Show that $\frac{(x - y)^7 + (y - z)^7 + (z - x)^7 - (x - y)(y - z)(z - x) ((x - y)^4 + (y - z)^4 + (z - x)^4)} {(x - y)^5 + (y - z)^5 + (z - x)^5} \ge 3$ holds for all triples of distinct integers $x, y, z$. When does equality hold?

Larry initially has a one character string that is either `a', `b', `c', or `d'. Every minute, he chooses a character in the string and: [list] [*] if it's an `a' he can replace it with `ac' or `da', [*] if it's a `b' he can replace it with `cb' or `bd', [*] if it's a `c' he can replace it with `cc' or `ba', [*] if it's a `d' he can replace it with `dd' or `ab'. [/list] Larry does the above process for $10$ minutes. Find the number of possible strings he can end up with that are a permutation of `aabbccccddd'. [i]Individual #14[/i]

For every positive real numbers $a$ and $b$ prove the inequality \[\displaystyle \sqrt{ab} \leq \dfrac{1}{3} \sqrt{\dfrac{a^2+b^2}{2}}+\dfrac{2}{3} \dfrac{2}{\dfrac{1}{a}+\dfrac{1}{b}}.\] [i]A. Khabrov[/i]

(a) Let $a$ and $b$ be positive integers such that $M(a, b) = a - \frac1b +b(b + \frac3a)$ is an integer. Prove that $M(a,b)$ is a square. (b) Find nonzero integers $a$ and $b$ such that $M(a,b)$ is a positive integer, but not a square.

Professor Oak is feeding his $100$ Pokémon. Each Pokémon has a bowl whose capacity is a positive real number of kilograms. These capacities are known to Professor Oak. The total capacity of all the bowls is $100$ kilograms. Professor Oak distributes $100$ kilograms of food in such a way that each Pokémon receives a non-negative integer number of kilograms of food (which may be larger than the capacity of the bowl). The [i]dissatisfaction level[/i] of a Pokémon who received $N$ kilograms of food and whose bowl has a capacity of $C$ kilograms is equal to $\lvert N-C\rvert$. Find the smallest real number $D$ such that, regardless of the capacities of the bowls, Professor Oak can distribute food in a way that the sum of the dissatisfaction levels over all the $100$ Pokémon is at most $D$. [i]Oleksii Masalitin, Ukraine[/i]

Let $ A $ be a ring, $ a\in A, $ and let $ n,k\ge 2 $ be two natural numbers such that $ n\vdots\text{char} (A) $ and $ 1+a=a^k. $ Show that the following propositions are true: [b]a)[/b] $ \forall s\in\mathbb{N}\quad \exists p_0,p_1,\ldots ,p_{k-1}\in\mathbb{Z}_{\ge 0}\quad a^s=\sum_{i=0}^{k-1} p_ia^{i} . $ [b]b)[/b] $ \text{ord} (a)\neq\infty . $

$(BUL 3)$ One hundred convex polygons are placed on a square with edge of length $38 cm.$ The area of each of the polygons is smaller than $\pi cm^2,$ and the perimeter of each of the polygons is smaller than $2\pi cm.$ Prove that there exists a disk with radius $1$ in the square that does not intersect any of the polygons.

Prove that the points $ A_1, A_2, \ldots, A_n $ ($ n \geq 7 $) located on the surface of the sphere lie on a circle if and only if the planes tangent to the surface of the sphere at these points have a common point or are parallel to one straight line.

For positive integers $a$ and $b$, $gcd (a, b)$ denote their greatest common divisor and $lcm (a, b)$ their least common multiple. Determine the number of ordered pairs (a,b) of positive integers satisfying the equation $ab + 63 = 20\, lcm (a, b) + 12\, gcd (a,b)$

$N$ lines lie on a plane, no two of which are parallel and no three of which are concurrent. Prove that there exists a non-self-intersecting broken line $A_0A_1A_2A_3...A_N$ with $N$ parts, such that on each of the $N$ lines lies exactly one of the $N$ segments of the line.

In $xyz$ space, find the volume of the solid expressed by $x^2+y^2\leq z\le \sqrt{3}y+1.$

Given the graph $G$ and cycle $C$ in it, we can perform the following operation: add another vertex $v$ to the graph, connect it to all vertices in $C$ and erase all the edges from $C$. Prove that we cannot perform the operation indefinitely on a given graph.

A medial line parallel to the side $AC$ of triangle $ABC$ meets its circumcircle at points at $X$ and $Y$. Let $I$ be the incenter of triangle $ABC$ and $D$ be the midpoint of arc $AC$ not containing $B$.A point $L$ lie on segment $DI$ in such a way that $DL= BI/2$. Prove that $\angle IXL = \angle IYL$.

The geometric mean of any set of $m$ non-negative numbers is the $m$-th root of their product. $\quad (\text{i})\quad$ For which positive integers $n$ is there a finite set $S_n$ of $n$ distinct positive integers such that the geometric mean of any subset of $S_n$ is an integer? $\quad (\text{ii})\quad$ Is there an infinite set $S$ of distinct positive integers such that the geometric mean of any finite subset of $S$ is an integer?

