Given two non-constant polynomials $P(x),Q(x)$ with real coefficients. For a real number $a$, we define $$P_a= \{z \in C : P(z) = a\}, Q_a =\{z \in C : Q(z) = a\}$$ Denote by $K$ the set of real numbers $a$ such that $P_a = Q_a$. Suppose that the set $K$ contains at least two elements, prove that $P(x) = Q(x)$.

Mykhailo chose three distinct real numbers \( a, b, c \) and wrote the following numbers on the board: \[ a + b, \quad b + c, \quad c + a, \quad ab, \quad bc, \quad ca. \]What is the minimum possible number of distinct numbers that can be written on the board? [i]Proposed by Anton Trygub[/i]

Let $ f(0) \equal{} f(1) \equal{} 0$ and \[ f(n\plus{}2) \equal{} 4^{n\plus{}2} \cdot f(n\plus{}1) \minus{} 16^{n\plus{}1} \cdot f(n) \plus{} n \cdot 2^{n^2}, \quad n \equal{} 0, 1, 2, \ldots\] Show that the numbers $ f(1989), f(1990), f(1991)$ are divisible by $ 13.$

Find the integers $a \ne 0, b$ and $c$ such that $x = 2 +\sqrt3$ would be a solution of the quadratic equation $ax^2 + bx + c = 0$.

Let $Q$ be a quadratic polynomial with a unique zero. Suppose $Q(12)=Q(16)$ and $Q(20)=24$. Compute $Q(28)$.

Let $p$ and $q$ be distinct positive integers. Prove that at least one of the equations $x^2+px+q=0$ and $x^2+qx+p=0$ has a real root.

The equation $$(x-1)(x-2)\cdots(x-2016)=(x-1)(x-2)\cdots (x-2016)$$ is written on the board, with $2016$ linear factors on each side. What is the least possible value of $k$ for which it is possible to erase exactly $k$ of these $4032$ linear factors so that at least one factor remains on each side and the resulting equation has no real solutions?

Among all the numbers representable as $36^k - 5^l$ ($k$ and $l$ are natural numbers) find the smallest. Prove that it is really the smallest.

Consider functions $f$ from the whole numbers (non-negative integers) to the whole numbers that have the following properties: $\bullet$ For all $x$ and $y$, $f(xy) = f(x)f(y)$, $\bullet$ $f(30) = 1$, and $\bullet$ for any $n$ whose last digit is $7$, $f(n) = 1$. Obviously, the function whose value at $n$ is $ 1$ for all $n$ is one such function. Are there any others? If not, why not, and if so, what are they?

Let $f(x)$ be a cubic polynomial with roots $x_1 , x_2$ and $x_3.$ Assume that $f(2x)$ is divisible by $f'(x)$ and compute the ratio $x_1 : x_2: x_3 .$

Let $N$ be the set of all non-negative integers and for each $n \in N$ denote $n'= n +1$. The function $A : N^3 \to N$ is defined as follows: (i) $A(0, m, n) = m'$ for all $m, n \in N$ (ii) $A(k', 0, n) =\left\{ \begin{array}{ll} n & if \, \, k = 0 \\ 0 & if \, \,k = 1, \\ 1 & if \, \, k > 1 \end{array} \right.$ for all $k, n \in N$ (iii) $A(k', m', n) = A(k, A(k',m,n), n)$ for all $k,m, n \in N$. Compute $A(5, 3, 2)$. (H. Nestra)

Let $n$ be a natural number. Find all solutions $x$ of the system of equations $$\left\{\begin{matrix} sinx+cosx=\frac{\sqrt{n}}{2}\\tg\frac{x}{2}=\frac{\sqrt{n}-2}{3}\end{matrix}\right.$$ On interval $\left[0,\frac{\pi}{4}\right).$

Box $A$ contains black balls and box $B$ contains white balls. Take a certain number of balls from $A$ and place them in $B$. Then take the same number of balls from $B$ and place them in $A$. Is the number of white balls in $A$ then greater, equal to, or less than the number of black balls in $B$?

