Olympiad problems

2001 USAMO, 1

Tags: USA(J)MO , USAMO , combinatorics , Extremal combinatorics , pigeonhole principle

Each of eight boxes contains six balls. Each ball has been colored with one of $n$ colors, such that no two balls in the same box are the same color, and no two colors occur together in more than one box. Determine, with justification, the smallest integer $n$ for which this is possible.

2010 Balkan MO, 3

Tags: induction , geometry , trigonometry , combinatorics proposed , combinatorics , Extremal combinatorics , marvio

A strip of width $w$ is the set of all points which lie on, or between, two parallel lines distance $w$ apart. Let $S$ be a set of $n$ ($n \ge 3$) points on the plane such that any three different points of $S$ can be covered by a strip of width $1$. Prove that $S$ can be covered by a strip of width $2$.

1996 IMO Shortlist, 3

Tags: number theory , Integer sequence , Perfect Squares , Extremal combinatorics , recurrence relation , IMO Shortlist

A finite sequence of integers $ a_0, a_1, \ldots, a_n$ is called quadratic if for each $ i$ in the set $ \{1,2 \ldots, n\}$ we have the equality $ |a_i \minus{} a_{i\minus{}1}| \equal{} i^2.$ a.) Prove that any two integers $ b$ and $ c,$ there exists a natural number $ n$ and a quadratic sequence with $ a_0 \equal{} b$ and $ a_n \equal{} c.$ b.) Find the smallest natural number $ n$ for which there exists a quadratic sequence with $ a_0 \equal{} 0$ and $ a_n \equal{} 1996.$

1992 IMO, 3

Tags: combinatorics , Ramsey Theory , graph theory , IMO , IMO 1992 , Coloring , Extremal combinatorics

Consider $9$ points in space, no four of which are coplanar. Each pair of points is joined by an edge (that is, a line segment) and each edge is either colored blue or red or left uncolored. Find the smallest value of $\,n\,$ such that whenever exactly $\,n\,$ edges are colored, the set of colored edges necessarily contains a triangle all of whose edges have the same color.

2018 India IMO Training Camp, 1

Tags: combinatorics , IMO Shortlist , Strings , sorting , distance , Extremal combinatorics , radius

Let $n$ be a positive integer. Define a chameleon to be any sequence of $3n$ letters, with exactly $n$ occurrences of each of the letters $a, b,$ and $c$. Define a swap to be the transposition of two adjacent letters in a chameleon. Prove that for any chameleon $X$ , there exists a chameleon $Y$ such that $X$ cannot be changed to $Y$ using fewer than $3n^2/2$ swaps.

2006 Germany Team Selection Test, 3

Tags: combinatorics , Extremal combinatorics , Coloring , polygon , diagonals , IMO Shortlist

Suppose we have a $n$-gon. Some $n-3$ diagonals are coloured black and some other $n-3$ diagonals are coloured red (a side is not a diagonal), so that no two diagonals of the same colour can intersect strictly inside the polygon, although they can share a vertex. Find the maximum number of intersection points between diagonals coloured differently strictly inside the polygon, in terms of $n$. [i]Proposed by Alexander Ivanov, Bulgaria[/i]