Let $ n \geq 2$ be a positive integer and $ \lambda$ a positive real number. Initially there are $ n$ fleas on a horizontal line, not all at the same point. We define a move as choosing two fleas at some points $ A$ and $ B$, with $ A$ to the left of $ B$, and letting the flea from $ A$ jump over the flea from $ B$ to the point $ C$ so that $ \frac {BC}{AB} \equal{} \lambda$. Determine all values of $ \lambda$ such that, for any point $ M$ on the line and for any initial position of the $ n$ fleas, there exists a sequence of moves that will take them all to the position right of $ M$.

$m, n$ are relatively prime. We have three jugs which contain $m$, $n$ and $m+n$ liters. Initially the largest jug is full of water. Show that for any $k$ in $\{1, 2, ... , m+n\}$ we can get exactly $k$ liters into one of the jugs.

There are $2^n$ words of length $n$ over the alphabet $\{0, 1\}$. Prove that the following algorithm generates the sequence $w_0, w_1, \ldots, w_{2^n-1}$ of all these words such that any two consecutive words differ in exactly one digit. (1) $w_0 = 00 \ldots 0$ ($n$ zeros). (2) Suppose $w_{m-1} = a_1a_2 \ldots a_n,\quad a_i \in \{0, 1\}$. Let $e(m)$ be the exponent of $2$ in the representation of $n$ as a product of primes, and let $j = 1 + e(m)$. Replace the digit $a_j$ in the word $w_{m-1}$ by $1 - a_j$. The obtained word is $w_m$.

A polynomial $p(x)$ has remainder three when divided by $x-1$ and remainder five when divided by $x-3$. The remainder when $p(x)$ is divided by $(x-1)(x-3)$ is $\textbf{(A) }x-2\qquad\textbf{(B) }x+2\qquad\textbf{(C) }2\qquad\textbf{(D) }8\qquad \textbf{(E) }15$

The following operation is allowed on a finite graph: Choose an arbitrary cycle of length 4 (if there is any), choose an arbitrary edge in that cycle, and delete it from the graph. For a fixed integer ${n\ge 4}$, find the least number of edges of a graph that can be obtained by repeated applications of this operation from the complete graph on $n$ vertices (where each pair of vertices are joined by an edge). [i]Proposed by Norman Do, Australia[/i]

Peter has three accounts in a bank, each with an integral number of dollars. He is only allowed to transfer money from one account to another so that the amount of money in the latter is doubled. Prove that Peter can always transfer all his money into two accounts. Can Peter always transfer all his money into one account?

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$?

Let $X$ be a set with $n$ elements. Find the largest number of subsets of $X$, each with $3$ elements, so that no two of them are disjoint.

Determine all positive integers $n$ such that $n$ divides $3^n - 2^n$.

We are given a bag of sugar, a two-pan balance, and a weight of $1$ gram. How do we obtain $1$ kilogram of sugar in the smallest possible number of weighings?

In a country, mathematicians chose an $\alpha> 2$ and issued coins in denominations of 1 ruble, as well as $\alpha ^k$ rubles for each positive integer k. $\alpha$ was chosen so that the value of each coins, except the smallest, was irrational. Is it possible that any natural number of rubles can be formed with at most 6 of each denomination of coins?

Let $n$ be a positive integer. Denote by $S_n$ the set of points $(x, y)$ with integer coordinates such that \[ \left\lvert x\right\rvert + \left\lvert y + \frac{1}{2} \right\rvert < n. \] A path is a sequence of distinct points $(x_1 , y_1), (x_2, y_2), \ldots, (x_\ell, y_\ell)$ in $S_n$ such that, for $i = 2, \ldots, \ell$, the distance between $(x_i , y_i)$ and $(x_{i-1} , y_{i-1} )$ is $1$ (in other words, the points $(x_i, y_i)$ and $(x_{i-1} , y_{i-1} )$ are neighbors in the lattice of points with integer coordinates). Prove that the points in $S_n$ cannot be partitioned into fewer than $n$ paths (a partition of $S_n$ into $m$ paths is a set $\mathcal{P}$ of $m$ nonempty paths such that each point in $S_n$ appears in exactly one of the $m$ paths in $\mathcal{P}$).

Consider all sets of $n$ distinct positive integers, no three of which form an arithmetic progression. Prove that among all such sets there is one which has the largest sum of the reciprocals of its elements.

Let $a,b$ be two positive integers and $a>b$.We know that $\gcd(a-b,ab+1)=1$ and $\gcd(a+b,ab-1)=1$. Prove that $(a-b)^2+(ab+1)^2$ is not a perfect square.

The numbers in the sequence 101, 104, 109, 116, $\dots$ are of the form $a_n = 100 + n^2$, where $n = 1$, 2, 3, $\dots$. For each $n$, let $d_n$ be the greatest common divisor of $a_n$ and $a_{n + 1}$. Find the maximum value of $d_n$ as $n$ ranges through the positive integers.

