[b]p1.[/b] Let $x_1 = 0$, $x_2 = 1/2$ and for $n >2$, let $x_n$ be the average of $x_{n-1}$ and $x_{n-2}$. Find a formula for $a_n = x_{n+1} - x_{n}$, $n = 1, 2, 3, \dots$. Justify your answer. [b]p2.[/b] Given a triangle $ABC$. Let $h_a, h_b, h_c$ be the altitudes to its sides $a, b, c,$ respectively. Prove: $\frac{1}{h_a}+\frac{1}{h_b}>\frac{1}{h_c}$ Is it possible to construct a triangle with altitudes $7$, $11$, and $20$? Justify your answer. [b]p3.[/b] Does there exist a polynomial $P(x)$ with integer coefficients such that $P(0) = 1$, $P(2) = 3$ and $P(4) = 9$? Justify your answer. [b]p4.[/b] Prove that if $\cos \theta$ is rational and $n$ is an integer, then $\cos n\theta$ is rational. Let $\alpha=\frac{1}{2010}$. Is $\cos \alpha $ rational ? Justify your answer. [b]p5.[/b] Let function $f(x)$ be defined as $f(x) = x^2 + bx + c$, where $b, c$ are real numbers. (A) Evaluate $f(1) -2f(5) + f(9)$ . (B) Determine all pairs $(b, c)$ such that $|f(x)| \le 8$ for all $x$ in the interval $[1, 9]$. PS. You should use hide for answers. Collected [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h2760506p24143309]here[/url].

If $x$ and $y$ are real numbers such that $x^{2013}+y^{2013}>x^{2012}+y^{2012}$, prove that $x^{2014}+y^{2014}>x^{2013}+y^{2013}$

Determine all the functions $f : \mathbb{R} \to \mathbb{R}$ such that \[ f(x^2 + f(y)) = f(f(x)) + f(y^2) + 2f(xy) \] for all real numbers $x$ and $y$.

Find the number of permutations $x_1, x_2, x_3, x_4, x_5, x_6, x_7, x_8$ of the integers $-3, -2, -1, 0,1,2,3,4$ that satisfy the chain of inequalities $$x_1x_2\le x_2x_3\le x_3x_4\le x_4x_5\le x_5x_6\le x_6x_7\le x_7x_8.$$

Let $f : N \to N$ be a function which satisfies $f(x)+ f(x+2) \le 2 f(x+1)$ for any $x \in N$. Prove that there exists a line in the coordinate plane containing infinitely many points of the form $(n, f(n)), n \in N$.

$2024$ positive real numbers with sum $1$ are arranged on a circle. It is known that any two adjacent numbers differ at least in $2$ times. For each pair of adjacent numbers, the smaller one was subtracted from the larger one, and then all these differences were added together. What is the smallest possible value of this resulting sum? [i]Proposed by Oleksiy Masalitin[/i]

Let $Q(x)$ be a polynomial with integer coefficients. Prove that there exists a polynomial $P(x)$ with integer coefficients such that for every integer $n\ge\deg{Q}$, \[\sum_{i=0}^{n}\frac{!i P(i)}{i!(n-i)!} = Q(n),\]where $!i$ denotes the number of derangements (permutations with no fixed points) of $1,2,\ldots,i$. [i]Calvin Deng.[/i]

Consider the sytem of equations \[ a_{11}x_1+a_{12}x_2+a_{13}x_3 = 0 \]\[a_{21}x_1+a_{22}x_2+a_{23}x_3 =0\]\[a_{31}x_1+a_{32}x_2+a_{33}x_3 = 0 \] with unknowns $x_1, x_2, x_3$. The coefficients satisfy the conditions: a) $a_{11}, a_{22}, a_{33}$ are positive numbers; b) the remaining coefficients are negative numbers; c) in each equation, the sum ofthe coefficients is positive. Prove that the given system has only the solution $x_1=x_2=x_3=0$.

A polynomial is called Fermat polynomial if it can be written as the sum of squares of two polynomials with integer coefficients. Suppose that $f(x)$ is a Fermat polynomial such that $f(0)=1000$. Prove that $f(x)+2x$ is not a fermat polynomial

Is it possible to have numbers $1, 2,..., 10$ put in a row in some order so that each of them, starting from the second, differs from the previous one by a whole number of percent?

