$f(x) = x^3+3x^2 - 1$. Find the number of real solutions of $f(f(x)) = 0$.

Prove that for all $n\in\mathbb{Z}^+$, we have \[ \sum\limits_{p=1}^n\sum\limits_{q=1}^p\left\lfloor -\frac{1+\sqrt{8q+(2p-1)^2}}{2}\right\rfloor =-\frac{n(n+1)(n+2)}{3} \]

Let's call a set of numbers [i]lucky[/i] if it cannot be divided into two nonempty groups so that the product of the sum of the numbers in one group and the sum of the numbers in the other is positive. The teacher wrote several integers on the blackboard. Prove that the children can add another integer to the existing ones so that the resulting set is lucky. [i]A. Kuznetsov[/i]

Let $S$ be the square consisting of all pints $(x,y)$ in the plane with $0\le x,y\le 1$. For each real number $t$ with $0<t<1$, let $C_t$ denote the set of all points $(x,y)\in S$ such that $(x,y)$ is on or above the line joining $(t,0)$ to $(0,1-t)$. Prove that the points common to all $C_t$ are those points in $S$ that are on or above the curve $\sqrt{x}+\sqrt{y}=1$.

Let $\alpha\neq0$ be a real number. Determine all functions $f:\mathbb R\to\mathbb R$ such that \[f\left(x^2+y^2\right)=f(x-y)f(x+y)+\alpha yf(y)\] holds for all $x, y\in\mathbb R.$

Find all positive integers $n \geqslant 2$ for which there exist $n$ real numbers $a_1<\cdots<a_n$ and a real number $r>0$ such that the $\tfrac{1}{2}n(n-1)$ differences $a_j-a_i$ for $1 \leqslant i<j \leqslant n$ are equal, in some order, to the numbers $r^1,r^2,\ldots,r^{\frac{1}{2}n(n-1)}$.

If $x$, $y$, $z$ are positive numbers satisfying \[x+\frac{y}{z}=y+\frac{z}{x}=z+\frac{x}{y}=2.\] Find all the possible values of $x+y+z$.

Given a real number $\alpha$ and consider function $\varphi(x)=x^2e^{\alpha x}$ for $x\in\mathbb R$. Find all function $f:\mathbb R\to\mathbb R$ that satisfy: $$f(\varphi(x)+f(y))=y+\varphi(f(x))$$ forall $x,y\in\mathbb R$

Let $X \subset \mathbb{R}^2$ be a set satisfying the following properties: (i) if $(x_1,y_1)$ and $(x_2,y_2)$ are any two distinct elements in $X$, then \[\text{ either, }\ \ x_1>x_2 \text{ and } y_1>y_2\\ \text{ or, } \ \ x_1<x_2 \text{ and } y_1<y_2\] (ii) there are two elements $(a_1,b_1)$ and $(a_2,b_2)$ in $X$ such that for any $(x,y) \in X$, \[a_1\le x \le a_2 \text{ and } b_1\le y \le b_2\] (iii) if $(x_1,y_1)$ and $(x_2,y_2)$ are two elements of $X$, then for all $\lambda \in [0,1]$, \[\left(\lambda x_1+(1-\lambda)x_2, \lambda y_1 + (1-\lambda)y_2\right) \in X\] Show that if $(x,y) \in X$, then for some $\lambda \in [0,1]$, \[x=\lambda a_1 +(1-\lambda)a_2, y=\lambda b_1 +(1-\lambda)b_2\]

For which numbers $x$of the interval $0 < x <\pi$ holds: $$\frac{\tan 2x}{\tan x} -\frac{2 \cot 2x}{\cot x}=1$$

If the reals $a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i$ satisfy $$\begin{cases}ab+bc+ca=3\\de+ef+fd=3\\gh+hi+ig=3\\ad+dg+ga=3\\be+eh+hb=3\end{cases}$$show that $cf+fi+ic=3$ holds as well.

Define the operation $\bigoplus$ on the set of real numbers such that \[x \bigoplus y = x+y-xy \qquad \forall x,y \in \mathbb R.\] Prove that this operation is associative.

