Let $a,b>1$ be two real numbers. Prove that $a>b$ if and only if there exists a function $f: (0,\infty)\to\mathbb{R}$ such that i) the function $g:\mathbb{R}\to\mathbb{R}$, $g(x)=f(a^x)-x$ is increasing; ii) the function $h:\mathbb{R}\to\mathbb{R}$, $h(x)=f(b^x)-x$ is decreasing.

Ivan and Krešo started to travel from Crikvenica to Kraljevica, whose distance is $15$ km, and at the same time Marko started from Kraljevica to Crikvenica. Each of them can go either walking at a speed of $5$ km/h, or by bicycle with the speed of $15$ km/h. Ivan started walking, and Krešo was driving a bicycle until meeting Marko. Then Krešo gave the bicycle to Marko and continued walking to Kraljevica, while Marko continued to Crikvenica by bicycle. When Marko met Ivan, he gave him the bicycle and continued on foot, so Ivan arrived at Kraljevica by bicycle. Find, for each of them, the time he spent in travel as well as the time spent in walking.

Tej writes $2, 3, ..., 101$ on a chalkboard. Every minute he erases two numbers from the board, $x$ and $y$, and writes $xy/(x+y-1)$. If Tej does this for $99$ minutes until only one number remains, what is its maximum possible value?

Let $n$ be a positive integer. Prove that $x^n -\frac{1}{x^{n}}$ is expressible as a polynomial in $x-\frac{1}{x}$ with real coefficients if and only if $n$ is odd.

During the van ride from the Grand Canyon to the beach, Michael asks his dad about the costs of renewable energy resources. "How much more does it really cost for a family like ours to switch entirely to renewable energy?" Jerry explains, "Part of that depends on where the family lives. In the Western states, solar energy pays off more than it does where we live in the Southeast. But as technology gets better, costs of producing more photovoltaic power go down, so in just a few years more people will have reasonably inexpensive options for switching to clearner power sources. Even now most families could switch to biomass for between $\$200$ and $\$1000$ per year. The energy comes from sawdust, switchgrass, and even landfill gas. We pay that premium ourselves, but some families operate on a tighter budget, or don't understand the alternatives yet." "Ew, landfill gas!" Alexis complains mockingly. Wanting to save her own energy, Alexis decides to take a nap. She falls asleep and dreams of walking around a $2-\text{D}$ coordinate grid, looking for a wormhole that she believes will transport her to the beach (bypassing the time spent in the family van). In her dream, Alexis finds herself holding a device that she recognizes as a $\textit{tricorder}$ from one of the old $\textit{Star Trek}$ t.v. series. The tricorder has a button labeled "wormhole" and when Alexis presses the button, a computerized voice from the tricorder announces, "You are at the origin. Distance to the wormhole is $2400$ units. Your wormhole distance allotment is $\textit{two}$."' Unsure as to how to reach, Alexis begins walking forward. As she walks, the tricorder displays at all times her distance from her starting point at the origin. When Alexis is $2400$ units from the origin, she again presses the "wormhole" buttom. The same computerized voice as before begins, "Distance to the origin is $2400$ units. Distance to the wormhole is $3840$ units. Your wormhole distance allotment is $\textit{two}$." Alexis begins to feel disoriented. She wonders what is means that her $\textit{wormhole distance allotment is two}$, and why that number didn't change as she pushed the button. She puts her hat down to mark her position, then wanders aroud a bit. The tricorder shows her two readings as she walks. The first she recognizes as her distance to the origin. The second reading clearly indicates her distance from the point where her hat lies - where she last pressed the button that gave her distance to the wormhole. Alexis picks up her hat and begins walking around. Eventually Alexis finds herself at a spot $2400$ units from the origin and $3840$ units from where she last pressed the button. Feeling hopeful, Alexis presses the tricorder's wormhole button again. Nothing happens. She presses it again, and again nothing happens. "Oh," she thinks, "my wormhole allotment was $\textit{two}$, and I used it up already!" Despair fills poor Alexis who isn't sure what a wormhole looks like or how she's supposed to find it. Then she takes matters into her own hands. Alexis sits down and scribbles some notes and realizes where the wormhole must be. Alexis gets up and runs straight from her "third position" to the wormhole. As she gets closer, she sees the wormhole, which looks oddly like a huge scoop of icecream. Alexis runs into the wormhole, then wakes up. How many units did Alexis run from her third position to the wormhole?

Find all functions $f : R \to R$ that satisfy $f((x-y)^2)= f(x)^2 -2x f(y)+y^2$ for all $x,y \in R$

Derek and Jacob have a cake in the shape a rectangle with dimensions $14$ inches by $9$ inches. They make a deal to split it: Derek takes home the portion of the cake that is less than one inch from the border, while Jacob takes home the remainder of the cake. Let $D : J$ be the ratio of the amount of cake Derek took to the amount of cake Jacob took, where $D$ and $J$ are relatively prime positive integers. Find $D + J$.