Let $\mathcal{A}$ denote the set of all polynomials in three variables $x, y, z$ with integer coefficients. Let $\mathcal{B}$ denote the subset of $\mathcal{A}$ formed by all polynomials which can be expressed as \begin{align*} (x + y + z)P(x, y, z) + (xy + yz + zx)Q(x, y, z) + xyzR(x, y, z) \end{align*} with $P, Q, R \in \mathcal{A}$. Find the smallest non-negative integer $n$ such that $x^i y^j z^k \in \mathcal{B}$ for all non-negative integers $i, j, k$ satisfying $i + j + k \geq n$.

Ivan and Kolya play a game, Ivan starts. Initially, the polynomial $x-1$ is written of the blackboard. On one move, the player deletes the current polynomial $f(x)$ and replaces it with $ax^{n+1}-f(-x)-2$, where $\deg(f)=n$ and $a$ is a real root of $f$. The player who writes a polynomial which does not have real roots loses. Can Ivan beat Kolya?

[b]p1.[/b] Sujay sees a shooting star go across the night sky, and took a picture of it. The shooting star consists of a star body, which is bounded by four quarter-circle arcs, and a triangular tail. Suppose $AB = 2$, $AC = 4$. Let the area of the shooting star be $X$. If $6X = a-b\pi$ for positive integers $a, b$, find $a + b$. [img]https://cdn.artofproblemsolving.com/attachments/0/f/f9c9ff23416565760df225c133330e795b9076.png[/img] [b]p2.[/b] Assuming that each distinct arrangement of the letters in $DISCUSSIONS$ is equally likely to occur, what is the probability that a random arrangement of the letters in $DISCUSSIONS$ has all the $S$’s together? [b]p3.[/b] Evaluate $$\frac{(1 + 2022)(1 + 2022^2)(1 + 2022^4) ... (1 + 2022^{2^{2022}})}{1 + 2022 + 2022^2 + ... + 2022^{2^{2023}-1}} .$$ [b]p4.[/b] Dr. Kraines has $27$ unit cubes, each of which has one side painted red while the other five are white. If he assembles his cubes into one $3 \times 3 \times 3$ cube by placing each unit cube in a random orientation, what is the probability that the entire surface of the cube will be white, with no red faces visible? If the answer is $2^a3^b5^c$ for integers $a$, $b$, $c$, find $|a + b + c|$. [b]p5.[/b] Let S be a subset of $\{1, 2, 3, ... , 1000, 1001\}$ such that no two elements of $S$ have a difference of $4$ or $7$. What is the largest number of elements $S$ can have? [b]p6.[/b] George writes the number $1$. At each iteration, he removes the number $x$ written and instead writes either $4x+1$ or $8x+1$. He does this until $x > 1000$, after which the game ends. What is the minimum possible value of the last number George writes? [b]p7.[/b] List all positive integer ordered pairs $(a, b)$ satisfying $a^4 + 4b^4 = 281 \cdot 61$. [b]p8.[/b] Karthik the farmer is trying to protect his crops from a wildfire. Karthik’s land is a $5 \times 6$ rectangle divided into $30$ smaller square plots. The $5$ plots on the left edge contain fire, the $5$ plots on the right edge contain blueberry trees, and the other $5 \times 4$ plots of land contain banana bushes. Fire will repeatedly spread to all squares with bushes or trees that share a side with a square with fire. How many ways can Karthik replace $5$ of his $20$ plots of banana bushes with firebreaks so that fire will not consume any of his prized blueberry trees? [b]p9.[/b] Find $a_0 \in R$ such that the sequence $\{a_n\}^{\infty}_{n=0}$ defined by $a_{n+1} = -3a_n + 2^n$ is strictly increasing. [b]p10.[/b] Jonathan is playing with his life savings. He lines up a penny, nickel, dime, quarter, and half-dollar from left to right. At each step, Jonathan takes the leftmost coin at position $1$ and uniformly chooses a position $2 \le k \le 5$. He then moves the coin to position $k$, shifting all coins at positions $2$ through $k$ leftward. What is the expected number of steps it takes for the half-dollar to leave and subsequently return to position $5$? PS. You had better use hide for answers. Collected [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h2760506p24143309]here[/url].

Let $a, b$ and $c$ be real numbers such that $\frac{a}{b + c}+\frac{b}{c + a}+\frac{c}{a + b}= 1$. Prove that $\frac{a^2}{b + c}+\frac{b^2}{c + a}+\frac{c^2}{a + b}= 0$.

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*}

Determine the number of functions $f: \mathbb{N} \to \mathbb{N}$ and $g: \mathbb{N} \to \mathbb{N}$ such that for all $n \in \mathbb{N}$: \[ f(g(n)) = n + 2015, \] \[ g(f(n)) = n^2 + 2015. \]

Suppose $P(x,y)$ is a homogenous non-constant polynomial with real coefficients such that $P(\sin t, \cos t) = 1$ for all real $t$. Prove that $P(x,y) = (x^2+y^2)^k$ for some positive integer $k$. (A polynomial $A(x,y)$ with real coefficients and having a degree of $n$ is homogenous if it is the sum of $a_ix^iy^{n-i}$ for some real number $a_i$, for all integer $0 \le i \le n$.)

