If $a_0$ is a positive real number, consider the sequence $\{a_n\}$ defined by: \[ a_{n+1} = \frac{a^2_n - 1}{n+1}, n \geq 0. \] Show that there exist a real number $a > 0$ such that: [b]i.)[/b] for all $a_0 \geq a,$ the sequence $\{a_n\} \rightarrow \infty,$ [b]ii.)[/b] for all $a_0 < a,$ the sequence $\{a_n\} \rightarrow 0.$

For the real numbers $a, b, c, d$, the following inequalities hold: $$a + b + c \le 3d, \,\,\, b + c + d \le 3a, \,\,\,c + d + a \le 3b, \,\,\,d + a + b\le 3c.$$ Compare the numbers $a, b, c, d$.

Let $a$ and $b$ be real numbers bigger than $1$. Find maximal value of $c \in \mathbb{R}$ such that $$\frac{1}{3+\log _{a} b}+\frac{1}{3+\log _{b} a} \geq c$$

Let $F_k(a,b)=(a+b)^k-a^k-b^k$ and let $S={1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10}$. For how many ordered pairs $(a,b)$ with $a,b\in S$ and $a\leq b$ is $\frac{F_5(a,b)}{F_3(a,b)}$ an integer?

For a positive integer $n$, define $f(n)=n+P(n)$ and $g(n)=n\cdot S(n)$, where $P(n)$ and $S(n)$ denote the product and sum of the digits of $n$, respectively. Find all solutions to $f(n)=g(n)$

Prove that if the polynomial $x^3 + ax^2 + bx + c$ has three distinct real roots, so does the polynomial $x^3 + ax^2 + \frac{1}{4}(a^2 + b)x + \frac{1}{8}(ab-c)$.

Let $x_1,x_2,\ldots,x_n$ be real numbers satisfying $x_1^2+x_2^2+\ldots+x_n^2=1$. Prove that for every integer $k\ge2$ there are integers $a_1,a_2,\ldots,a_n$, not all zero, such that $|a_i|\le k-1$ for all $i$, and $|a_1x_1+a_2x_2+\ldots+a_nx_n|\le{(k-1)\sqrt n\over k^n-1}$.

For any real number $a$, prove the inequality: $$\left(a^3+a^2+3\right)^2>4a^3(a-1)^2.$$

Show that there exists a sequence $x_1,x_2,...$ of natural numbers in which every natural number occurs exactly once, such that the sums $\sum_{i=1}^n \frac{1}{x_i}$, $n = 1,2,3,...$, include all natural numbers.

Let $a$ be an integer. Prove that for any real number $x, x^3 < 3$, both the numbers $\sqrt{3 -x^2}$ and $\sqrt{a - x^3}$ cannot be rational.

Determine all function $f$ from the set of real numbers to itself such that for every $x$ and $y$, \[f(x^2-y^2)=(x-y)(f(x)+f(y))\]

The sequence $(a_k)$, $k> 0$ is Fibonacci, with $a_0 = a_1 = 1$. Calculate the value of $$\sum_{j = 0}^{\infty} \frac{a_j}{2^j}$$

Find all functions $f: \mathbb R^+ \to \mathbb R^+$ such that \[ f \left( x+\frac{f(xy)}{x} \right) = f(xy) f \left( y + \frac 1y \right) \] holds for all $x,y\in\mathbb R^+.$

Let n be a positive integer and let $a_1, a_2, ..., a_n, b_1, b_2, ... , b_n, c_2, c_3, ... , c_{2n}$ be $4n - 1$ positive real numbers such that $c^2_{i+j} \ge a_ib_j $, for all $1 \le i, j \le n$. Also let $m = \max_{2 \le i\le 2n} c_i$. Prove that $$\left(\frac{m + c_2 + c_3 +... + c_{2n}}{2n} \right)^2 \ge \left(\frac{a_1+a_2 + ... +a_n}{n}\right)\left(\frac{ b_1 + b_2 + ...+ b_n}{n}\right)$$

