[b]p1.[/b] The English alphabet consists of $21$ consonants and $5$ vowels. (We count $y$ as a consonant.) (a) Suppose that all the letters are listed in an arbitrary order. Prove that there must be $4$ consecutive consonants. (b) Give a list to show that there need not be $5$ consecutive consonants. (c) Suppose that all the letters are arranged in a circle. Prove that there must be $5$ consecutive consonants. [b]p2.[/b] From the set $\{1,2,3,... , n\}$, $k$ distinct integers are selected at random and arranged in numerical order (lowest to highest). Let $P(i, r, k, n)$ denote the probability that integer $i$ is in position $r$. For example, observe that $P(1, 2, k, n) = 0$. (a) Compute $P(2, 1,6,10)$. (b) Find a general formula for $P(i, r, k, n)$. [b]p3.[/b] (a) Write down a fourth degree polynomial $P(x)$ such that $P(1) = P(-1)$ but $P(2) \ne P(-2)$ (b) Write down a fifth degree polynomial $Q(x)$ such that $Q(1) = Q(-1)$ and $Q(2) = Q(-2)$ but $Q(3) \ne Q(-3)$. (c) Prove that, if a sixth degree polynomial $R(x)$ satisfies $R(1) = R(-1)$, $R(2) = R(-2)$, and $R(3) = R(-3)$, then $R(x) = R(-x)$ for all $x$. [b]p4.[/b] Given five distinct real numbers, one can compute the sums of any two, any three, any four, and all five numbers and then count the number $N$ of distinct values among these sums. (a) Give an example of five numbers yielding the smallest possible value of $N$. What is this value? (b) Give an example of five numbers yielding the largest possible value of $N$. What is this value? (c) Prove that the values of $N$ you obtained in (a) and (b) are the smallest and largest possible ones. [b]p5.[/b] Let $A_1A_2A_3$ be a triangle which is not a right triangle. Prove that there exist circles $C_1$, $C_2$, and $C_3$ such that $C_2$ is tangent to $C_3$ at $A_1$, $C_3$ is tangent to $C_1$ at $A_2$, and $C_1$ is tangent to $C_2$ at $A_3$. PS. You should use hide for answers. Collected [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h2760506p24143309]here[/url].

For any angle $0 < \theta < \pi/2$, show that \[0 < \sin \theta + \cos \theta + \tan \theta + \cot \theta - \sec \theta - \csc \theta < 1.\]

$a,b,c$ are positive numbers.$a+b+c=3$ Prove that: $\sum \frac{a^2+6}{2a^2+2b^2+2c^2+2a-1}\leq 3 $

Prove that every infinite arithmetic progression $a$, $a+d$, $a+2d$,... where $a$ and $d$ are positive integers, contains infinte geometric progression $b$, $bq$, $bq^2$,... where $b$ and $q$ are also positive integers

Christian Reiher and Reid Barton want to open a security box, they already managed to discover the algorithm to generate the key codes and they obtained the following information: $i)$ In the screen of the box will appear a sequence of $n+1$ numbers, $C_0 = (a_{0,1},a_{0,2},...,a_{0,n+1})$ $ii)$ If the code $K = (k_1,k_2,...,k_n)$ opens the security box then the following must happen: a) A sequence $C_i = (a_{i,1},a_{i,2},...,a_{i,n+1})$ will be asigned to each $k_i$ defined as follows: $a_{i,1} = 1$ and $a_{i,j} = a_{i-1,j}-k_ia_{i,j-1}$, for $i,j \ge 1$ b) The sequence $(C_n)$ asigned to $k_n$ satisfies that $S_n = \sum_{i=1}^{n+1}|a_i|$ has its least possible value, considering all possible sequences $K$. The sequence $C_0$ that appears in the screen is the following: $a_{0,1} = 1$ and $a_0,i$ is the sum of the products of the elements of each of the subsets with $i-1$ elements of the set $A =$ {$1,2,3,...,n$}, $i\ge 2$, such that $a_{0, n+1} = n!$ Find a sequence $K = (k_1,k_2,...,k_n)$ that satisfies the conditions of the problem and show that there exists at least $n!$ of them.