[b]p1.[/b] Archimedes, Euclid, Fermat, and Gauss had a math competition. Archimedes said, “I did not finish $1$st or $4$th.” Euclid said, “I did not finish $4$th.” Fermat said, “I finished 1st.” Gauss said, “I finished $4$th.” There were no ties in the competition, and exactly three of the mathematicians told the truth. Who finished first and who finished last? Justify your answers. [b]p2.[/b] Find the area of the set in the xy-plane defined by $x^2 - 2|x| + y^2 \le 0$. Justify your answer. [b]p3.[/b] There is a collection of $2004$ circular discs (not necessarily of the same radius) in the plane. The total area covered by the discs is $1$ square meter. Show that there is a subcollection $S$ of discs such that the discs in S are non-overlapping and the total area of the discs in $S$ is at least $1/9$ square meter. [b]p4.[/b] Let $S$ be the set of all $2004$-digit integers (in base $10$) all of whose digits lie in the set $\{1, 2, 3, 4\}$. (For example, $12341234...1234$ is in $S$.) Let $n_0$ be the number of $s \in S$ such that $s$ is a multiple of $3$, let $n_1$ be the number of $s \in S$ such that $s$ is one more than a multiple of $3$, and let $n_2$ be the number of $s \in S$ such that $s$ is two more than a multiple of $3$. Determine which of $n_0$, $n_1$, $n_2$ is largest and which is smallest (and if there are any equalities). Justify your answers. [b]p5.[/b] There are $6$ members on the Math Competition Committee. The problems are kept in a safe. There are $\ell$ locks on the safe and there are $k$ keys, several for each lock. The safe does not open unless all of the locks are unlocked, and each key works on exactly one lock. The keys should be distributed to the $6$ members of the committee so that each group of $4$ members has enough keys to open all of the $\ell$ locks. However, no group of $3$ members should be able to open all of the $\ell$ locks. (a) Show that this is possible with $\ell = 20$ locks and $k = 60$ keys. That is, it is possible to use $20$ locks and to choose and distribute 60 keys in such a way that every group of $4$ can open the safe, but no group of $3$ can open the safe. (b) Show that we always must have $\ell \ge 20$ and $k\ge60$. PS. You should use hide for answers. Collected [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h2760506p24143309]here[/url].

The product of Albrecht’s three favorite numbers is $2022$, and if we add one to each number, their product will be $1514$. What is the sum of their squares, if we know their sum is $0$?

If $a,b,c>0$, what is the smallest possible value of $ \left\lfloor \dfrac {a+b}{c} \right\rfloor + \left\lfloor \dfrac {b+c}{a} \right\rfloor + \left\lfloor \dfrac {c+a}{b} \right\rfloor $? (Note that $ \lfloor x \rfloor $ denotes the greatest integer less than or equal to $x$.)

Let $n$ be a positive integer. Let $x_1, x_2, \dots, x_n > 1$ be real numbers whose product is $n+1$. Prove that \[\left(\frac{1}{1^2(x_1-1)}+1\right)\left(\frac{1}{2^2(x_2-1)}+1\right)\cdots\left(\frac{1}{n^2(x_n-1)}+1\right)\geq n+1\] and find for which values equality holds.

Show that \[ (2a-1) \sin x + (1-a) \sin(1-a)x \geq 0 \] for $0 \leq a \leq 1$ and $0 \leq x \leq \pi$.

Let $a_n = 1 + \frac{2}{n} - \frac{2}{n^3} - \frac{1}{n^4}$. For which smallest positive integer $n$ does the value of $P_n = a_2a_3a_4 \ldots a_n$ exceed $100$?

Prove that $\sqrt{x}+\sqrt{y}+\sqrt{xy}$ is equal to$ \sqrt{x}+\sqrt{y+xy+2y\sqrt{x}}$ and compare the numbers $\sqrt{3}+\sqrt{10+2\sqrt{3}}$ and $\sqrt{5+\sqrt{22}}+\sqrt{8- \sqrt{22}+2\sqrt{15-3\sqrt{22}}}$.

Three positive real numbers $a,b,c$ are such that $a^2+5b^2+4c^2-4ab-4bc=0$. Can $a,b,c$ be the lengths of te sides of a triangle? Justify your answer.