Twenty children, ten boys and ten girls, are standing in a line. Each boy counted the number of children standing to the right of him. Each girl counted the number of children standing to the left of her. Prove that the sums of numbers counted by the boys and the girls are the same.

As a gift, Dilhan was given the number $n=1^1\cdot2^2\cdots2021^{2021}$, and each day, he has been dividing $n$ by $2021!$ exactly once. One day, when he did this, he discovered that, for the first time, $n$ was no longer an integer, but instead a reduced fraction of the form $\frac{a}b$. What is the sum of all distinct prime factors of $b$? [i]Proposed by Adam Bertelli[/i]

Find all functions $f : (0, +\infty) \to (0, +\infty)$ which are increasing on $[1, +\infty)$ and for all positive reals $a, b, c$ they fulfill the following relation $f(ab)f(bc)f(ca)=f(a^2b^2c^2)+f(a^2)+f(b^2)+f(c^2)$.

A magician intends to perform the following trick. She announces a positive integer $n$, along with $2n$ real numbers $x_1 < \dots < x_{2n}$, to the audience. A member of the audience then secretly chooses a polynomial $P(x)$ of degree $n$ with real coefficients, computes the $2n$ values $P(x_1), \dots , P(x_{2n})$, and writes down these $2n$ values on the blackboard in non-decreasing order. After that the magician announces the secret polynomial to the audience. Can the magician find a strategy to perform such a trick?

Find all functions $f:\mathbb{R}\rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ such that $f(0) \in \mathbb Q$ and \[f(x+f(y)^2 ) = {f(x+y)}^2.\] (25 points)

[u]Round 1[/u] [b]p1.[/b] Today, the date $4/9/16$ has the property that it is written with three perfect squares in strictly increasing order. What is the next date with this property? [b]p2.[/b] What is the greatest integer less than $100$ whose digit sumis equal to its greatest prime factor? [b]p3.[/b] In chess, a bishop can only move diagonally any number of squares. Find the number of possible squares a bishop starting in a corner of a $20\times 16$ chessboard can visit in finitely many moves, including the square it stars on. [u]Round 2 [/u] [b]p4.[/b] What is the fifth smallest positive integer with at least $5$ distinct prime divisors? [b]p5.[/b] Let $\tau (n)$ be the number of divisors of a positive integer $n$, including $1$ and $n$. Howmany positive integers $n \le 1000$ are there such that $\tau (n) > 2$ and $\tau (\tau (n)) = 2$? [b]p6.[/b] How many distinct quadratic polynomials $P(x)$ with leading coefficient $1$ exist whose roots are positive integers and whose coefficients sum to $2016$? [u]Round 3[/u] [b]p7.[/b] Find the largest prime factor of $112221$. [b]p8.[/b] Find all ordered pairs of positive integers $(a,b)$ such that $\frac{a^2b^2+1}{ab-1}$ is an integer. [b]p9.[/b] Suppose $f : Z \to Z$ is a function such that $f (2x)= f (1-x)+ f (1-x)$ for all integers $x$. Find the value of $f (2) f (0) +f (1) f (6)$. [u]Round 4[/u] [b]p10.[/b] For any six points in the plane, what is the maximum number of isosceles triangles that have three of the points as vertices? [b]p11.[/b] Find the sum of all positive integers $n$ such that $\sqrt{n+ \sqrt{n -25}}$ is also a positive integer. [b]p12.[/b] Distinct positive real numbers are written at the vertices of a regular $2016$-gon. On each diagonal and edge of the $2016$-gon, the sum of the numbers at its endpoints is written. Find the minimum number of distinct numbers that are now written, including the ones at the vertices. PS. You should use hide for answers. Rounds 5-8 have been posted [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c3h3158474p28715078]here[/url]. and 9-12 [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c3h3162282p28763571]here[/url]. Collected [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h2760506p24143309]here[/url].