A sequence $\left(a_n\right)$ with $a_1 = 1$ satisfies the following recursion: In the decimal expansion of $a_n$ (without trailing zeros) let $k$ be the smallest digest then $a_{n+1} = a_n + 2^k.$ How many digits does $a_{9 \cdot 10^{2010}}$ have in the decimal expansion?

Suppose that $k$ is a positive integer. A bijective map $f : Z \to Z$ is said to be $k$-[i]jumpy [/i] if $|f(z) - z| \le k$ for all integers $z$. Is it that case that for every $k$, each $k$-jumpy map is a composition of $1$-jumpy maps? [i]It is well known that this is the case when the support of the map is finite.[/i]

Suppose $a,b$ and $c$ are real numbers that satisfy $a+b+c=5$ and $\tfrac{1}{a}+\tfrac{1}{b}+\tfrac{1}{c}=\tfrac15$. Find the greatest possible value of $a^3+b^3+c^3$.

For a prime $p$, a subset $S$ of residues modulo $p$ is called a [i]sum-free multiplicative subgroup[/i] of $\mathbb F_p$ if $\bullet$ there is a nonzero residue $\alpha$ modulo $p$ such that $S = \left\{ 1, \alpha^1, \alpha^2, \dots \right\}$ (all considered mod $p$), and $\bullet$ there are no $a,b,c \in S$ (not necessarily distinct) such that $a+b \equiv c \pmod p$. Prove that for every integer $N$, there is a prime $p$ and a sum-free multiplicative subgroup $S$ of $\mathbb F_p$ such that $\left\lvert S \right\rvert \ge N$. [i]Proposed by Noga Alon and Jean Bourgain[/i]

[u]Round 1 [/u] [b]p1. [/b]Twelve people, some are knights and some are knaves, are sitting around a table. Knaves always lie and knights always tell the truth. At some point they start up a conversation. The first person says, “There are no knights around this table.” The second says, “There is at most one knight at this table.” The third – “There are at most two knights at the table.” And so on until the 12th says, “There are at most eleven knights at the table.” How many knights are at the table? Justify your answer. [b]p2.[/b] Show that in the sequence $10017$, $100117$, $1001117$, $...$ all numbers are divisible by $53$. [b]p3.[/b] Harry and Draco have three wands: a bamboo wand, a willow wand, and a cherry wand, all of the same length. They must perform a spell wherein they take turns picking a wand and breaking it into three parts – first Harry, then Draco, then Harry again. But in order for the spell to work, Harry has to make sure it is possible to form three triangles out of the pieces of the wands, where each triangle has a piece from each wand. How should he break the wands to ensure the success of the spell? [b]p4.[/b] A $2\times 2\times 2$ cube has $4$ equal squares on each face. The squares that share a side are called neighbors (thus, each square has $4$ neighbors – see picture). Is it possible to write an integer in each square in such a way that the sum of each number with its $4$ neighbors is equal to $13$? If yes, show how. If no, explain why not. [img]https://cdn.artofproblemsolving.com/attachments/8/4/0f7457f40be40398dee806d125ba26780f9d3a.png[/img] [b]p5.[/b] Two girls are playing a game. The first player writes the letters $A$ or $B$ in a row, left to right, adding one letter on her turn. The second player switches any two letters after each move by the first player (the letters do not have to be adjacent), or does nothing, which also counts as a move. The game is over when each player has made $2011$ moves. Can the second player plan her moves so that the resulting letters form a palindrome? (A palindrome is a sequence that reads the same forward and backwards, e.g. $AABABAA$.) [u]Round 2 [/u] [b]p6.[/b] A red square is placed on a table. $2010$ white squares, each the same size as the red square, are then placed on the table in such a way that the red square is fully covered and the sides of every white square are parallel to the sides of the red square. Is it always possible to remove one of the white squares so the red square remains completely covered? [b]p7.[/b] A computer starts with a given positive integer to which it randomly adds either $54$ or $77$ every second and prints the resulting sum after each addition. For example, if the computer is given the number $1$, then a possible output could be: $1$, $55$, $109$, $186$, $…$ Show that after finitely many seconds the computer will print a number whose last two digits are the same. PS. You should use hide for answers. Collected [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h2760506p24143309]here[/url].

