Determine all real numbers $a$ such that the two polynomials $x^2+ax+1$ and $x^2+x+a$ have at least one root in common.

Mr. Fat and Ms. Taf play a game. Mr. Fat chooses a sequence of positive integers $ k_1, k_2, \ldots , k_n$. Ms. Taf must guess this sequence of integers. She is allowed to give Mr. Fat a red card and a blue card, each with an integer written on it. Mr. Fat replaces the number on the red card with $ k_1$ times the number on the red card plus the number on the blue card, and replaces the number on the blue card with the number originally on the red card. He repeats this process with number $ k_2$. (That is, he replaces the number on the red card with $ k_2$ times the number now on the red card plus the number now on the blue card, and replaces the number on the blue card with the number that was just placed on the red card.) He then repeats this process with each of the numbers $ k_3, \ldots k_n$, in this order. After has has gone through the sequence of integers, Mr. Fat then gives the cards back to Ms. Taf. How many times must Ms. Taf submit the red and blue cards in order to be able to determine the sequence of integers $ k_1, k_2, \ldots k_n$?

Consider the sequence $ \{a_n\}_{n\geq1}$ defined as follows: $ a_1 \equal{} 1$, $ a_{2k} \equal{} 1 \plus{} a_k$ and $ a_{2k \plus{} 1} \equal{} \frac {1}{a_{2k}}$ for every $ k\geq 1$. Prove that every positive rational number appears on the sequence $ \{a_n\}$ exactly once.

Given an integer $ m\geq 2$, and two real numbers $ a,b$ with $ a > 0$ and $ b\neq 0$. The sequence $ \{x_n\}$ is such that $ x_1 \equal{} b$ and $ x_{n \plus{} 1} \equal{} ax^{m}_{n} \plus{} b$, $ n \equal{} 1,2,...$. Prove that (1)when $ b < 0$ and m is even, the sequence is bounded if and only if $ ab^{m \minus{} 1}\geq \minus{} 2$; (2)when $ b < 0$ and m is odd, or when $ b > 0$ the sequence is bounded if and only if $ ab^{m \minus{} 1}\geq\frac {(m \minus{} 1)^{m \minus{} 1}}{m^m}$.

Let a sequence of real numbers $a_0, a_1,a_2, \cdots$ satisfies the condition: $$\sum_{n=0}^ma_n\cdot(-1)^n\cdot{m\choose n}=0$$ for all sufficiently large values of $m$. Show that there exists a polynomial $P$ such that $a_n=P(n)$ for all $n\geq 0$

Given a polynomial $P(x)=x^4+3x^2-9x+1$. Calculate $P(\alpha^2+\alpha+1)$ where\[ \alpha=\sqrt[3]{\frac{1+\sqrt{5}}{2}}+\sqrt[3]{\frac{1-\sqrt{5}}{2}} \]

For every real number $x$, let $\lfloor x\rfloor$ denote the greatest integer not exceeding $x$, and let \[f(x)=\lfloor x\rfloor(2014^{x-\lfloor x\rfloor}-1).\] The set of all numbers $x$ such that $1\leq x<2014$ and $f(x)\leq 1$ is a union of disjoint intervals. What is the sum of the lengths of those intervals? $\textbf{(A) }1\qquad \textbf{(B) }\dfrac{\log 2015}{\log 2014}\qquad \textbf{(C) }\dfrac{\log 2014}{\log 2013}\qquad \textbf{(D) }\dfrac{2014}{2013}\qquad \textbf{(E) }2014^{\frac1{2014}}\qquad$

Let $\tau(n)$ denote the number of positive integer divisors of a positive integer $n$ (for example, $\tau(2022) = 8$). Given a polynomial $P(X)$ with integer coefficients, we define a sequence $a_1, a_2,\ldots$ of nonnegative integers by setting \[a_n =\begin{cases}\gcd(P(n), \tau (P(n)))&\text{if }P(n) > 0\\0 &\text{if }P(n) \leq0\end{cases}\] for each positive integer $n$. We then say the sequence [i]has limit infinity[/i] if every integer occurs in this sequence only finitely many times (possibly not at all). Does there exist a choice of $P(X)$ for which the sequence $a_1$, $a_2$, . . . has limit infinity? [i]Jovan Vuković[/i]

A [i]sum decomposition[/i] of the number 100 is given by a positive integer $n$ and $n$ positive integers $x_1<x_2<\cdots <x_n$ such that $x_1 + x_2 + \cdots + x_n = 100$. Determine the largest possible value of the product $x_1x_2\cdots x_n$, and $n$ , as $x_1, x_2,\dots, x_n$ vary among all sum decompositions of the number $100$.