[b]p1.[/b] An ant starts at the top vertex of a triangular pyramid (tetrahedron). Each day, the ant randomly chooses an adjacent vertex to move to. What is the probability that it is back at the top vertex after three days? [b]p2.[/b] A square “rolls” inside a circle of area $\pi$ in the obvious way. That is, when the square has one corner on the circumference of the circle, it is rotated clockwise around that corner until a new corner touches the circumference, then it is rotated around that corner, and so on. The square goes all the way around the circle and returns to its starting position after rotating exactly $720^o$. What is the area of the square? [b]p3.[/b] How many ways are there to fill a $3\times 3$ grid with the integers $1$ through $9$ such that every row is increasing left-to-right and every column is increasing top-to-bottom? [b]p4.[/b] Noah has an old-style M&M machine. Each time he puts a coin into the machine, he is equally likely to get $1$ M&M or $2$ M&M’s. He continues putting coins into the machine and collecting M&M’s until he has at least $6$ M&M’s. What is the probability that he actually ends up with $7$ M&M’s? [b]p5.[/b] Erik wants to divide the integers $1$ through $6$ into nonempty sets $A$ and $B$ such that no (nonempty) sum of elements in $A$ is a multiple of $7$ and no (nonempty) sum of elements in $B$ is a multiple of $7$. How many ways can he do this? (Interchanging $A$ and $B$ counts as a different solution.) [b]p6.[/b] A subset of $\{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8\}$ of size $3$ is called special if whenever $a$ and $b$ are in the set, the remainder when $a + b$ is divided by $8$ is not in the set. ($a$ and $b$ can be the same.) How many special subsets exist? [b]p7.[/b] Let $F_1 = F_2 = 1$, and let $F_n = F_{n-1} + F_{n-2}$ for all $n \ge 3$. For each positive integer $n$, let $g(n)$ be the minimum possible value of $$|a_1F_1 + a_2F_2 + ...+ a_nF_n|,$$ where each $a_i$ is either $1$ or $-1$. Find $g(1) + g(2) +...+ g(100)$. [b]p8.[/b] Find the smallest positive integer $n$ with base-$10$ representation $\overline{1a_1a_2... a_k}$ such that $3n = \overline{a_1a_2


a_k1}$. [b]p9.[/b] How many ways are there to tile a $4 \times 6$ grid with $L$-shaped triominoes? (A triomino consists of three connected $1\times 1$ squares not all in a line.) [b]p10.[/b] Three friends want to share five (identical) muffins so that each friend ends up with the same total amount of muffin. Nobody likes small pieces of muffin, so the friends cut up and distribute the muffins in such a way that they maximize the size of the smallest muffin piece. What is the size of this smallest piece? [u]Numerical tiebreaker problems:[/u] [b]p11.[/b] $S$ is a set of positive integers with the following properties: (a) There are exactly 3 positive integers missing from $S$. (b) If $a$ and $b$ are elements of $S$, then $a + b$ is an element of $S$. (We allow $a$ and $b$ to be the same.) How many possibilities are there for the set $S$? [b]p12.[/b] In the trapezoid $ABCD$, both $\angle B$ and $\angle C$ are right angles, and all four sides of the trapezoid are tangent to the same circle. If $\overline{AB} = 13$ and $\overline{CD} = 33$, find the area of $ABCD$. [b]p13.[/b] Alice wishes to walk from the point $(0, 0)$ to the point $(6, 4)$ in increments of $(1, 0)$ and $(0, 1)$, and Bob wishes to walk from the point $(0, 1)$ to the point $(6, 5)$ in increments of $(1, 0)$ and $(0,1)$. How many ways are there for Alice and Bob to get to their destinations if their paths never pass through the same point (even at different times)? [b]p14.[/b] The continuous function $f(x)$ satisfies $9f(x + y) = f(x)f(y)$ for all real numbers $x$ and $y$. If $f(1) = 3$, what is $f(-3)$? PS. You should use hide for answers. Collected [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h2760506p24143309]here[/url].