[u]Round 1[/u] [b]p1.[/b] How many powers of $2$ are greater than $3$ but less than $2013$? [b]p2.[/b] What number is equal to six greater than three times the answer to this question? [b]p3.[/b] Surya Cup-a-tea-raju goes to Starbucks Coffee to sip coffee out of a styrofoam cup. The cup is a cylinder, open on one end, with base radius $3$ centimeters and height $10$ centimeters. What is the exterior surface area of the styrofoam cup? [u]Round 2[/u] [b]p4.[/b] Andrew has two $6$-foot-length sticks that he wishes to make into two of the sides of the entrance to his fort, with the ground being the third side. If he wants to make his entrance in the shape of a triangle, what is the largest area that he can make the entrance? [b]p5.[/b] Ethan and Devin met a fairy who told them “if you have less than $15$ dollars, I will give you cake”. If both had integral amounts of dollars, and Devin had 5 more dollars than Ethan, but only Ethan got cake, how many different amounts of money could Ethan have had? [b]p6.[/b] If $2012^x = 2013$, for what value of $a$, in terms of $x$, is it true that $2012^a = 2013^2$? [u]Round 3[/u] [b]p7.[/b] Find the ordered triple $(L, M, T)$ of positive integers that makes the following equation true: $$1 + \dfrac{1}{L + \dfrac{1}{M+\dfrac{1}{T}}}=\frac{79}{43}.$$ [b]p8.[/b] Jonathan would like to start a banana plantation so he is saving up to buy an acre of land, which costs $\$600,000$. He deposits $\$300,000$ in the bank, which gives $20\%$ interest compounded at the end of each year. At this rate, how many years will Jonathan have to wait until he can buy the acre of land? [b]p9.[/b] Arul and Ethan went swimming at their town pool and started to swim laps to see who was in better shape. After one hour of swimming at their own paces, Ethan completed $32$ more laps than Arul. However, after that, Ethan got tired and swam at half his original speed while Arul’s speed didn’t change. After one more hour, Arul swam a total of $320$ laps. How many laps did Ethan swim after two hours? [u]Round 4[/u] [b]p10.[/b] A right triangle with a side length of $6$ and a hypotenuse of 10 has circles of radius $1$ centered at each vertex. What is the area of the space inside the triangle but outside all three circles? [b]p11.[/b] In isosceles trapezoid $ABCD$, $\overline{AB} \parallel\overline{CD}$ and the lengths of $\overline{AB}$ and $\overline{CD}$ are $2$ and $6$, respectively. Let the diagonals of the trapezoid intersect at point $E$. If the distance from $E$ to $\overline{CD}$ is $9$, what is the area of triangle $ABE$? [b]p12.[/b] If $144$ unit cubes are glued together to form a rectangular prism and the perimeter of the base is $54$ units, what is the height? PS. You should use hide for answers. Rounds 6-8 are [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c3h3136014p28427163]here[/url] and 9-12 [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c3h3137069p28442224]here[/url]. Collected [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h2760506p24143309]here[/url].

You are given $N$ such that $ n \ge 3$. We call a set of $N$ points on a plane acceptable if their abscissae are unique, and each of the points is coloured either red or blue. Let's say that a polynomial $P(x)$ divides a set of acceptable points either if there are no red dots above the graph of $P(x)$, and below, there are no blue dots, or if there are no blue dots above the graph of $P(x)$ and there are no red dots below. Keep in mind, dots of both colors can be present on the graph of $P(x)$ itself. For what least value of k is an arbitrary set of $N$ points divisible by a polynomial of degree $k$?

Let $f(x)=x^2-ax+b$, where $a$ and $b$ are positive integers. (a) Suppose that $a=2$ and $b=2$. Determine the set of real roots of $f(x)-x$, and the set of real roots of $f(f(x))-x$. (b) Determine the number of positive integers $(a,b)$ with $1\le a,b\le 2011$ for which every root of $f(f(x))-x$ is an integer.