Let $x,y,z$ be a positive real numbers. Prove that $$\frac {x}{\sqrt {x + y}} + \frac {y}{\sqrt {y + z}} + \frac { z}{\sqrt {z + x}}\geq\sqrt [4]{\frac {27(yz + zx + xy)}{4}}$$ [i](dektep)[/i]

Let \( n \) be a positive integer, and let \( A \) and \( B \) be \( n \times n \) matrices with real coefficients such that \[ ABBA - BAAB = A - B. \] (a) Prove that \( \text{Tr}(A) = \text{Tr}(B) \) and that \( \text{Tr}(A^2) = \text{Tr}(B^2) \). (b) If \(BA^2B= A^2B^2\) and \(AB^2A= B^2A^2\), prove that \( \det A = \det B \). Note: \( \text{Tr}(X) \) denotes the trace of \( X \), which is the sum of the elements on its main diagonal, and \( \det X \) denotes the determinant of \( X \).

Find all real numbers $ a,b,c,d$ such that \[ \left\{\begin{array}{cc}a \plus{} b \plus{} c \plus{} d \equal{} 20, \\ ab \plus{} ac \plus{} ad \plus{} bc \plus{} bd \plus{} cd \equal{} 150. \end{array} \right.\]

Given $a\in\mathbb{R}$ and a sequence $(u_n)$ defined by \[ \begin{cases} u_1=a\\ u_{n+1}=\frac{1}{2}+\sqrt{\frac{2n+3}{n+1}u_n+\frac{1}{4}}\quad\forall n\in\mathbb{N}^* \end{cases} \] a) Prove that $(u_n)$ is convergent sequence when $a=5$ and find the limit of the sequence in that case b) Find all $a$ such that the sequence $(u_n)$ is exist and is convergent.

The city of Atlantis is built on an island represented by $[ -1, 1]$, with skyline initially given by $f(x) = 1 - |x| $. The sea level is currently $y=0$, but due to global warming, it is rising at a rate of $0.01$ a year. For any position $-1 < x < 1$, while the building at $x$ is not completely submerged, then it is instantaneously being built upward at a rate of $r$ per year, where $r$ is the distance (along the $x$-axis) from this building to the nearest completely submerged building. How long will it be until Atlantis becomes completely submerged? [i]Proposed by Ethan Tan[/i]

There are real numbers $a, b, c, d$ such that for all $(x, y)$ satisfying $6y^2 = 2x^3 + 3x^2 + x$, if $x_1 = ax + b$ and $y_1 = cy + d$, then $y_1^2 = x_1^3 - 36x_1$. What is $a + b + c + d$?

Let $\mathbb{Z}_{\ge 0}$ be the set of non-negative integers and $\mathbb{R}^+$ be the set of positive real numbers. Let $f: \mathbb{Z}_{\ge 0}^2 \rightarrow \mathbb{R}^+$ be a function such that $f(0, k) = 2^k$ and $f(k, 0) = 1$ for all integers $k \ge 0$, and $$f(m, n) = \frac{2f(m-1, n) \cdot f(m, n-1)}{f(m-1, n)+f(m, n-1)}$$ for all integers $m, n \ge 1$. Prove that $f(99, 99)<1.99$. [i]Proposed by Navilarekallu Tejaswi[/i]

