the square root of $-1$, and $f$ and $g$ are polynomials with real coefficients. Show that for any real number $k$ the equation $f(T)+kg(T)=0$ has only real roots.

Prove that in any convex polygon with $4n+2$ sides ($n\geq 1$) there exist two consecutive sides which form a triangle of area at most $\frac 1{6n}$ of the area of the polygon.

There are $10{}$ apples, each with a with a weight which is no more than $100{}$ g. There is a weighing scale with two plates which shows the difference between the weights on the plates. Prove that 1) It is possible to put some (more than one) apples on the plates of the scale such that the difference between the weights on the plates will be less than $1$ g. 2) It is possible to put an equal amount (more than one) of apples on each plate of the scale such that the difference between the weights on the plates will be less than $2$ g.

$\displaystyle 2n$ students $\displaystyle (n \geq 5)$ participated at table tennis contest, which took $\displaystyle 4$ days. In every day, every student played a match. (It is possible that the same pair meets twice or more times, in different days) Prove that it is possible that the contest ends like this: - there is only one winner; - there are $\displaystyle 3$ students on the second place; - no student lost all $\displaystyle 4$ matches. How many students won only a single match and how many won exactly $\displaystyle 2$ matches? (In the above conditions)

Let $a, b, c, d$ be four positive real numbers. Prove that $$a^{10} + b^{10}+c^{10} + d^{10} \ge (0.1a + 0.2b + 0.3c + 0.4d)^{10} + (0.4a + 0.3b + 0.2c + 0.ld)^{10} + (0.2a + 0.4b + 0.1c + 0.3d)^{10} + (0.3a + 0.1b + 0.4c + 0.2d)^{10}$$

Find all reals $A,B,C$ such that there exists a real function $f$ satisfying $f(x+f(y))= Ax+By+C$ for all reals $x,y$.

Evaluate \[\int_{\frac{\pi}{4}}^{\frac{\pi}{2}} \frac{(1+\cos x)\{1-\tan ^ 2 \frac{x}{2}\tan (x+\sin x)\tan (x-\sin x)\}}{\tan (x+\sin x)}\ dx\]

Determine all positive integers $n$ for which $\dfrac{n^2+1}{[\sqrt{n}]^2+2}$ is an integer. Here $[r]$ denotes the greatest integer less than or equal to $r$.

Let $ f(n) = \left( \frac{-1+i\sqrt{3}}{2} \right)^n + \left( \frac{-1-i\sqrt{3}}{2} \right)^n $, where $i = \sqrt{-1}$. What is $f(2022)$ $ \textbf{(A)}\ -2 \qquad \textbf{(B)}\ -1 \qquad \textbf{(C)}\ 0 \qquad \textbf{(D)}\ \sqrt{3} \qquad \textbf{(E)}\ 2$

