Let $n\ge 1$ be a fixed integer. Calculate the distance $\inf_{p,f}\, \max_{0\le x\le 1} |f(x)-p(x)|$ , where $p$ runs over polynomials of degree less than $n$ with real coefficients and $f$ runs over functions $f(x)= \sum_{k=n}^{\infty} c_k x^k$ defined on the closed interval $[0,1]$ , where $c_k \ge 0$ and $\sum_{k=n}^{\infty} c_k=1$.

Let $p,q$ be positive reals with sum 1. Show that for any $n$-tuple of reals $(y_1,y_2,...,y_n)$, there exists an $n$-tuple of reals $(x_1,x_2,...,x_n)$ satisfying $$p\cdot \max\{x_i,x_{i+1}\} + q\cdot \min\{x_i,x_{i+1}\} = y_i$$ for all $i=1,2,...,2017$, where $x_{2018}=x_1$.

$11$ girls and $n$ boys went for mushrooms. They have found $n^2+9n -2$ in total, and each child has found the same quantity. Which is greater: the number of girls or the number of boys? (A. Tolpygo, Kiev)

The numbers $a, b, c$ satisfy the condition $| a - b | = 2 | b - c | = 3 | c - a |$. Prove that $a = b = c$.

The infinite sequence $P_0(x),P_1(x),P_2(x),\ldots,P_n(x),\ldots$ is defined as \[P_0(x)=x,\quad P_n(x) = P_{n-1}(x-1)\cdot P_{n-1}(x+1),\quad n\ge 1.\] Find the largest $k$ such that $P_{2014}(x)$ is divisible by $x^k$.

For all positive real numbers $x$ and $y$ let \[f(x,y)=\min\left( x,\frac{y}{x^2+y^2}\right) \] Show that there exist $x_0$ and $y_0$ such that $f(x, y)\le f(x_0, y_0)$ for all positive $x$ and $y$, and find $f(x_0,y_0)$.

Suppose $S$ is a finite subset of $\mathbb{R}$. If $f: S \rightarrow S$ is a function such that, $$ \left|f\left(s_{1}\right)-f\left(s_{2}\right)\right| \leq \frac{1}{2}\left|s_{1}-s_{2}\right|, \forall s_{1}, s_{2} \in S $$ Prove that, there exists a $x \in S$ such that $f(x)=x$

Ana, Beatriz, Carlos, Diego and Emilia play a chess tournament. Each player faces each of the other four only once. Each player gets $2$ points if he wins the match, $1$ point if he draws and $0$ point if he loses. At the end of the tournament, it turns out that the scores of the $5$ players are all different. Find the maximum number of ties there could be in the tournament and justify why there could not be a higher number of ties.

Let $f: \mathbb{Q}\rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ be a function such that \[|f(x)-f(y)|\leq (x-y)^{2}\] for all $x,y \in\mathbb{Q}$. Prove that $f$ is constant.

Suppose $0<m_1<...<m_n$ and $m_i \equiv i (\mod 2)$. Prove that the following polynomial has at most $n$ real roots. ($\forall 1\le i \le n: a_i \in \mathbb R$). \[a_0+a_1x^{m_1}+a_2x^{m_2}+...+a_nx^{m_n}.\]

Prove that if $a,b,c$ are positive integers such that $c^2 = a^2+b^2$, then both $c^2+ab$ and $c^2-ab$ are also expressible as the sums of squares of two positive integers.

Determine all nonnegative integers $x, y$ satisfying the equation \begin{align*} \sqrt{xy}=\sqrt{x+y}+\sqrt{x}+\sqrt{y}. \end{align*}

Every positive integer greater than $1000$ is colored in red or blue, such that the product of any two distinct red numbers is blue. Is it possible to happen that no two blue numbers have difference $1$?

[b]p1.[/b] The expression $3 + 2\sqrt2$ can be represented as a perfect square: $3 +\sqrt2 = (1 + \sqrt2)^2$. (a) Represent $29 - 12\sqrt5$ as a prefect square. (b) Represent $10 - 6\sqrt3$ as a prefect cube. [b]p2.[/b] Find all values of the parameter $c$ for which the following system of equations has no solutions. $$x+cy = 1$$ $$cx+9y = 3$$ [b]p3.[/b] The equation $y = x^2 + 2ax + a$ represents a parabola for all real values of $a$. (a) Prove hat each of these parabolas pass through a common point and determine the coordinates of this point. (b) The vertices of the parabolas lie on a curve. Prove that this curve is a parabola and find its equation. [b]p4.[/b] Miranda is a $10$th grade student who is very good in mathematics. In fact she just completed an advanced algebra class and received a grade of A+. Miranda has five sisters, Cathy, Stella, Eva, Lucinda, and Dorothea. Miranda made up a problem involving the ages of the six girls and dared Cathy to solve it. Miranda said: “The sum of our ages is five times my age. (By ’age’ throughout this problem is meant ’age in years’.) When Stella is three times my present age, the sum of my age and Dorothea’s will be equal to the sum of the present ages of the five of us; Eva’s age will be three times her present age; and Lucinda’s age will be twice Stella’s present age, plus one year. How old are Stella and Miranda?” “Well, Miranda, could you tell me something else?” “Sure”, said Miranda, “my age is an odd number”. [b]p5.[/b] Cities $A,B,C$ and $D$ are located in vertices of a square with the area $10, 000$ square miles. There is a straight-line highway passing through the center of a square. Find the sum of squares of the distances from the cities of to the highway. [img]https://cdn.artofproblemsolving.com/attachments/b/4/1f53d81d3bc2a465387ff64de15f7da0949f69.png[/img] [b]p6.[/b] (a) Among three similar coins there is one counterfeit. It is not known whether the counterfeit coin is lighter or heavier than a genuine one (all genuine coins weight the same). Using two weightings on a pan balance, how can the counterfeit be identified and in process determined to be lighter or heavier than a genuine coin? (b) There is one counterfeit coin among $12$ similar coins. It is not known whether the counterfeit coin is lighter or heavier than a genuine one. Using three weightings on a pan balance, how can the counterfeit be identified and in process determined to be lighter or heavier than a genuine coin? PS. You should use hide for answers.