Solve in real numbers the system $$\begin{cases} x^3 + y = 3x + 4 \\ 2y^3 + z = 6y + 6 \\ 3z^3 + x = 9z + 8\end{cases}$$

[u]Round 1[/u] [b]1.1.[/b] A circle has a circumference of $20\pi$ inches. Find its area in terms of $\pi$. [b]1.2.[/b] Let $x, y$ be the solution to the system of equations: $x^2 + y^2 = 10 \,\,\, , \,\,\, x = 3y$. Find $x + y$ where both $x$ and $y$ are greater than zero. [b]1. 3.[/b] Chris deposits $\$ 100$ in a bank account. He then spends $30\%$ of the money in the account on biology books. The next week, he earns some money and the amount of money he has in his account increases by $30 \%$. What percent of his original money does he now have? [u]Round 2[/u] [b]2.1.[/b] The bell rings every $45$ minutes. If the bell rings right before the first class and right after the last class, how many hours are there in a school day with $9$ bells? [b]2.2.[/b] The middle school math team has $9$ members. They want to send $2$ teams to ABMC this year: one full team containing 6 members and one half team containing the other $3$ members. In how many ways can they choose a $6$ person team and a $3$ person team? [b]2.3.[/b] Find the sum: $$1 + (1 - 1)(1^2 + 1 + 1) + (2 - 1)(2^2 + 2 + 1) + (3 - 1)(3^2 + 3 + 1) + ...· + (8 - 1)(8^2 + 8 + 1) + (9 - 1)(9^2 + 9 + 1).$$ [u]Round 3[/u] [b]3.1.[/b] In square $ABHI$, another square $BIEF$ is constructed with diagonal $BI$ (of $ABHI$) as its side. What is the ratio of the area of $BIEF$ to the area of $ABHI$? [b]3.2.[/b] How many ordered pairs of positive integers $(a, b)$ are there such that $a$ and $b$ are both less than $5$, and the value of $ab + 1$ is prime? Recall that, for example, $(2, 3)$ and $(3, 2)$ are considered different ordered pairs. [b]3.3.[/b] Kate Lin drops her right circular ice cream cone with a height of $ 12$ inches and a radius of $5$ inches onto the ground. The cone lands on its side (along the slant height). Determine the distance between the highest point on the cone to the ground. [u]Round 4[/u] [b]4.1.[/b] In a Museum of Fine Mathematics, four sculptures of Euler, Euclid, Fermat, and Allen, one for each statue, are nailed to the ground in a circle. Bob would like to fully paint each statue a single color such that no two adjacent statues are blue. If Bob only has only red and blue paint, in how many ways can he paint the four statues? [b]4.2.[/b] Geo has two circles, one of radius 3 inches and the other of radius $18$ inches, whose centers are $25$ inches apart. Let $A$ be a point on the circle of radius 3 inches, and B be a point on the circle of radius $18$ inches. If segment $\overline{AB}$ is a tangent to both circles that does not intersect the line connecting their centers, find the length of $\overline{AB}$. [b]4.3.[/b] Find the units digit to $2017^{2017!}$. [u]Round 5[/u] [b]5.1.[/b] Given equilateral triangle $\gamma_1$ with vertices $A, B, C$, construct square $ABDE$ such that it does not overlap with $\gamma_1$ (meaning one cannot find a point in common within both of the figures). Similarly, construct square $ACFG$ that does not overlap with $\gamma_1$ and square $CBHI$ that does not overlap with $\gamma_1$. Lines $DE$, $FG$, and $HI$ form an equilateral triangle $\gamma_2$. Find the ratio of the area of $\gamma_2$ to $\gamma_1$ as a fraction. [b]5.2.[/b] A decimal that terminates, like $1/2 = 0.5$ has a repeating block of $0$. A number like $1/3 = 0.\overline{3}$ has a repeating block of length $ 1$ since the fraction bar is only over $ 1$ digit. Similarly, the numbers $0.0\overline{3}$ and $0.6\overline{5}$ have repeating blocks of length $ 1$. Find the number of positive integers $n$ less than $100$ such that $1/n$ has a repeating block of length $ 1$. [b]5.3.