[u]Round 1 [/u] [b]p1.[/b] In the convex quadrilateral $ABCD$ with diagonals $AC$ and $BD$, you know that angle $BAC$ is congruent to angle $CBD$, and that angle $ACD$ is congruent to angle $ADB$. Show that angle $ABC$ is congruent to angle $ADC$. [img]https://cdn.artofproblemsolving.com/attachments/5/d/41cd120813d5541dc73c5d4a6c86cc82747fcc.png[/img] [b]p2.[/b] In how many different ways can you place $12$ chips in the squares of a $4 \times 4$ chessboard so that (a) there is at most one chip in each square, and (b) every row and every column contains exactly three chips. [b]p3.[/b] Students from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were split into pairs consisting of one student from each house. The pairs of students were sent to Honeydukes to get candy for Father's Day. For each pair of students, either the Hufflepuff student brought back twice as many pieces of candy as the Ravenclaw student or the Ravenclaw student brought back twice as many pieces of candy as the Hufflepuff student. When they returned, Professor Trelawney determined that the students had brought back a total of $1000$ pieces of candy. Could she have possibly been right? Why or why not? Assume that candy only comes in whole pieces (cannot be divided into parts). [b]p4.[/b] While you are on a hike across Deception Pass, you encounter an evil troll, who will not let you across the bridge until you solve the following puzzle. There are six stones, two colored red, two colored yellow, and two colored green. Aside from their colors, all six stones look and feel exactly the same. Unfortunately, in each colored pair, one stone is slightly heavier than the other. Each of the lighter stones has the same weight, and each of the heavier stones has the same weight. Using a balance scale to make TWO measurements, decide which stone of each color is the lighter one. [b]p5.[/b] Alex, Bob and Chad are playing a table tennis tournament. During each game, two boys are playing each other and one is resting. In the next game the boy who lost a game goes to rest, and the boy who was resting plays the winner. By the end of tournament, Alex played a total of $10$ games, Bob played $15$ games, and Chad played $17$ games. Who lost the second game? [u]Round 2 [/u] [b]p6.[/b] Consider a set of finitely many points on the plane such that if we choose any three points $A,B,C$ from the set, then the area of the triangle $ABC$ is less than $1$. Show that all of these points can be covered by a triangle whose area is less than $4$. [b]p7.[/b] A palindrome is a number that is the same when read forward and backward. For example, $1771$ and $23903030932$ are palindromes. Can the number obtained by writing the numbers from $1$ to $n$ in order be a palindrome for some $n > 1$ ? (For example, if $n = 11$, the number obtained is $1234567891011$, which is not a palindrome.) PS. You should use hide for answers. Collected [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h2760506p24143309]here[/url].

[u]Round 1[/u] [b]p1.[/b] Nineteen witches, all of different heights, stand in a circle around a campfire. Each witch says whether she is taller than both of her neighbors, shorter than both, or in-between. Exactly three said “I am taller.” How many said “I am in-between”? [b]p2.[/b] Alex is writing a sequence of $A$’s and $B$’s on a chalkboard. Any $20$ consecutive letters must have an equal number of $A$’s and $B$’s, but any 22 consecutive letters must have a different number of $A$’s and $B$’s. What is the length of the longest sequence Alex can write?. [b]p3.[/b] A police officer patrols a town whose map is shown. The officer must walk down every street segment at least once and return to the starting point, only changing direction at intersections and corners. It takes the officer one minute to walk each segment. What is the fastest the officer can complete a patrol? [img]https://cdn.artofproblemsolving.com/attachments/a/3/78814b37318adb116466ede7066b0d99d6c64d.png[/img] [b]p4.[/b] A zebra is a new chess piece that jumps in the shape of an “L” to a location three squares away in one direction and two squares away in a perpendicular direction. The picture shows all the moves a zebra can make from its given position. Is it possible for a zebra to make a sequence of $64$ moves on an $8\times 8$ chessboard so that it visits each square exactly once and returns to its starting position? [img]https://cdn.artofproblemsolving.com/attachments/2/d/01a8af0214a2400b279816fc5f6c039320e816.png[/img] [b]p5.[/b] Ann places the integers $1, 2,..., 100$ in a $10 \times 10$ grid, however she wants. In each round, Bob picks a row or column, and Ann sorts it from lowest to highest (left-to-right for rows; top-to-bottom for columns). However, Bob never sees the grid and gets no information from Ann. After eleven rounds, Bob must name a single cell that is guaranteed to contain a number that is at least $30$ and no more than $71$. Can he find a strategy to do this, no matter how Ann originally arranged the numbers? [u]Round 2[/u] [b]p6.[/b] Evelyn and Odette are playing a game with a deck of $101$ cards numbered $1$ through $101$. At the start of the game the deck is split, with Evelyn taking all the even cards and Odette taking all the odd cards. Each shuffles her cards. On every move, each player takes the top card from her deck and places it on a table. The player whose number is higher takes both cards from the table and adds them to the bottom of her deck, first the opponent’s card, then her own. The first player to run out of cards loses. Card $101$ was played against card $2$ on the $10$th move. Prove that this game will never end. [img]https://cdn.artofproblemsolving.com/attachments/8/1/aa16fe1fb4a30d5b9e89ac53bdae0d1bdf20b0.png[/img] [b]p7.[/b] The Vogon spaceship Tempest is descending on planet Earth. It will land on five adjacent buildings within a $10 \times 10$ grid, crushing any teacups on roofs of buildings within a $5 \times 1$ length of blocks (vertically or horizontally). As Commander of the Space Force, you can place any number of teacups on rooftops in advance. When the ship lands, you will hear how many teacups the spaceship breaks, but not where they were. (In the figure, you would hear $4$ cups break.) What is the smallest number of teacups you need to place to ensure you can identify at least one building the spaceship landed on? [img]https://cdn.artofproblemsolving.com/attachments/8/7/2a48592b371bba282303e60b4ff38f42de3551.png[/img] PS. You should use hide for answers. Collected [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h2760506p24143309]here[/url].