[b]p1.[/b] A dog on a $10$ meter long leash is tied to a $10$ meter long, infinitely thin section of fence. What is the minimum area over which the dog will be able to roam freely on the leash, given that we can fix the position of the leash anywhere on the fence? [b]p2.[/b] Suppose that the equation $$\begin{tabular}{cccccc} &\underline{C} &\underline{H} &\underline{M}& \underline{M}& \underline{C}\\ +& &\underline{H}& \underline{M}& \underline{M} & \underline{T}\\ \hline &\underline{P} &\underline{U} &\underline{M} &\underline{A} &\underline{C}\\ \end{tabular}$$ holds true, where each letter represents a single nonnegative digit, and distinct letters represent different digits (so that $\underline{C}\, \underline{H}\, \underline{ M}\, \underline{ M}\, \underline{ C}$ and $ \underline{P}\, \underline{U}\, \underline{M}\, \underline{A}\, \underline{C}$ are both five digit positive integers, and the number $\underline{H }\, \underline{M}\, \underline{M}\, \underline{T}$ is a four digit positive integer). What is the largest possible value of the five digit positive integer$\underline{C}\, \underline{H}\, \underline{ M}\, \underline{ M}\, \underline{ C}$ ? [b]p3.[/b] Square $ABCD$ has side length $4$, and $E$ is a point on segment $BC$ such that $CE = 1$. Let $C_1$ be the circle tangent to segments $AB$, $BE$, and $EA$, and $C_2$ be the circle tangent to segments $CD$, $DA$, and $AE$. What is the sum of the radii of circles $C_1$ and $C_2$? [b]p4.[/b] A finite set $S$ of points in the plane is called tri-separable if for every subset $A \subseteq S$ of the points in the given set, we can find a triangle $T$ such that (i) every point of $A$ is inside $T$ , and (ii) every point of $S$ that is not in $A$ is outside$ T$ . What is the smallest positive integer $n$ such that no set of $n$ distinct points is tri-separable? [b]p5.[/b] The unit $100$-dimensional hypercube $H$ is the set of points $(x_1, x_2,..., x_{100})$ in $R^{100}$ such that $x_i \in \{0, 1\}$ for $i = 1$, $2$, $...$, $100$. We say that the center of $H$ is the point $$\left( \frac12,\frac12, ..., \frac12 \right)$$ in $R^{100}$, all of whose coordinates are equal to $1/2$. For any point $P \in R^{100}$ and positive real number $r$, the hypersphere centered at $P$ with radius $r$ is defined to be the set of all points in $R^{100}$ that are a distance $r$ away from $P$. Suppose we place hyperspheres of radius $1/2$ at each of the vertices of the $100$-dimensional unit hypercube $H$. What is the smallest real number $R$, such that a hypersphere of radius $R$ placed at the center of $H$ will intersect the hyperspheres at the corners of $H$? [b]p6.[/b] Greg has a $9\times 9$ grid of unit squares. In each square of the grid, he writes down a single nonzero digit. Let $N$ be the number of ways Greg can write down these digits, so that each of the nine nine-digit numbers formed by the rows of the grid (reading the digits in a row left to right) and each of the nine nine-digit numbers formed by the columns (reading the digits in a column top to bottom) are multiples of $3$. What is the number of positive integer divisors of $N$? [b]p7.[/b] Find the largest positive integer $n$ for which there exists positive integers $x$, $y$, and $z$ satisfying $$n \cdot gcd(x, y, z) = gcd(x + 2y, y + 2z, z + 2x).$$ [b]p8.[/b] Suppose $ABCDEFGH$ is a cube of side length $1$, one of whose faces is the unit square $ABCD$. Point $X$ is the center of square $ABCD$, and $P$ and $Q$ are two other points allowed to range on the surface of cube $ABCDEFHG$. Find the largest possible volume of tetrahedron $AXPQ$. [b]p9.[/b] Deep writes down the numbers $1, 2, 3, ... , 8$ on a blackboard. Each minute after writing down the numbers, he uniformly at random picks some number $m$ written on the blackboard, erases that number from the blackboard, and increases the values of all the other numbers on the blackboard by $m$. After seven minutes, Deep is left with only one number on the black board. What is the expected value of the number Deep ends up with after seven minutes? [b]p10.[/b] Find the number of ordered tuples $(x_1, x_2, x_3, x_4, x_5)$ of positive integers such that $x_k \le 6$ for each index $k = 1$, $2$, $... $,$ 5$, and the sum $$x_1 + x_2 +... + x_5$$ is $1$ more than an integer multiple of $7$. [b]p11.[/b] The equation $$\left( x- \sqrt[3]{13}\right)\left( x- \sqrt[3]{53}\right)\left( x- \sqrt[3]{103}\right)=\frac13$$ has three distinct real solutions $r$, $s$, and $t$ for $x$. Calculate the value of $$r^3 + s^3 + t^3.$$ [b]p12.[/b] Suppose $a$, $b$, and $c$ are real numbers such that $$\frac{ac}{a + b}+\frac{ba}{b + c}+\frac{cb}{c + a}= -9$$ and $$\frac{bc}{a + b}+\frac{ca}{b+c}+\frac{ab}{c + a}= 10.$$ Compute the value of $$\frac{b}{a + b}+\frac{c}{b + c}+\frac{a}{c + a}.$$ [b]p13.[/b] The complex numbers $w$ and $z$ satisfy the equations $|w| = 5$, $|z| = 13$, and $$52w - 20z = 3(4 + 7i).$$ Find the value of the product $wz$. [b]p14.[/b] For $i = 1, 2, 3, 4$, we choose a real number $x_i$ uniformly at random from the closed interval $[0, i]$. What is the probability that $x_1 < x_2 < x_3 < x_4$ ? [b]p15.[/b] The terms of the infinite sequence of rational numbers $a_0$, $a_1$, $a_2$, $...$ satisfy the equation $$a_{n+1} + a_{n-2} = a_na_{n-1}$$ for all integers $n\ge 2$. Moreover, the values of the initial terms of the sequence are $a_0 =\frac52$, $a_1 = 2$ and} $a_2 =\frac52.$ Call a nonnegative integer $m$ lucky if when we write $a_m =\frac{p}{q}$ for some relatively prime positive integers $p$ and $q$, the integer $p + q$ is divisible by $13$. What is the $101^{st}$ smallest lucky number? PS. You should use hide for answers. Collected [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h2760506p24143309]here[/url].

Consider the Fibonacci sequence $1$, $1$, $2$, $3$, $5$, $8$, $13$, ... What are the last three digits (from left to right) of the $2020$th term?

A convex quadrilateral $ABCD$ is inscribed in a circle. Show that the line connecting the midpoints of the arcs $AB$ and $CD$ and the line connecting the midpoints of the arcs $BC$ and $DA$ are perpendicular.