[b]p1.[/b] Insert "$+$" signs between some of the digits in the following sequence to obtain correct equality: $$1\,\,\,\, 2\,\,\,\, 3\,\,\,\, 4\,\,\,\,5\,\,\,\, 6\,\,\,\, 7 = 100$$ [b]p2.[/b] A square is tiled by smaller squares as shown in the figure. Find the area of the black square in the middle if the perimeter of the big square $ABCD$ is $40$ cm. [img]https://cdn.artofproblemsolving.com/attachments/8/c/d54925cba07f63ec8578048f46e1e730cb8df3.png[/img] [b]p3.[/b] Jack made $3$ quarts of fruit drink from orange and apple juice. $\frac25$ of his drink is orange juice and the rest is apple juice. Nick prefers more orange juice in the drink. How much orange juice should he add to the drink to obtain a drink composed of $\frac35$ of orange juice? [b]p4.[/b] A train moving at $55$ miles per hour meets and is passed by a train moving moving in the opposite direction at $35$ miles per hour. A passenger in the first train sees that the second train takes $8$ seconds to pass him. How long is the second train? [b]p5.[/b] It is easy to arrange $16$ checkers in $10$ rows of $4$ checkers each, but harder to arrange $9$ checkers in $10$ rows of $3$ checkers each. Do both. [b]p6.[/b] Every human that lived on Earth exchanged some number of handshakes with other humans. Show that the number of people that made an odd number of handshakes is even. PS. You should use hide for answers. Collected [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h2760506p24143309]here[/url].

The positive real numbers $a, b, c, d$ satisfy the equality $$\left(\frac{1}{a}+ \frac{1}{b}\right) \left(\frac{1}{c}+ \frac{1}{d}\right) + \frac{1}{ab}+ \frac{1}{cd} = \frac{6}{\sqrt{abcd}}$$ Find the value of the $$\frac{a^2+ac+c^2}{b^2-bd+d^2}$$

Positive real numbers $a, b, c$ satisfy $abc = 1$. Prove that $$\frac{a}{1+b}+\frac{b}{1+c}+\frac{c}{1+a} \ge \frac32$$

Let $A$ be the closed region bounded by the following three lines in the $xy$ plane: $x=1, y=0$ and $y=t(2x-t)$, where $0<t<1$. Prove that the area of any triangle inside the region $A$, with two vertices $P(t,t^2)$ and $Q(1,0)$, does not exceed $\frac{1}{4}.$

Let $n$ be a positive integer. Calculate the sum $\sum_{k=1}^n\ \ {\sum_{1\le i_1 < \ldots < i_k\le n}^{}{\frac {2^k}{(i_1 + 1)(i_2 + 1)\ldots (i_k + 1)}}}$

Determine the polynomial P(X) satisfying simoultaneously the conditions: a) The remainder obtained when dividing P(X) to the polynomial X^3 −2 is equal to the fourth power of quotient. b) P(−2) + P(2) = −34.

Let $a, b, c$ be the sides of a triangle with $abc = 1$. Prove that $$\frac{\sqrt{b + c -a}}{a}+\frac{\sqrt{c + a - b}}{b}+\frac{\sqrt{a + b - c}}{c} \ge a + b + c$$

Let $ P $ be a point in the interior of a triangle $ ABC $, and let $ D, E, F $ be the point of intersection of the line $ AP $ and the side $ BC $ of the triangle, of the line $ BP $ and the side $ CA $, and of the line $ CP $ and the side $ AB $, respectively. Prove that the area of the triangle $ ABC $ must be $ 6 $ if the area of each of the triangles $ PFA, PDB $ and $ PEC $ is $ 1 $.

Define the polymonial sequence $\left \{ f_n\left ( x \right ) \right \}_{n\ge 1}$ with $f_1\left ( x \right )=1$, $$f_{2n}\left ( x \right )=xf_n\left ( x \right ), \; f_{2n+1}\left ( x \right ) = f_n\left ( x \right )+ f_{n+1} \left ( x \right ), \; n\ge 1.$$ Look for all the rational number $a$ which is a root of certain $f_n\left ( x \right ).$

For some $ p$, the equation $ x^3 \plus{} px^2 \plus{} 3x \minus{} 10 \equal{} 0$ has three real solutions $ a,b,c$ such that $ c \minus{} b \equal{} b \minus{} a > 0$. Determine $ a,b,c,$ and $ p$.