[i]20 problems for 25 minutes.[/i] [b]p1.[/b] Matt has a twenty dollar bill and buys two items worth $\$7:99$ each. How much change does he receive, in dollars? [b]p2.[/b] The sum of two distinct numbers is equal to the positive difference of the two numbers. What is the product of the two numbers? [b]p3.[/b] Evaluate $$\frac{1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7}{8 + 9 + 10 + 11 + 12 + 13 + 14}.$$ [b]p4.[/b] A sphere with radius $r$ has volume $2\pi$. Find the volume of a sphere with diameter $r$. [b]p5.[/b] Yannick ran $100$ meters in $14.22$ seconds. Compute his average speed in meters per second, rounded to the nearest integer. [b]p6.[/b] The mean of the numbers $2, 0, 1, 5,$ and $x$ is an integer. Find the smallest possible positive integer value for $x$. [b]p7.[/b] Let $f(x) =\sqrt{2^2 - x^2}$. Find the value of $f(f(f(f(f(-1)))))$. [b]p8.[/b] Find the smallest positive integer $n$ such that $20$ divides $15n$ and $15$ divides $20n$. [b]p9.[/b] A circle is inscribed in equilateral triangle $ABC$. Let $M$ be the point where the circle touches side $AB$ and let $N$ be the second intersection of segment $CM$ and the circle. Compute the ratio $\frac{MN}{CN}$ . [b]p10.[/b] Four boys and four girls line up in a random order. What is the probability that both the first and last person in line is a girl? [b]p11.[/b] Let $k$ be a positive integer. After making $k$ consecutive shots successfully, Andy's overall shooting accuracy increased from $65\%$ to $70\%$. Determine the minimum possible value of $k$. [b]p12.[/b] In square $ABCD$, $M$ is the midpoint of side $CD$. Points $N$ and $P$ are on segments $BC$ and $AB$ respectively such that $ \angle AMN = \angle MNP = 90^o$. Compute the ratio $\frac{AP}{PB}$ . [b]p13.[/b] Meena writes the numbers $1, 2, 3$, and $4$ in some order on a blackboard, such that she cannot swap two numbers and obtain the sequence $1$, $2$, $3$, $4$. How many sequences could she have written? [b]p14.[/b] Find the smallest positive integer $N$ such that $2N$ is a perfect square and $3N$ is a perfect cube. [b]p15.[/b] A polyhedron has $60$ vertices, $150$ edges, and $92$ faces. If all of the faces are either regular pentagons or equilateral triangles, how many of the $92$ faces are pentagons? [b]p16.[/b] All positive integers relatively prime to $2015$ are written in increasing order. Let the twentieth number be $p$. The value of $\frac{2015}{p}-1$ can be expressed as $\frac{a}{b}$ , where $a$ and $b$ are relatively prime positive integers. Compute $a + b$. [b]p17.[/b] Five red lines and three blue lines are drawn on a plane. Given that $x$ pairs of lines of the same color intersect and $y$ pairs of lines of different colors intersect, find the maximum possible value of $y - x$. [b]p18.[/b] In triangle $ABC$, where $AC > AB$, $M$ is the midpoint of $BC$ and $D$ is on segment $AC$ such that $DM$ is perpendicular to $BC$. Given that the areas of $MAD$ and $MBD$ are $5$ and $6$, respectively, compute the area of triangle $ABC$. [b]p19.[/b] For how many ordered pairs $(x, y)$ of integers satisfying $0 \le x, y \le 10$ is $(x + y)^2 + (xy - 1)^2$ a prime number? [b]p20.[/b] A solitaire game is played with $8$ red, $9$ green, and $10$ blue cards. Totoro plays each of the cards exactly once in some order, one at a time. When he plays a card of color $c$, he gains a number of points equal to the number of cards that are not of color $c$ in his hand. Find the maximum number of points that he can obtain by the end of the game. PS. You should use hide for answers. Collected [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h2760506p24143309]here[/url].

The function ƒ. which is defined for all real numbers satisfies: $$f(x+y)+f(x-y)=2f(x)+2f(y)$$ Prove that $f(0) = 0$, $f(-x) = f(x)$, $f(2x) = 4 f (x)$, $$f(x + y + z) = f(x + y) + f(y + z) + f(z + x) -f(x) - f(y) -f(z).$$

Positive real numbers $x \neq 1$ and $y \neq 1$ satisfy $\log_2{x} = \log_y{16}$ and $xy = 64$. What is $(\log_2{\tfrac{x}{y}})^2$? $\textbf{(A) } \frac{25}{2} \qquad\textbf{(B) } 20 \qquad\textbf{(C) } \frac{45}{2} \qquad\textbf{(D) } 25 \qquad\textbf{(E) } 32$