[/b] For how many positive integers $n$ between $1$ and $2017$ is the fraction $\frac{n + 6}{2n + 6}$ irreducible? (Irreducibility implies that the greatest common factor of the numerator and the denominator is $1$.) [u]Round 6[/u] [b]6.1.[/b] Consider the binary representations of $2017$, $2017 \cdot 2$, $2017 \cdot 2^2$, $2017 \cdot 2^3$, $... $, $2017 \cdot 2^{100}$. If we take a random digit from any of these binary representations, what is the probability that this digit is a $1$ ? [b]6.2.[/b] Aaron is throwing balls at Carlson’s face. These balls are infinitely small and hit Carlson’s face at only $1$ point. Carlson has a flat, circular face with a radius of $5$ inches. Carlson’s mouth is a circle of radius $ 1$ inch and is concentric with his face. The probability of a ball hitting any point on Carlson’s face is directly proportional to its distance from the center of Carlson’s face (so when you are $2$ times farther away from the center, the probability of hitting that point is $2$ times as large). If Aaron throws one ball, and it is guaranteed to hit Carlson’s face, what is the probability that it lands in Carlson’s mouth? [b]6.3.[/b] The birth years of Atharva, his father, and his paternal grandfather form a geometric sequence. The birth years of Atharva’s sister, their mother, and their grandfather (the same grandfather) form an arithmetic sequence. If Atharva’s sister is $5$ years younger than Atharva and all $5$ people were born less than $200$ years ago (from $2017$), what is Atharva’s mother’s birth year? [u]Round 7[/u] [b]7. 1.[/b] A function $f$ is called an “involution” if $f(f(x)) = x$ for all $x$ in the domain of $f$ and the inverse of $f$ exists. Find the total number of involutions $f$ with domain of integers between $ 1$ and $ 8$ inclusive. [b]7.2.[/b] The function $f(x) = x^3$ is an odd function since each point on $f(x)$ corresponds (through a reflection through the origin) to a point on $f(x)$. For example the point $(-2, -8)$ corresponds to $(2, 8)$. The function $g(x) = x^3 - 3x^2 + 6x - 10$ is a “semi-odd” function, since there is a point $(a, b)$ on the function such that each point on $g(x)$ corresponds to a point on $g(x)$ via a reflection over $(a, b)$. Find $(a, b)$. [b]7.3.[/b] A permutations of the numbers $1, 2, 3, 4, 5$ is an arrangement of the numbers. For example, $12345$ is one arrangement, and $32541$ is another arrangement. Another way to look at permutations is to see each permutation as a function from $\{1, 2, 3, 4, 5\}$ to $\{1, 2, 3, 4, 5\}$. For example, the permutation $23154$ corresponds to the function f with $f(1) = 2$, $f(2) = 3$, $f(3) = 1$, $f(5) = 4$, and $f(4) = 5$, where $f(x)$ is the $x$-th number of the permutation. But the permutation $23154$ has a cycle of length three since $f(1) = 2$, $f(2) = 3$, $f(3) = 1$, and cycles after $3$ applications of $f$ when regarding a set of $3$ distinct numbers in the domain and range. Similarly the permutation $32541$ has a cycle of length three since $f(5) = 1$, $f(1) = 3$, and $f(3) = 5$. In a permutation of the natural numbers between $ 1$ and $2017$ inclusive, find the expected number of cycles of length $3$. [u]Round 8[/u] [b]8.[/b] Find the number of characters in the problems on the accuracy round test. This does not include spaces and problem numbers (or the periods after problem numbers). For example, “$1$. What’s $5 + 10$?” would contain $11$ characters, namely “$W$,” “$h$,” “$a$,” “$t$,” “$’$,” “$s$,” “$5$,” “$+$,” “$1$,” “$0$,” “?”. If the correct answer is $c$ and your answer is $x$, then your score will be $$\max \left\{ 0, 13 -\left\lceil \frac{|x-c|}{100} \right\rceil \right\}$$ PS. You should use hide for answers. Collected [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h2760506p24143309]here[/url].