[b]p1.[/b] What is $6\times 7 + 4 \times 7 + 6\times 3 + 4\times 3$? [b]p2.[/b] How many integers $n$ have exactly $\sqrt{n}$ factors? [b]p3.[/b] A triangle has distinct angles $3x+10$, $2x+20$, and $x+30$. What is the value of $x$? [b]p4.[/b] If $4$ people of the Math Club are randomly chosen to be captains, and Henry is one of the $30$ people eligible to be chosen, what is the probability that he is not chosen to be captain? [b]p5.[/b] $a, b, c, d$ is an arithmetic sequence with difference $x$ such that $a, c, d$ is a geometric sequence. If $b$ is $12$, what is $x$? (Note: the difference of an aritmetic sequence can be positive or negative, but not $0$) [b]p6.[/b] What is the smallest positive integer that contains only $0$s and $5$s that is a multiple of $24$. [b]p7.[/b] If $ABC$ is a triangle with side lengths $13$, $14$, and $15$, what is the area of the triangle made by connecting the points at the midpoints of its sides? [b]p8.[/b] How many ways are there to order the numbers $1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8$ such that $1$ and $8$ are not adjacent? [b]p9.[/b] Find all ordered triples of nonnegative integers $(x, y, z)$ such that $x + y + z = xyz$. [b]p10.[/b] Noah inscribes equilateral triangle $ABC$ with area $\sqrt3$ in a cricle. If $BR$ is a diameter of the circle, then what is the arc length of Noah's $ARC$? [b]p11.[/b] Today, $4/12/14$, is a palindromic date, because the number without slashes $41214$ is a palindrome. What is the last palindromic date before the year $3000$? [b]p12.[/b] Every other vertex of a regular hexagon is connected to form an equilateral triangle. What is the ratio of the area of the triangle to that of the hexagon? [b]p13.[/b] How many ways are there to pick four cards from a deck, none of which are the same suit or number as another, if order is not important? [b]p14.[/b] Find all functions $f$ from $R \to R$ such that $f(x + y) + f(x - y) = x^2 + y^2$. [b]p15.[/b] What are the last four digits of $1(1!) + 2(2!) + 3(3!) + ... + 2013(2013!)$/ [b]p16.[/b] In how many distinct ways can a regular octagon be divided up into $6$ non-overlapping triangles? [b]p17.[/b] Find the sum of the solutions to the equation $\frac{1}{x-3} + \frac{1}{x-5} + \frac{1}{x-7} + \frac{1}{x-9} = 2014$ . [b]p18.[/b] How many integers $n$ have the property that $(n+1)(n+2)(n+3)(n+4)$ is a perfect square of an integer? [b]p19.[/b] A quadrilateral is inscribed in a unit circle, and another one is circumscribed. What is the minimum possible area in between the two quadrilaterals? [b]p20.[/b] In blindfolded solitary tic-tac-toe, a player starts with a blank $3$-by-$3$ tic-tac-toe board. On each turn, he randomly places an "$X$" in one of the open spaces on the board. The game ends when the player gets $3$ $X$s in a row, in a column, or in a diagonal as per normal tic-tac-toe rules. (Note that only $X$s are used, not $O$s). What fraction of games will run the maximum $7$ amount of moves? PS. You should use hide for answers. Collected [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h2760506p24143309]here[/url].

Let $ a\equal{}\sqrt[1992]{1992}$. Which number is greater \[ \underbrace{a^{a^{a^{\ldots^{a}}}}}_{1992}\quad\text{or}\quad 1992? \]

A pair of polynomials \(F(x, y)\) and \(G(x, y)\) with integer coefficients is called $\emph{important}$ if from the divisibility of both differences \(F(a, b) - F(c, d)\) and \(G(a, b) - G(c, d)\) by $100$, it follows that both \(a - c\) and \(b - d\) are divisible by 100. Does there exist such an important pair of polynomials \(P(x, y)\), \(Q(x, y)\), such that the pair \(P(x, y) - xy\) and \(Q(x, y) + xy\) is also important?

From point $ O $ a car starts on a straight road and travels with constant speed $ v $. A cyclist who is located at a distance $ a $ from point $ O $ and at a distance $ b $ from the road wants to deliver a letter to this car. What is the minimum speed a cyclist should ride to reach his goal?

By placing parentheses in the expression $1:2:3$ we can get two different number values: $(1 : 2) : 3 = \frac16$ and $1 : (2 : 3) = \frac32$. Now brackets are placed in the expression $1:2:3:4:5:6:7:8$. Multiple bracket pairs are allowed, whether or not in nest form. (a) What is the largest numerical value we can get, and what is the smallest? (b) How many different number values can be obtained?

One pupil has $7$ cards of paper. He takes a few of them and tears each in $7$ pieces. Then, he choses a few of the pieces of paper that he has and tears it again in $7$ pieces. He continues the same procedure many times with the pieces he has every time. Will he be able to have sometime $2009$ pieces of paper?

Knowing that the polynomials $$2x^5 - 13x^4 + 4x^3 + 61x^2 + 20x-25$$ $$x^5 -4x^4 - 13x^3 + 28x^2 + 85x+50$$ have two common double roots, determine all their roots.

For how many ordered pairs $(a,b)$ of integers does the polynomial $x^3+ax^2+bx+6$ have $3$ distinct integer roots? $\textbf{(A)}\ 5 \qquad\textbf{(B)}\ 6 \qquad\textbf{(C)}\ 8 \qquad\textbf{(D)}\ 7 \qquad\textbf{(E)}\ 4$