A ghost leg is a game with some vertical lines and some horizontal lines. A player starts at the top of the vertical line and go downwards, and always walkthrough a horizontal line if he encounters one. We define a layer is some horizontal line with the same height and has no duplicated endpoints. Find the smallest number of layers needed to grant that you can walk from $(1, 2, \ldots , n)$ on the top to any permutation $(\sigma_1, \sigma_2, \ldots, \sigma_n)$ on the bottom.

[color=darkblue]Weightlifter Ruslan has just finished the exercise with a weight, which has $ n$ small weights on one side and $ n$ on the another. At each stage he takes some weights from one of the sides, such that at any moment the difference of the numbers of weights on the sides does not exceed $ k$. What is the minimal number of stages (in function if $ n$ and $ k$), which Ruslan need to take off all weights..[/color]

[b]p1.[/b] a) Given four points in the plane, no three of which lie on the same line, each subset of three points determines the vertices of a triangle. Can all these triangles have equal areas? If so, give an example of four points (in the plane) with this property, and then describe all arrangements of four joints (in the plane) which permit this. If no such arrangement exists, prove this. b) Repeat part a) with "five" replacing "four" throughout. [b]p2.[/b] Three people at the base of a long stairway begin a race up the stairs. Person A leaps five steps with each stride (landing on steps $5$, $10$, $15$, etc.). Person B leaps a little more slowly but covers six steps with each stride. Person C leaps seven steps with each stride. A picture taken near the end of the race shows all three landing simultaneously, with Person A twenty-one steps from the top, person B seven steps from the top, and Person C one step from the top. How many steps are there in the stairway? If you can find more than one answer, do so. Justify your answer. [b]p3. [/b]Let $S$ denote the sum of an infinite geometric series. Suppose the sum of the squares of the terms is $2S$, and that df the cubes is $64S/13$. Find the first three terms of the original series. [b]p4.[/b] $A$, $B$ and $C$ are three equally spaced points on a circular hoop. Prove that as the hoop rolls along the horizontal line $\ell$, the sum of the distances of the points $A, B$, and $C$ above line $\ell$ is constant. [img]https://cdn.artofproblemsolving.com/attachments/3/e/a1efd0975cf8ff3cf6acb1da56da1dce35d81e.png[/img] [b]p5.[/b] A set of $n$ numbers $x_1,x_2,x_3,...,x_n$ (where $n>1$) has the property that the $k^{th}$ number (that is, $x_k$ ) is removed from the set, the remaining $(n-1)$ numbers have a sum equal to $k$ (the subscript o $x_k$ ), and this is true for each $k = 1,2,3,...,n$. a) SoIve for these $n$ numbers b) Find whether at least one of these $n$ numbers can be an integer. PS. You should use hide for answers. Collected [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h2760506p24143309]here[/url].

A factorization of a positive integers is a way of writing it as a product of positive integers greater than $1$. Two factorizations are considered the same if they only differ in the order of terms in the product. For instance, $18$ has $4$ different factorizations: $18, 2\cdot 9, 3\cdot 6$ and $ 2\cdot 3\cdot 3$. For a positive integer $n$ we denote by $f(n)$ the number of distinct factorizations of $n$. By convention $f(1)=1$. Prove that $f(n)\leq n$ for all positive integers $n$.

In an exotic country, the National Bank issues coins that can take any value in the interval $[0, 1]$. Find the smallest constant $c > 0$ such that the following holds, no matter the situation in that country: [i]Any citizen of the exotic country that has a finite number of coins, with a total value of no more than $1000$, can split those coins into $100$ boxes, such that the total value inside each box is at most $c$.[/i]

On the board is written an integer $N \geq 2$. Two players $A$ and $B$ play in turn, starting with $A$. Each player in turn replaces the existing number by the result of performing one of two operations: subtract 1 and divide by 2, provided that a positive integer is obtained. The player who reaches the number 1 wins. Determine the smallest even number $N$ requires you to play at least $2015$ times to win ($B$ shifts are not counted).

An airline company is planning to introduce a network of connections between the ten different airports of Sawubonia. The airports are ranked by priority from first to last (with no ties). We call such a network [i]feasible[/i] if it satisfies the following conditions: [list] [*] All connections operate in both directions [*] If there is a direct connection between two airports A and B, and C has higher priority than B, then there must also be a direct connection between A and C.[/list] Some of the airports may not be served, and even the empty network (no connections at all) is allowed. How many feasible networks are there?