Let $n>1$ be an integer and $a,b,c$ be three complex numbers such that $a+b+c=0$ and $a^n+b^n+c^n=0$. Prove that two of $a,b,c$ have the same magnitude. [i]Evan O'Dorney.[/i]

[u]Round 1[/u] [b]p1.[/b] A circle is inscribed inside a square such that the cube of the radius of the circle is numerically equal to the perimeter of the square. What is the area of the circle? [b]p2.[/b] If the coefficient of $z^ky^k$ is $252$ in the expression $(z + y)^{2k}$, find $k$. [b]p3.[/b] Let $f(x) = \frac{4x^4-2x^3-x^2-3x-2}{x^4-x^3+x^2-x-1}$ be a function defined on the real numbers where the denominator is not zero. The graph of $f$ has a horizontal asymptote. Compute the sum of the x-coordinates of the points where the graph of $f$ intersects this horizontal asymptote. If the graph of f does not intersect the asymptote, write $0$. [u]Round 2 [/u] [b]p4.[/b] How many $5$-digit numbers have strictly increasing digits? For example, $23789$ has strictly increasing digits, but $23889$ and $23869$ do not. [b]p5.[/b] Let $$y =\frac{1}{1 +\frac{1}{9 +\frac{1}{5 +\frac{1}{9 +\frac{1}{5 +...}}}}}$$ If $y$ can be represented as $\frac{a\sqrt{b} + c}{d}$ , where $b$ is not divisible by any squares, and the greatest common divisor of $a$ and $d$ is $1$, find the sum $a + b + c + d$. [b]p6.[/b] “Counting” is defined as listing positive integers, each one greater than the previous, up to (and including) an integer $n$. In terms of $n$, write the number of ways to count to $n$. [u]Round 3 [/u] [b]p7.[/b] Suppose $p$, $q$, $2p^2 + q^2$, and $p^2 + q^2$ are all prime numbers. Find the sum of all possible values of $p$. [b]p8.[/b] Let $r(d)$ be a function that reverses the digits of the $2$-digit integer $d$. What is the smallest $2$-digit positive integer $N$ such that for some $2$-digit positive integer $n$ and $2$-digit positive integer $r(n)$, $N$ is divisible by $n$ and $r(n)$, but not by $11$? [b]p9.[/b] What is the period of the function $y = (\sin(3\theta) + 6)^2 - 10(sin(3\theta) + 7) + 13$? [u]Round 4 [/u] [b]p10.[/b] Three numbers $a, b, c$ are given by $a = 2^2 (\sum_{i=0}^2 2^i)$, $b = 2^4(\sum_{i=0}^4 2^i)$, and $c = 2^6(\sum_{i=0}^6 2^i)$ . $u, v, w$ are the sum of the divisors of a, b, c respectively, yet excluding the original number itself. What is the value of $a + b + c -u - v - w$? [b]p11.[/b] Compute $\sqrt{6- \sqrt{11}} - \sqrt{6+ \sqrt{11}}$. [b]p12.[/b] Let $a_0, a_1,..., a_n$ be such that $a_n\ne 0$ and $$(1 + x + x^3)^{341}(1 + 2x + x^2 + 2x^3 + 2x^4 + x^6)^{342} =\sum_{i=0}^n a_ix^i.$$ Find the number of odd numbers in the sequence $a_0, a_1,..., a_n$. PS. You should use hide for answers. Rounds 5-7 have been posted [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c4h2781343p24424617]here[/url]. Collected [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h2760506p24143309]here[/url].

Prove that there are no real numbers $ a, b, c $, $ x_1, x_2, x_3 $ such that for every real number $ x $ $$ ax^2 + bx + c = a(x - x_2)(x - x_3) $$ $$bx^2 + cx + a = b(x - x_3) (x - x_1)$$ $$cx^2 + ax + b = c(x - x_1) (x - x_2)$$ and $ x_1 \neq x_2 $, $ x_2 \neq x_3 $, $ x_3 \neq x_1 $, $ abc \neq 0 $.

For each integer $n > 0$ show that there is a polynomial $p(x)$ such that $p(2 cos x) = 2 cos nx$.