[u]Round 1[/u] [b]p1.[/b] Evaluate the sum $1-2+3-...-208+209-210$. [b]p2.[/b] Tony has $14$ beige socks, $15$ blue socks, $6$ brown socks, $8$ blond socks and $7$ black socks. If Tony picks socks out randomly, how many socks does he have to pick in order to guarantee a pair of blue socks? [b]p3.[/b] The price of an item is increased by $25\%$, followed by an additional increase of $20\%$. What is the overall percentage increase? [u]Round 2[/u] [b]p4.[/b] A lamp post is $20$ feet high. How many feet away from the base of the post should a person who is $5$ feet tall stand in order to cast an 8-foot shadow? [b]p5.[/b] How many positive even two-digit integers are there that do not contain the digits $0$, $1$, $2$, $3$ or $4$? [b]p6.[/b] In four years, Jack will be twice as old as Jill. Three years ago, Jack was three times as old as Jill. How old is Jack? [u]Round 3[/u] [b]p7.[/b] Let $x \Delta y = x y^2 -2y$. Compute $20\Delta 18$. [u]p8.[/u] A spider crawls $14$ feet up a wall. If Cheenu is standing $6$ feet from the wall, and is $6$ feet tall, how far must the spider jump to land on his head? [b]p9.[/b] There are fourteen dogs with long nails and twenty dogs with long fur. If there are thirty dogs in total, and three do not have long fur or long nails, how many dogs have both long hair and long nails? [u]Round 4[/u] [b]p10.[/b] Exactly $420$ non-overlapping square tiles, each $1$ inch by $1$ inch, tesselate a rectangle. What is the least possible number of inches in the perimeter of the rectangle? [b]p11.[/b] John drives $100$ miles at fifty miles per hour to see a cat. After he discovers that there was no cat, he drives back at a speed of twenty miles per hour. What was John’s average speed in the round trip? [b]p12.[/b] What percent of the numbers $1,2,3,...,1000$ are divisible by exactly one of the numbers $4$ and $5$? PS. You should use hide for answers. Rounds 5-8 have been posted [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c3h3165992p28809294]here [/url] and 9-12 [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c3h3166045p28809814]here[/url]. Collected [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h2760506p24143309]here[/url].

[list=a] [*]Determine all real numbers $x{}$ satisfying $\lfloor x\rfloor^2-x=-0.99$. [*]Prove that if $a\leqslant -1$, the equation $\lfloor x\rfloor^2-x=a$ does not have real solutions. [/list]

Find the sum of the $2007$ roots of \[(x-1)^{2007}+2(x-2)^{2006}+3(x-3)^{2005}+\cdots+2006(x-2006)^2+2007(x-2007).\]

For every integer $ n \ge 3$ and any given angle $ \alpha$ with $ 0 < \alpha < \pi$, let $ P_n(x) \equal{} x^n \sin\alpha \minus{} x \sin n\alpha \plus{} \sin(n \minus{} 1)\alpha$. (a) Prove that there is a unique polynomial of the form $ f(x) \equal{} x^2 \plus{} ax \plus{} b$ which divides $ P_n(x)$ for every $ n \ge 3$. (b) Prove that there is no polynomial $ g(x) \equal{} x \plus{} c$ which divides $ P_n(x)$ for every $ n \ge 3$.

Let $a$, $b$, and $c$ be three distinct one-digit numbers. What is the maximum value of the sum of the roots of the equation $(x-a)(x-b)+(x-b)(x-c)=0$? $ \textbf {(A) } 15 \qquad \textbf {(B) } 15.5 \qquad \textbf {(C) } 16 \qquad \textbf {(D) } 16.5 \qquad \textbf {(E) } 17 $

Find all polynomials $P_n(x)$ of the form $$P_n(x)=n!x^n+a_{n-1}x^{n-1}+\ldots+a_1x+(-1)^nn(n+1),$$with integer coefficients, such that its roots $x_1,x_2,\ldots,x_n$ satisfy $k\le x_k\le k+1$ for $k=1,2,\ldots,n$.

Let $P(x)$ be a polynomial of degree $2008$ with the following property: all roots of $P$ are real, and for all real $a$, if $P(a) = 0$ then $P(a+ 1) = 1$. Prove that P must have a repeated root.

There is a sequence with $a(2)=0$, $a(3)=1$ and $a(n)=a\left(\left\lfloor\dfrac n2\right\rfloor\right)+a\left(\left\lceil\dfrac n2\right\rceil\right)$ for $n\geq 4$. Find $a(2014)$. [Note that $\left\lfloor\dfrac n2\right\rfloor$ and $\left\lceil\dfrac n2\right\rceil$ denote the floor function (largest integer $\leq\tfrac n2$) and the ceiling function (smallest integer $\geq\tfrac n2$), respectively.]

Let $\Gamma$ a fixed circunference. Find all finite sets $S$ of points in $\Gamma$ such that: For each point $P\in \Gamma$, there exists a partition of $S$ in sets $A$ and $B$ ($A\cup B=S$, $A\cap B=\phi$) such that $\sum_{X\in A}PX = \sum_{Y\in B}PY$.