$p(x)$ is a real polynomial that for each $x\geq 0$, $p(x)\geq 0$. Prove that there are real polynomials $A(x),B(x)$ that $p(x)=A(x)^{2}+xB(x)^{2}$

Let $ABC$ be a triangle satisfying $BC < CA$. Let $P$ be an arbitrary point on the side $AB$ (different from $A$ and $B$), and let the line $CP$ meet the circumcircle of triangle $ABC$ at a point $S$ (apart from the point $C$). Let the circumcircle of triangle $ASP$ meet the line $CA$ at a point $R$ (apart from $A$), and let the circumcircle of triangle $BPS$ meet the line $CB$ at a point $Q$ (apart from $B$). Prove that the excircle of triangle $APR$ at the side $AP$ is identical with the excircle of triangle $PQB$ at the side $PQ$ if and only if the point $S$ is the midpoint of the arc $AB$ on the circumcircle of triangle $ABC$.

If $x<0$, then $\left|x-\sqrt{(x-1)^2}\right|$ equals $\textbf{(A) }1\qquad\textbf{(B) }1-2x\qquad\textbf{(C) }-2x-1\qquad\textbf{(D) }1+2x\qquad \textbf{(E) }2x-1$

Let $D,E,F$ denote the tangent points of the incircle of $ABC$ with sides $BC,AC,AB$ respectively. Let $M$ be the midpoint of the segment $EF$. Let $L$ be the intersection point of the circle passing through $D,M,F$ and the segment $AB$, $K$ be the intersection point of the circle passing through $D,M,E$ and the segment $AC$. Prove that the circle passing through $A,K,L$ touches the line $BC$

The sequence $a_{n}$ is defined by $a_{1}\geq 2$ and the recurrence formula \[a_{n+1}=a_{n}\sqrt{\frac{a_{n}^3+2}{2(a_{n}^3+1)}}\] for $n\geq 1$. Prove that for every integer $n$, the inequality $a_{n}>\sqrt{\frac{3}{n}}$ holds.

Ahmad and Salem play the following game. Ahmad writes two integers (not necessarily different) on a board. Salem writes their sum and product. Ahmad does the same thing: he writes the sum and product of the two numbers which Salem has just written. They continue in this manner, not stopping unless the two players write the same two numbers one after the other (for then they are stuck!). The order of the two numbers which each player writes is not important. Thus if Ahmad starts by writing $3$ and $-2$, the first five moves (or steps) are as shown: (a) Step 1 (Ahmad) $3$ and $-2$ (b) Step 2 (Salem) $1$ and $-6$ (c) Step 3 (Ahmad) $-5$ and $-6$ (d) Step 4 (Salem) $-11$ and $30$ (e) Step 5 (Ahmad) $19$ and $-330$ (i) Describe all pairs of numbers that Ahmad could write, and ensure that Salem must write the same numbers, and so the game stops at step 2. (ii) What pair of integers should Ahmad write so that the game finishes at step 4? (iii) Describe all pairs of integers which Ahmad could write at step 1, so that the game will finish after finitely many steps. (iv) Ahmad and Salem decide to change the game. The first player writes three numbers on the board, $u, v$ and $w$. The second player then writes the three numbers $u + v + w,uv + vw + wu$ and $uvw$, and they proceed as before, taking turns, and using this new rule describing how to work out the next three numbers. If Ahmad goes first, determine all collections of three numbers which he can write down, ensuring that Salem has to write the same three numbers at the next step.

A binary sequence is constructed as follows. If the sum of the digits of the positive integer $k$ is even, the $k$-th term of the sequence is $0$. Otherwise, it is $1$. Prove that this sequence is not periodic.

Prove that among any $2n+1$ irrational numbers there are $n+1$ numbers such that the sum of any $k$ of them is irrational, for all $k \in \{1,2,3,\ldots, n+1 \}$.

Let $n$ be a positive integer. Find the largest real number $\lambda$ such that for all positive real numbers $x_1,x_2,\cdots,x_{2n}$ satisfying the inequality \[\frac{1}{2n}\sum_{i=1}^{2n}(x_i+2)^n\geq \prod_{i=1}^{2n} x_i,\] the following inequality also holds \[\frac{1}{2n}\sum_{i=1}^{2n}(x_i+1)^n\geq \lambda\prod_{i=1}^{2n} x_i.\]

Let $a_1, a_2, ..., a_n, a_{n+1}$ be a finite sequence of real numbers satisfying $a_0 = a_{n+1} = 0$ and $|a_{k-1} - 2a_{k} + a_{k+1}| \leq 1$ for $k = 1, 2, ..., n$ Prove that for $k=0, 1, ..., n+1,$ $|a_k| \leq \frac{k(n+1-k)}{2}$