A fire that starts in the steppe spreads in all directions at a speed of $1$ km per hour. A grader with a plow arrived on the fire line at the moment when the fire engulfed a circle with a radius of $1$ km. The grader moves at a speed of $14$ km per hour and cuts a strip with a plow that cuts off the fire. Indicate the path along which the grader should move so that the total area of the burnt steppe does not exceed: a) $4 \pi $ km$^2$; b) $3 \pi $ km$^2$. (We can assume that the grader’s path consists of straight segments and circular arcs.)

Two players by turns draw diagonals in a regular $(2n+1)$-gon ($n>1$). It is forbidden to draw a diagonal, which was already drawn, or intersects an odd number of already drawn diagonals. The player, who has no legal move, loses. Who has a winning strategy? [i]K. Sukhov[/i]

Let $n$ be the answer to this problem. An urn contains white and black balls. There are $n$ white balls and at least two balls of each color in the urn. Two balls are randomly drawn from the urn without replacement. Find the probability, in percent, that the rst ball drawn is white and the second is black.

Find the largest positive integer $k{}$ for which there exists a convex polyhedron $\mathcal{P}$ with 2022 edges, which satisfies the following properties: [list] [*]The degrees of the vertices of $\mathcal{P}$ don’t differ by more than one, and [*]It is possible to colour the edges of $\mathcal{P}$ with $k{}$ colours such that for every colour $c{}$, and every pair of vertices $(v_1, v_2)$ of $\mathcal{P}$, there is a monochromatic path between $v_1$ and $v_2$ in the colour $c{}$. [/list] [i]Viktor Simjanoski, Macedonia[/i]

[b]p1.[/b] Find the minimum value of $x^4 +2x^3 +3x^2 +2x+2$, where x can be any real number. [b]p2.[/b] A type of digit-lock has $5$ digits, each digit chosen from $\{1,2, 3, 4, 5\}$. How many different passwords are there that have an odd number of $1$'s? [b]p3.[/b] Tony is a really good Ping Pong player, or at least that is what he claims. For him, ping pong balls are very important and he can feel very easily when a ping pong ball is good and when it is not. The Ping Pong club just ordered new balls. They usually order form either PPB company or MIO company. Tony knows that PPB balls have $80\%$ chance to be good balls and MIO balls have $50\%$ chance to be good balls. I know you are thinking why would anyone order MIO balls, but they are way cheaper than PPB balls. When the box full with balls arrives (huge number of balls), Tony tries the first ball in the box and realizes it is a good ball. Given that the Ping Pong club usually orders half of the time from PPB and half of the time from MIO, what is the probability that the second ball is a good ball? [b]p4.[/b] What is the smallest positive integer that is one-ninth of its reverse? [b]p5.[/b] When Michael wakes up in the morning he is usually late for class so he has to get dressed very quickly. He has to put on a short sleeved shirt, a sweater, pants, two socks and two shoes. People usually put the sweater on after they put the short sleeved shirt on, but Michael has a different style, so he can do it both ways. Given that he puts on a shoe on a foot after he put on a sock on that foot, in how many dierent orders can Michael get dressed? [b]p6.[/b] The numbers $1, 2,..., 2015$ are written on a blackboard. At each step we choose two numbers and replace them with their nonnegative difference. We stop when we have only one number. How many possibilities are there for this last number? [b]p7.[/b] Let $A = (a_1b_1a_2b_2... a_nb_n)_{34}$ and $B = (b_1b_2... b_n)_{34}$ be two numbers written in base $34$. If the sum of the base-$34$ digits of $A$ is congruent to $15$ (mod $77$) and the sum of the base $34$ digits of $B$ is congruent to $23$ (mod $77$). Then if $(a_1b_1a_2b_2... a_nb_n)_{34} \equiv x$ (mod $77$) and $0 \le x \le 76$, what is $x$? (you can write $x$ in base $10$) [b]p8.[/b] What is the sum of the medians of all nonempty subsets of $\{1, 2,..., 9\}$? [b]p9.[/b] Tony is moving on a straight line for $6$ minutes{classic Tony. Several finitely many observers are watching him because, let's face it, you can't really trust Tony. In fact, they must watch him very closely{ so closely that he must never remain unattended for any second. But since the observers are lazy, they only watch Tony uninterruptedly for exactly one minute, and during this minute, Tony covers exactly one meter. What is the sum of the minimal and maximal possible distance Tony can walk during the six minutes? [b]p10.[/b] Find the number of nonnegative integer triplets $a, b, c$ that satisfy $$2^a3^b + 9 = c^2.$$ PS. You had better use hide for answers. Collected [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h2760506p24143309]here[/url].