Find in explicit form all ordered pairs of positive integers $(m, n)$ such that $mn-1$ divides $m^2 + n^2$.

Find a method by which one can compute the coefficients of $P(x) = x^6 + a_1x^5 + \cdots+ a_6$ from the roots of $P(x) = 0$ by performing not more than $15$ additions and $15$ multiplications.

We have a machine that has an input and an output. The input is a letter from the finite set $I$ and the output is a lamp that at each moment has one of the colors of the set $C=\{c_1,\dots,c_p\}$. At each moment the machine has an inner state that is one of the $n$ members of finite set $S$. The function $o: S \rightarrow C$ is a surjective function defining that at each state, what color must the lamp be, and the function $t:S \times I \rightarrow S$ is a function defining how does giving each input at each state changes the state. We only shall see the lamp and we have no direct information from the state of the car at current moment. In other words a machine is $M=(S,I,C,o,t)$ such that $S,I,C$ are finite, $t:S \times I \rightarrow S$ , and $o:S \rightarrow C$ is surjective. It is guaranteed that for each two different inner states, there's a sequence of inputs such that the color of the lamp after giving the sequence to the machine at the first state is different from the color of the lamp after giving the sequence to the machine at the second state. (a) The machine $M$ has $n$ different inner states. Prove that for each two different inner states, there's a sequence of inputs of length no more than $n-p$ such that the color of the lamp after giving the sequence to the machine at the first state is different from the color of the lamp after giving the sequence to the machine at the second state. (b) Prove that for a machine $M$ with $n$ different inner states, there exists an algorithm with no more than $n^2$ inputs that starting at any unknown inner state, at the end of the algorithm the state of the machine at that moment is known. Can you prove the above claim for $\frac{n^2}{2}$?

Several policemen try to catch a thief who has $2m$ accomplices. To that end they place the accomplices under surveillance. In the beginning, the policemen shadow nobody. Every morning each policeman places under his surveillance one of the accomplices. Every evening the thief stops trusting one of his accomplices The thief is caught if by the $m$-th evening some policeman shadows exactly those $m$ accomplices who are still trusted by the thief. Prove that to guarantee the capture of the thief at least $2^m$ policemen are needed.

For a sequence $x_1,x_2,\ldots,x_n$ of real numbers, we define its $\textit{price}$ as \[\max_{1\le i\le n}|x_1+\cdots +x_i|.\] Given $n$ real numbers, Dave and George want to arrange them into a sequence with a low price. Diligent Dave checks all possible ways and finds the minimum possible price $D$. Greedy George, on the other hand, chooses $x_1$ such that $|x_1 |$ is as small as possible; among the remaining numbers, he chooses $x_2$ such that $|x_1 + x_2 |$ is as small as possible, and so on. Thus, in the $i$-th step he chooses $x_i$ among the remaining numbers so as to minimise the value of $|x_1 + x_2 + \cdots x_i |$. In each step, if several numbers provide the same value, George chooses one at random. Finally he gets a sequence with price $G$. Find the least possible constant $c$ such that for every positive integer $n$, for every collection of $n$ real numbers, and for every possible sequence that George might obtain, the resulting values satisfy the inequality $G\le cD$. [i]Proposed by Georgia[/i]

We are given n objects of identical appearance, but different mass, and a balance which can be used to compare any two objects (but only one object can be placed in each pan at a time). How many times must we use the balance to find the heaviest object and the lightest object?

Does there exist a sequence of natural numbers in which every natural number occurs exactly once, such that for each $k = 1, 2, 3, \dots$ the sum of the first $k$ terms of the sequence is divisible by $k$? [i]A. Shapovalov[/i]

A pupil is writing on a board positive integers $x_0,x_1,x_2,x_3...$ after the following algorithm which implies arithmetic progression $3,5,7,9...$.Each term of rank $k\ge2$ is a difference between the product of the last number on the board and the term of arithmetic progression of rank $k$ and the last but one term on the bord with the sum of the terms of the arithemtic progression with ranks less than $k$.If $x_0=0 $ and $x_1=1$ find $x_n$ according to n.

If the Highest Common Divisor of $ 6432$ and $ 132$ is diminished by $ 8$, it will equal: $ \textbf{(A)}\ \minus{}6 \qquad \textbf{(B)}\ 6 \qquad \textbf{(C)}\ \minus{}2 \qquad \textbf{(D)}\ 3 \qquad \textbf{(E)}\ 4$

In a mathematical competition some competitors are friends. Friendship is always mutual. Call a group of competitors a [i]clique[/i] if each two of them are friends. (In particular, any group of fewer than two competitiors is a clique.) The number of members of a clique is called its [i]size[/i]. Given that, in this competition, the largest size of a clique is even, prove that the competitors can be arranged into two rooms such that the largest size of a clique contained in one room is the same as the largest size of a clique contained in the other room. [i]Author: Vasily Astakhov, Russia[/i]