[b]p1.[/b] Find the largest possible number of consecutive $9$’s in which an integer between $10,000,000$ and $13,371,337$ can end. For example, $199$ ends in two $9$’s, while $92,999$ ends in three $9$’s. [b]p2.[/b] Let $ABCD$ be a square of side length $2$. Equilateral triangles $ABP$, $BCQ$, $CDR$, and $DAS$ are constructed inside the square. Compute the area of quadrilateral $PQRS$. [b]p3.[/b] Evaluate the expression $7 \cdot 11 \cdot 13 \cdot 1003 - 3 \cdot 17 \cdot 59 \cdot 331$. [b]p4.[/b] Compute the number of positive integers $c$ such that there is a non-degenerate obtuse triangle with side lengths $21$, $29$, and $c$. [b]p5.[/b] Consider a $5\times 5$ board, colored like a chessboard, such that the four corners are black. Determine the number of ways to place $5$ rooks on black squares such that no two of the rooks attack one another, given that the rooks are indistinguishable and the board cannot be rotated. (Two rooks attack each other if they are in the same row or column.) [b]p6.[/b] Let $ABCD$ be a trapezoid of height $6$ with bases $AB$ and $CD$. Suppose that $AB = 2$ and $CD = 3$, and let $F$ and $G$ be the midpoints of segments $AD$ and $BC$, respectively. If diagonals $AC$ and $BD$ intersect at point $E$, compute the area of triangle $FGE$. [b]p7.[/b] A regular octahedron is a solid with eight faces that are congruent equilateral triangles. Suppose that an ant is at the center of one face of a regular octahedron of edge length $10$. The ant wants to walk along the surface of the octahedron to reach the center of the opposite face. (Two faces of an octahedron are said to be opposite if they do not share a vertex.) Determine the minimum possible distance that the ant must walk. [b]p8.[/b] Let $A_1A_2A_3$, $B_1B_2B_3$, $C_1C_2C_3$, and $D_1D_2D_3$ be triangles in the plane. All the sides of the four triangles are extended into lines. Determine the maximum number of pairs of these lines that can meet at $60^o$ angles. [b]p9.[/b] For an integer $n$, let $f_n(x)$ denote the function $f_n(x) =\sqrt{x^2 - 2012x + n}+1006$. Determine all positive integers $a$ such that $f_a(f_{2012}(x)) = x$ for all $x \ge 2012$. [b]p10.[/b] Determine the number of ordered triples of integers $(a, b, c)$ such that $(a + b)(b + c)(c + a) = 1800$. PS. You should use hide for answers. Collected [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h2760506p24143309]here[/url].

[b]p1.[/b] Replace $*$’s by an arithmetic operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication or division) to obtain true equality $$2*0*1*6*7=1.$$ [b]p2.[/b] The interval of length $88$ cm is divided into three unequal parts. The distance between middle points of the left and right parts is $46$ cm. Find the length of the middle part. [b]p3.[/b] A $5\times 6$ rectangle is drawn on a square grid. Paint some cells of the rectangle in such a way that every $3\times 2$ sub‐rectangle has exactly two cells painted. [b]p4.[/b] There are $8$ similar coins. $5$ of them are counterfeit. A detector can analyze any set of coins and show if there are counterfeit coins in this set. The detector neither determines which coins nare counterfeit nor how many counterfeit coins are there. How to run the detector twice to find for sure at least one counterfeit coin? [b]p5.[/b] There is a set of $20$ weights of masses $1, 2, 3,...$ and $20$ grams. Can one divide this set into three groups of equal total masses? [b]p6.[/b] Replace letters $A,B,C,D,E,F,G$ by the digits $0,1,...,9$ to get true equality $AB+CD=EF * EG$ (different letters correspond to different digits, same letter means the same digit, $AB$, $CD$, $EF$, and $EG$ are two‐digit numbers). PS. You should use hide for answers. Collected [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h2760506p24143309]here[/url].

Let $a_1<a_2<a_3<a_4<\cdots$ be an infinite sequence of real numbers in the interval $(0,1)$. Show that there exists a number that occurs exactly once in the sequence \[ \frac{a_1}{1},\frac{a_2}{2},\frac{a_3}{3},\frac{a_4}{4},\ldots.\] [i]Merlijn Staps[/i]

Let $A_o =\{1, 2\}$ and for $n> 0, A_n$ results from $A_{n-1}$ by adding the natural numbers to $A_{n-1}$ which can be represented as the sum of two different numbers from $A_{n-1}$. Let $a_n = |A_n |$ be the number of numbers in $A_n$. Determine $a_n$ as a function of $n$.

There are $101$ not necessarily different weights, each of which weighs an integer number of grams from $1$ g to $2020$ g. It is known that at any division of these weights into two heaps, the total weight of at least one of the piles is no more than $2020$. What is the largest number of grams can weigh all $101$ weights? (Bogdan Rublev)