There are three boxes of stones. Sisyphus moves stones one by one between the boxes. Whenever he moves a stone, Zeus gives him the number of coins that is equal to the difference between the number of stones in the box the stone was put in, and that in the box the stone was taken from (the moved stone does not count). If this difference is negative, then Sisyphus returns the corresponding amount to Zeus (if Sisyphus cannot pay, generous Zeus allows him to make the move and pay later). After some time all the stones lie in their initial boxes. What is the greatest possible earning of Sisyphus at that moment? [i]I. Izmest’ev[/i]

Consider $n$ students with numbers $1, 2, \ldots, n$ standing in the order $1, 2, \ldots, n.$ Upon a command, any of the students either remains on his place or switches his place with another student. (Actually, if student $A$ switches his place with student $B,$ then $B$ cannot switch his place with any other student $C$ any more until the next command comes.) Is it possible to arrange the students in the order $n,1, 2, \ldots, n-1$ after two commands ?

[b]p1.[/b] Evaluate $6^4 +5^4 +3^4 +2^4$. [b]p2.[/b] What digit is most frequent between $1$ and $1000$ inclusive? [b]p3.[/b] Let $n = gcd \, (2^2 \cdot 3^3 \cdot 4^4,2^4 \cdot 3^3 \cdot 4^2)$. Find the number of positive integer factors of $n$. [b]p4.[/b] Suppose $p$ and $q$ are prime numbers such that $13p +5q = 91$. Find $p +q$. [b]p5.[/b] Let $x = (5^3 -5)(4^3 -4)(3^3 -3)(2^3 -2)(1^3 -1)$. Evaluate $2018^x$ . [b]p6.[/b] Liszt the lister lists all $24$ four-digit integers that contain each of the digits $1,2,3,4$ exactly once in increasing order. What is the sum of the $20$th and $18$th numbers on Liszt’s list? [b]p7.[/b] Square $ABCD$ has center $O$. Suppose $M$ is the midpoint of $AB$ and $OM +1 =OA$. Find the area of square $ABCD$. [b]p8.[/b] How many positive $4$-digit integers have at most $3$ distinct digits? [b]p9.[/b] Find the sumof all distinct integers obtained by placing $+$ and $-$ signs in the following spaces $$2\_3\_4\_5$$ [b]p10.[/b] In triangle $ABC$, $\angle A = 2\angle B$. Let $I$ be the intersection of the angle bisectors of $B$ and $C$. Given that $AB = 12$, $BC = 14$,and $C A = 9$, find $AI$ . [b]p11.[/b] You have a $3\times 3\times 3$ cube in front of you. You are given a knife to cut the cube and you are allowed to move the pieces after each cut before cutting it again. What is the minimumnumber of cuts you need tomake in order to cut the cube into $27$ $1\times 1\times 1$ cubes? p12. How many ways can you choose $3$ distinct numbers fromthe set $\{1,2,3,...,20\}$ to create a geometric sequence? [b]p13.[/b] Find the sum of all multiples of $12$ that are less than $10^4$ and contain only $0$ and $4$ as digits. [b]p14.[/b] What is the smallest positive integer that has a different number of digits in each base from $2$ to $5$? [b]p15.[/b] Given $3$ real numbers $(a,b,c)$ such that $$\frac{a}{b +c}=\frac{b}{3a+3c}=\frac{c}{a+3b},$$ find all possible values of $\frac{a +b}{c}$. [b]p16.[/b] Let S be the set of lattice points $(x, y, z)$ in $R^3$ satisfying $0 \le x, y, z \le 2$. How many distinct triangles exist with all three vertices in $S$? [b]p17.[/b] Let $\oplus$ be an operator such that for any $2$ real numbers $a$ and $b$, $a \oplus b = 20ab -4a -4b +1$. Evaluate $$\frac{1}{10} \oplus \frac19 \oplus \frac18 \oplus \frac17 \oplus \frac16 \oplus \frac15 \oplus \frac14 \oplus \frac13 \oplus \frac12 \oplus 1.$$ [b]p18.[/b] A function $f :N \to N$ satisfies $f ( f (x)) = x$ and $f (2f (2x +16)) = f \left(\frac{1}{x+8} \right)$ for all positive integers $x$. Find $f (2018)$. [b]p19.[/b] There exists an integer divisor $d$ of $240100490001$ such that $490000 < d < 491000$. Find $d$. [b]p20.[/b] Let $a$ and $b$ be not necessarily distinct positive integers chosen independently and uniformly at random from the set $\{1,2, 3, ... ,511,512\}$. Let $x = \frac{a}{b}$ . Find the probability that $(-1)^x$ is a real number. [b]p21[/b]. In $\vartriangle ABC$ we have $AB = 4$, $BC = 6$, and $\angle ABC = 135^o$. $\angle ABC$ is trisected by rays $B_1$ and $B_2$. Ray $B_1$ intersects side $C A$ at point $F$, and ray $B_2$ intersects side $C A$ at point $G$. What is the area of $\vartriangle BFG$? [b]p22.[/b] A level number is a number which can be expressed as $x \cdot \lfloor x \rfloor \cdot \lceil x \rceil$ where $x$ is a real number. Find the number of positive integers less than or equal to $1000$ which are also level numbers. [b]p23.[/b] Triangle $\vartriangle ABC$ has sidelengths $AB = 13$, $BC = 14$, $C A = 15$ and circumcenter $O$. Let $D$ be the intersection of $AO$ and $BC$. Compute $BD/DC$. [b]p24.[/b] Let $f (x) = x^4 -3x^3 +2x^2 +5x -4$ be a quartic polynomial with roots $a,b,c,d$. Compute $$\left(a+1 +\frac{1}{a} \right)\left(b+1 +\frac{1}{b} \right)\left(c+1 +\frac{1}{c} \right)\left(d+1 +\frac{1}{d} \right).$$ [b]p25.[/b] Triangle $\vartriangle ABC$ has centroid $G$ and circumcenter $O$. Let $D$ be the foot of the altitude from $A$ to $BC$. If $AD = 2018$, $BD =20$, and $CD = 18$, find the area of triangle $\vartriangle DOG$. PS. You should use hide for answers. Collected [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h2760506p24143309]here[/url].