Let $k\ge2$ be an integer. Find the smallest integer $n \ge k+1$ with the property that there exists a set of $n$ distinct real numbers such that each of its elements can be written as a sum of $k$ other distinct elements of the set.

Let $c_1, \cdots, c_n \ (n \geq 2)$ be real numbers such that $0 \leq \sum c_i \leq n$. Prove that there exist integers $k_1, \cdots , k_n$ such that $\sum k_i=0$ and $1-n \leq c_i + nk_i \leq n$ for every $i = 1, \cdots , n.$

Let $P_c(x)=x^4+ax^3+bx^2+cx+1$ and $Q_c(x)=x^4+cx^3+bx^2+ax+1$ with $a,b$ real numbers, $c \in \{1,2, \dots, 2017\}$ an integer and $a \ne c$. Define $A_c=\{\alpha | P_c(\alpha)=0\}$ and $B_c=\{\beta | P(\beta)=0\}$. (a) Find the number of unordered pairs of polynomials $P_c(x), Q_c(x)$ with exactly two common roots. (b) For any $1 \le c \le 2017$, find the sum of the elements of $A_c \Delta B_c$.

Let $n$ be the number of polynomial functions from the integers modulo $2010$ to the integers modulo $2010$. $n$ can be written as $n = p_1 p_2 \cdots p_k$, where the $p_i$s are (not necessarily distinct) primes. Find $p_1 + p_2 + \cdots + p_n$.

Let us consider every third degree polynomial $P(x)$ with coefficients as nonnegative positive integers such that $P(1)=20$. Among them determine polynomial for which is: $a)$ Minimal value of $P(4)$ $b)$ Maximal value of $P(3)/P(2)$

Find number of solutions in non-negative reals to the following equations: \begin{eqnarray*}x_1 + x_n ^2 = 4x_n \\ x_2 + x_1 ^2 = 4x_1 \\ ... \\ x_n + x_{n-1}^2 = 4x_{n-1} \end{eqnarray*}

Prove that for every nonnegative integer $n$, the number $7^{7^{n}}+1$ is the product of at least $2n+3$ (not necessarily distinct) primes.

Find all functions $f:\mathbb R \to \mathbb R$ Such that for all real $x,y$: $(x^2+xy+y^2)(f(x)-f(y))=f(x^3)-f(y^3)$

A large equilateral triangle is constructed by using toothpicks to create rows of small equilateral triangles. For example, in the figure we have $ 3$ rows of small congruent equilateral triangles, with $ 5$ small triangles in the base row. How many toothpicks would be needed to construct a large equilateral triangle if the base row of the triangle consists of $ 2003$ small equilateral triangles? [asy]unitsize(15mm); defaultpen(linewidth(.8pt)+fontsize(8pt)); pair Ap=(0,0), Bp=(1,0), Cp=(2,0), Dp=(3,0), Gp=dir(60); pair Fp=shift(Gp)*Bp, Ep=shift(Gp)*Cp; pair Hp=shift(Gp)*Gp, Ip=shift(Gp)*Fp; pair Jp=shift(Gp)*Hp; pair[] points={Ap,Bp,Cp,Dp,Ep,Fp,Gp,Hp,Ip,Jp}; draw(Ap--Dp--Jp--cycle); draw(Gp--Bp--Ip--Hp--Cp--Ep--cycle); for(pair p : points) { fill(circle(p, 0.07),white); } pair[] Cn=new pair[5]; Cn[0]=centroid(Ap,Bp,Gp); Cn[1]=centroid(Gp,Bp,Fp); Cn[2]=centroid(Bp,Fp,Cp); Cn[3]=centroid(Cp,Fp,Ep); Cn[4]=centroid(Cp,Ep,Dp); label("$1$",Cn[0]); label("$2$",Cn[1]); label("$3$",Cn[2]); label("$4$",Cn[3]); label("$5$",Cn[4]); for (pair p : Cn) { draw(circle(p,0.1)); }[/asy] $ \textbf{(A)}\ 1,\!004,\!004 \qquad \textbf{(B)}\ 1,\!005,\!006 \qquad \textbf{(C)}\ 1,\!507,\!509 \qquad \textbf{(D)}\ 3,\!015,\!018 \qquad \textbf{(E)}\ 6,\!021,\!018$

We consider the real sequence ($x_n$) defined by $x_0=0, x_1=1$ and $x_{n+2}=3x_{n+1}-2 x_{n}$ for $n=0,1,2,...$ We define the sequence ($y_n$) by $y_n=x^2_n+2^{n+2}$ for every nonnegative integer $n$. Prove that for every $n>0, y_n$ is the square of an odd integer.

Consider the sequence of integers $ \left( a_n\right)_{n\ge 0} $ defined as $$ a_n=\left\{\begin{matrix}n^6-2017, & 7|n\\ \frac{1}{7}\left( n^6-2017\right) , & 7\not | n\end{matrix}\right. . $$ Determine the largest length a string of consecutive terms from this sequence sharing a common divisor greater than $ 1 $ may have.