Let $a_0$ be a positive integer. Define the sequence $\{a_n\}_{n \geq 0}$ as follows: if \[ a_n = \sum_{i = 0}^jc_i10^i \] where $c_i \in \{0,1,2,\cdots,9\}$, then \[ a_{n + 1} = c_0^{2005} + c_1^{2005} + \cdots + c_j^{2005}. \] Is it possible to choose $a_0$ such that all terms in the sequence are distinct?

Let be three positive real numbers $ x,y,z, $ whose product is $ 1. $ Prove that: $$ \sum_{\text{cyc}} \frac{3}{\sqrt{1+x+xy}} \le \sqrt 3<3\sqrt 3\le \sum_{\text{cyc}} \sqrt{1+x+xy} $$

$100$ numbers $1$, $1/2$, $1/3$, $...$, $1/100$ are written on the blackboard. One may delete two arbitrary numbers $a$ and $b$ among them and replace them by the number $a + b + ab$. After $99$ such operations only one number is left. What is this final number? (D. Fomin, Leningrad)

Find all real solutions of the system $$\begin{cases} x_1 +x_2 +...+x_{2000} = 2000 \\ x_1^4 +x_2^4 +...+x_{2000}^4= x_1^3 +x_2^3 +...+x_{2000}^3\end{cases}$$

Define $a \star b$ to be $2ab + a + b$. What is $((3 \star 4) \star 5) - (4 \star (5 \star 3))$ ?

a) $100$ numbers (some positive, some negative) are written in a row. All of the following three types of numbers are underlined: 1) every positive number, 2) every number whose sum with the number following it is positive, 3) every number whose sum with the two numbers following it is positive. Can the sum of all underlined numbers be (i) negative? (ii) equal to zero? b) $n$ numbers (some positive and some negative) are written in a row. Each positive number and each number whose sum with several of the numbers following it is positive is underlined. Prove that the sum of all underlined numbers is positive.

Prove that the system of equations \[2yz+x-y-z=a,\\ 2xz-x+y-z=a,\\ 2xy-x-y+z=a, \] $a$ being a parameter, cannot have five distinct solutions. For what values of $a$ does this system have four distinct integer solutions?

Let $S$ be the sum of all integers $b$ for which the polynomial $x^2+bx+2008b$ can be factored over the integers. Compute $|S|$.

Consider two distinct positive integers $a$ and $b$ having integer arithmetic, geometric and harmonic means. Find the minimal value of $|a-b|$. [i]Mircea Fianu[/i]

Prove that: a polynomial is irreducible in $\mathbb{Z}[x]$ if and only if it is irreducible in $\mathbb{Q}[x].$

Find all injective function $f: N \to N$ satisfying that for all positive integers $m,n$, we have: $f(n(f(m)) \le nm$

Let $(a_1,a_2,a_3,a_4,a_5)$ be a random permutation of the integers from $1$ to $5$ inclusive. Find the expected value of $$\sum^5_{i=1} |a_i -i | = |a_1 -1|+|a_2 -2|+|a_3 -3|+|a_4 -4|+|a_5 -5|.$$ [i]Proposed by Muztaba Syed[/i]

The measures, in degrees, of the angles , $\alpha, \beta$ and $\theta$ are greater than $0$ less than $60$. Find the value of $\theta$ knowing, also, that $\alpha + \beta = 2\theta$ and that $$\sin \alpha \sin \beta \sin \theta = \sin(60 - \alpha ) \sin(60 - \beta) \sin(60 - \theta ).$$

Find all real numbers $x$ such that $\left\lfloor x^2 \right\rfloor + \left\lceil x^2 \right\rceil = 2003$.

Compute the smallest value $C$ such that the inequality $$x^2(1+y)+y^2(1+x)\le \sqrt{(x^4+4)(y^4+4)}+C$$ holds for all real $x$ and $y$.