Let $M=\{1,2,\ldots,3 \cdot n\}$. Partition $M$ into three sets $A,B,C$ which $card$ $A$ $=$ $card$ $B$ $=$ $card$ $C$ $=$ $n .$ Prove that there exists $a$ in $A,b$ in $B, c$ in $C$ such that or $a=b+c,$ or $b=c+a,$ or $c=a+b$ [i]Edited by orl.[/i]

Let $k$ and $n$ be positive integers such that $k\le n-1$. Let $S:=\{1,2,\ldots,n\}$ and let $A_1,A_2,\ldots,A_k$ be nonempty subsets of $S$. Prove that it is possible to color some elements of $S$ using two colors, red and blue, such that the following conditions are satisfied: (i) Each element of $S$ is either left uncolored or is colored red or blue. (ii) At least one element of $S$ is colored. (iii) Each set $A_i~(i=1,2,\ldots,k)$ is either completely uncolored or it contains at least one red and at least one blue element.

A regular hexagon is divided by straight lines parallel to its sides into $6n^2$ equilateral triangles. On them, there are $2n$ rooks, no two of which attack each other (a rook attacks in directions parallel to the sides of the hexagon). Prove that if we color the triangles black and white such that no two adjacent triangles have the same color, there will be as many rooks on the black triangles as on the white ones.

Let $a_1<a_2$ be two given integers. For any integer $n\ge 3$, let $a_n$ be the smallest integer which is larger than $a_{n-1}$ and can be uniquely represented as $a_i+a_j$, where $1\le i<j\le n-1$. Given that there are only a finite number of even numbers in $\{a_n\}$, prove that the sequence $\{a_{n+1}-a_{n}\}$ is eventually periodic, i.e. that there exist positive integers $T,N$ such that for all integers $n>N$, we have \[a_{T+n+1}-a_{T+n}=a_{n+1}-a_{n}.\]

A $10\times10\times10$ cube has $1000$ unit cubes. $500$ of them are coloured black and $500$ of them are coloured white. Show that there are at least $100$ unit squares, being the common face of a white and a black unit cube.

The cells of a $100 \times 100$ table are colored white. In one move, it is allowed to select some $99$ cells from the same row or column and recolor each of them with the opposite color. What is the smallest number of moves needed to get a table with a chessboard coloring? [i]S. Berlov[/i]

$2021$ points are given on a circle. Each point is colored by one of the $1,2, \cdots ,k$ colors. For all points and colors $1\leq r \leq k$, there exist an arc such that at least half of the points on it are colored with $r$. Find the maximum possible value of $k$.

Thirty rays with the origin at the same point are constructed on a plane. Consider all angles between any two of these rays. Let $N$ be the number of acute angles among these angles. Find the smallest possible value of $N$. (E. Barabanov)

We have a 7x7 board. We want to color some 1x1 squares such that any 3x3 sub-board have more painted 1x1 than no painted 1x1. What is the smallest number of 1x1 that we need to color?

Prove the following equality for all positive integers $m,n$: $$\sum_{k=0}^{n} {m+k \choose k} 2^{n-k} +\sum_{k=0}^m {n+k \choose k}2^{m-k}= 2^{m+n+1}$$