The diagram represents a $ 7$-foot-by-$ 7$-foot floor that is tiled with $ 1$-square-foot black tiles and white tiles. Notice that the corners have white tiles. If a $ 15$-foot-by-$ 15$-foot floor is to be tiled in the same manner, how many white tiles will be needed? [asy]unitsize(10); draw((0,0)--(7,0)--(7,7)--(0,7)--cycle); draw((1,7)--(1,0)); draw((6,7)--(6,0)); draw((5,7)--(5,0)); draw((4,7)--(4,0)); draw((3,7)--(3,0)); draw((2,7)--(2,0)); draw((0,1)--(7,1)); draw((0,2)--(7,2)); draw((0,3)--(7,3)); draw((0,4)--(7,4)); draw((0,5)--(7,5)); draw((0,6)--(7,6)); fill((1,0)--(2,0)--(2,7)--(1,7)--cycle,black); fill((3,0)--(4,0)--(4,7)--(3,7)--cycle,black); fill((5,0)--(6,0)--(6,7)--(5,7)--cycle,black); fill((0,5)--(0,6)--(7,6)--(7,5)--cycle,black); fill((0,3)--(0,4)--(7,4)--(7,3)--cycle,black); fill((0,1)--(0,2)--(7,2)--(7,1)--cycle,black);[/asy] $ \textbf{(A)}\ 49 \qquad \textbf{(B)}\ 57 \qquad \textbf{(C)}\ 64 \qquad \textbf{(D)}\ 96 \qquad \textbf{(E)}\ 126$

Let $\mathbb R_{>0}$ be the set of positive real numbers. Determine all functions $f \colon \mathbb R_{>0} \to \mathbb R_{>0}$ such that \[x \big(f(x) + f(y)\big) \geqslant \big(f(f(x)) + y\big) f(y)\] for every $x, y \in \mathbb R_{>0}$.

In an $2023\times 2023$ grid we fill in numbers $1,2,\cdots,2023^2$ without duplicating. Find the largest integer $M$ such that there exists a way to fill the numbers, satisfying that any two adjacent numbers has a difference at least $M$ (two squares $(x_1,y_1),(x_2,y_2)$ are adjacent if $x_1=x_2$ and $y_1-y_2\equiv \pm1\pmod{2023}$ or $y_1=y_2$ and $x_1-x_2\equiv \pm1\pmod{2023}$). [i]Proposed by chengbilly.[/i]

The large square in the diagram below with sides of length $8$ is divided into $16$ congruent squares. Find the area of the shaded region. [img]https://cdn.artofproblemsolving.com/attachments/6/e/cf828197aa2585f5eab2320a43b80616072135.png[/img]

Let $p$ and $q$ be relatively prime positive odd integers such that $1 < p < q$. Let $A$ be a set of pairs of integers $(a, b)$, where $0 \le a \le p - 1, 0 \le b \le q - 1$, containing exactly one pair from each of the sets $$\{(a, b),(a + 1, b + 1)\}, \{(a, q - 1), (a + 1, 0)\}, \{(p - 1,b),(0, b + 1)\}$$ whenever $0 \le a \le p - 2$ and $0 \le b \le q - 2$. Show that $A$ contains at least $(p - 1)(q + 1)/8$ pairs whose entries are both even. Agnijo Banerjee and Joe Benton, United Kingdom

We are placing $n$ integers whose sum is $94$ over a circle such that each number is equal to the absolute value of the difference of (clockwise) next two numbers. What is the largest $n$ that makes such placing possible? $ \textbf{(A)}\ 188 \qquad\textbf{(B)}\ 186 \qquad\textbf{(C)}\ 141 \qquad\textbf{(D)}\ 100 \qquad\textbf{(E)}\ 47 $

Let $a$, $b$, $c$ be positive reals such that $\frac{1}{a}+\frac{1}{b}+\frac{1}{c}=1$. Show that $$a^abc+b^bca+c^cab\ge 27bc+27ca+27ab.$$ [i]Proposed by Milan Haiman[/i]

Alice chooses a set $A$ of positive integers. Then Bob lists all finite nonempty sets $B$ of positive integers with the property that the maximum element of $B$ belongs to $A$. Bob's list has $2024$ sets. Find the sum of the elements of $A$

Harold tosses a nickel four times. The probability that he gets at least as many heads as tails is $\text{(A)}\ \frac{5}{16} \qquad \text{(B)}\ \frac{3}{8} \qquad \text{(C)}\ \frac{1}{2} \qquad \text{(D)}\ \frac{5}{8} \qquad \text{(E)}\ \frac{11}{16}$

Let there be a figure with $9$ disks and $11$ edges, as shown below. We will write a real number in each and every disk. Then, for each edge, we will write the square of the difference between the two real numbers written in the two disks that the edge connects. We must write $0$ in disk $A$, and $1$ in disk $I$. Find the minimum sum of all real numbers written in $11$ edges.

There is scales on the teacher's table. There is a set of weighs on the scales, and there are some pupils' names (may be more than one) on the every weigh. A pupil entering the classroom moves all the weight with his name to another side of the scales. Prove that you can let in such a subset of the pupils, that the scales will change its position.