Determine if there exists a set $S$ of $5783$ different real numbers with the following property: For every $a,b\in S$ (not necessarily distinct) there are $c\neq d$ in $S$ so that $a\cdot b=c+d$.

Solve the equation: $x^2+2xcos(x-y)+1=0$

For a positive integer $n$, define a function $ f_n (x) $ at an interval $ [ 0, n+1 ] $ as \[ f_n (x) = ( \sum_{i=1} ^ {n} | x-i | )^2 - \sum_{i=1} ^{n} (x-i)^2 . \] Let $ a_n $ be the minimum value of $f_n (x) $. Find the value of \[ \sum_{n=1}^{11} (-1)^{n+1} a_n . \]

A function f has the following property: If $k > 1, j > 1$, and $\gcd(k, j) = m$, then $f(kj) = f(m) (f\left(\frac km\right) + f\left(\frac jm\right))$. What values can $f(1984)$ and $f(1985)$ take?

Find the greatest value and the least value of $x+y$ where $x,y$ are real numbers, with $x\ge -2$, $y\ge -3$ and $$x-2\sqrt{x+2}=2\sqrt{y+3}-y$$

We denote by $\mathbb{R}^\plus{}$ the set of all positive real numbers. Find all functions $f: \mathbb R^ \plus{} \rightarrow\mathbb R^ \plus{}$ which have the property: \[f(x)f(y)\equal{}2f(x\plus{}yf(x))\] for all positive real numbers $x$ and $y$. [i]Proposed by Nikolai Nikolov, Bulgaria[/i]

Two numbers are written on each vertex of a convex $100$-gon. Prove that it is possible to remove a number from each vertex so that the remaining numbers on any two adjacent vertices are different. [i]F. Petrov [/i]

We say that a sextuple of positive real numbers $(a_1, a_2, a_3, b_1, b_2, b_3)$ is $\textit{phika}$ if $a_1 + a_2 + a_3 = b_1 + b_2 + b_3 = 1$. (a) Prove that there exists a $\textit{phika}$ sextuple $(a_1, a_2, a_3, b_1, b_2, b_3)$ such that: $$a_1(\sqrt{b_1} + a_2) + a_2(\sqrt{b_2} + a_3) + a_3(\sqrt{b_3} + a_1) > 1 - \frac{1}{2022^{2022}}$$ (b) Prove that for every $\textit{phika}$ sextuple $(a_1, a_2, a_3, b_1, b_2, b_3)$, we have: $$a_1(\sqrt{b_1} + a_2) + a_2(\sqrt{b_2} + a_3) + a_3(\sqrt{b_3} + a_1) < 1$$

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 $\{a_n\} \rightarrow 0.$

Find all functions $ f: \mathbb{R}^{ \plus{} }\to\mathbb{R}^{ \plus{} }$ satisfying $ f\left(x \plus{} f\left(y\right)\right) \equal{} f\left(x \plus{} y\right) \plus{} f\left(y\right)$ for all pairs of positive reals $ x$ and $ y$. Here, $ \mathbb{R}^{ \plus{} }$ denotes the set of all positive reals. [i]Proposed by Paisan Nakmahachalasint, Thailand[/i]