[b]p1. [/b](a) Show that for every positive integer $m > 1$, there are positive integers $x$ and $y$ such that $x^2 - y^2 = m^3$. (b) Find all pairs of positive integers $(x, y)$ such that $x^6 = y^2 + 127$. [b]p2.[/b] (a) Let $P(x)$ be a polynomial with integer coefficients. Suppose that $P(0)$ is an odd integer and that $P(1)$ is also an odd integer. Show that if $c$ is an integer then $P(c)$ is not equal to $0$. (b) Let P(x) be a polynomial with integer coefficients. Suppose that $P(1,000) = 1,000$ and $P(2,000) = 2,000.$ Explain why $P(3,000)$ cannot be equal to $1,000$. [b]p3.[/b] Triangle $\vartriangle ABC$ is created from points $A(0, 0)$, $B(1, 0)$ and $C(1/2, 2)$. Let $q, r$, and $s$ be numbers such that $0 < q < 1/2 < s < 1$, and $q < r < s$. Let D be the point on $AC$ which has $x$-coordinate $q$, $E$ be the point on AB which has $x$-coordinate $r$, and $F$ be the point on $BC$ that has $x$-coordinate $s$. (a) Find the area of triangle $\vartriangle DEF$ in terms of $q, r$, and $s$. (b) If $r = 1/2$, prove that at least one of the triangles $\vartriangle ADE$, $\vartriangle CDF$, or $\vartriangle BEF$ has an area of at least $1/4$. [b]p4.[/b] In the Gregorian calendar: (i) years not divisible by $4$ are common years, (ii) years divisible by $4$ but not by $100$ are leap years, (iii) years divisible by $100$ but not by $400$ are common years, (iv) years divisible by $400$ are leap years, (v) a leap year contains $366$ days, a common year $365$ days. From the information above: (a) Find the number of common years and leap years in $400$ consecutive Gregorian years. Show that $400$ consecutive Gregorian years consists of an integral number of weeks. (b) Prove that the probability that Christmas falls on a Wednesday is not equal to $1/7$. [b]p5.[/b] Each of the first $13$ letters of the alphabet is written on the back of a card and the $13$ cards are placed in a row in the order $$A,B,C,D,E, F, G,H, I, J,K, L,M$$ The cards are then turned over so that the letters are face down. The cards are rearranged and again placed in a row, but of course they may be in a different order. They are rearranged and placed in a row a second time and both rearrangements were performed exactly the same way. When the cards are turned over the letters are in the order $$B,M, A,H, G,C, F,E,D, L, I,K, J$$ What was the order of the letters after the cards were rearranged the first time? PS. You should use hide for answers. Collected [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h2760506p24143309]here[/url].

In a city of gnomes there are $1000$ identical towers, each of which has $1000$ stories, with exactly one gnome living on each story. Every gnome in the city wears a hat colored in one of $1000$ possible colors and any two gnomes in the same tower have different hats. A pair of gnomes are friends if they wear hats of the same color, one of them lives in the $k$-th story of his tower and the other one in the $(k+1)$-st story of his tower. Determine the maximal possible number of pairs of gnomes which are friends. [i]Authored by Nikola Velov[/i]

For any non-empty subset $A$ of $\{1, 2, \ldots , n\}$ define $f(A)$ as the largest element of $A$ minus the smallest element of $A$. Find $\sum f(A)$ where the sum is taken over all non-empty subsets of $\{1, 2, \ldots , n\}$.

There are $2014$ students from high schools nationwide communications sit around a round table in arbitrary manner. Then the organizers want to rearrange students from the same school sit next to each other by performing the following swapping: permutation view of two adjacent groups of students (see illustration). Find the smallest $k$ number so that a result can be obtained results as desired by the organizers with no more than $k$ swapping permits. Permission to change places like after $...\underbrace{ABCD}_\text{1}\underbrace{EFG}_\text{2}... \to ...\underbrace{EFG}_\text{2}\underbrace{ABCD}_\text{1}...$ Vu The Khoi, Institute of Mathematics, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, Cau Giay, Hanoi.

Do there exist two bounded sequences $a_1, a_2,\ldots$ and $b_1, b_2,\ldots$ such that for each positive integers $n$ and $m>n$ at least one of the two inequalities $|a_m-a_n|>1/\sqrt{n},$ and $|b_m-b_n|>1/\sqrt{n}$ holds?

[u]Part 1[/u] You might think this round is broken after solving some of these problems, but everything is intentional. [b]1.1.[/b] The number $n$ can be represented uniquely as the sum of $6$ distinct positive integers. Find $n$. [b]1.2.[/b] Let $ABC$ be a triangle with $AB = BC$. The altitude from $A$ intersects line $BC$ at $D$. Suppose $BD = 5$ and $AC^2 = 1188$. Find $AB$. [b]1.3.[/b] A lemonade stand analyzes its earning and operations. For the previous month it had a \$45 dollar budget to divide between production and advertising. If it spent $k$ dollars on production, it could make $2k - 12$ glasses of lemonade. If it spent $k$ dollars on advertising, it could sell each glass at an average price of $15 + 5k$ cents. The amount it made in sales for the previous month was $\$40.50$. Assuming the stand spent its entire budget on production and advertising, what was the absolute dierence between the amount spent on production and the amount spent on advertising? [b]1.4.[/b] Let $A$ be the number of dierent ways to tile a $1 \times n$ rectangle with tiles of size $1 \times 1$, $1 \times 3$, and $1 \times 6$. Let B be the number of different ways to tile a $1 \times n$ rectangle with tiles of size $1 \times 2$ and $1 \times 5$, where there are 2 different colors available for the $1 \times 2$ tiles. Given that $A = B$, find $n$. (Two tilings that are rotations or reflections of each other are considered distinct.) [b]1.5.[/b] An integer $n \ge 0$ is such that $n$ when represented in base $2$ is written the same way as $2n$ is in base $5$. Find $n$. [b]1.6.[/b] Let $x$ be a positive integer such that $3$, $ \log_6(12x)$, $\log_6(18x)$ form an arithmetic progression in some order. Find $x$. [u]Part 2[/u] Oops, it looks like there were some [i]intentional [/i] printing errors and some of the numbers from these problems got removed. Any $\blacksquare$ that you see was originally some positive integer, but now its value is no longer readable. Still, if things behave like they did for Part 1, maybe you can piece the answers together. [b]2.1.[/b] The number $n$ can be represented uniquely as the sum of $\blacksquare$ distinct positive integers. Find $n$. [b]2.2.[/b] Let $ABC$ be a triangle with $AB = BC$. The altitude from $A$ intersects line $BC$ at $D$. Suppose $BD = \blacksquare$ and $AC^2 = 1536$. Find $AB$. [b]2.3.[/b] A lemonade stand analyzes its earning and operations. For the previous month it had a $\$50$ dollar budget to divide between production and advertising. If it spent k dollars on production, it could make $2k - 2$ glasses of lemonade. If it spent $k$ dollars on advertising, it could sell each glass at an average price of $25 + 5k$ cents. The amount it made in sales for the previous month was $\$\blacksquare$. Assuming the stand spent its entire budget on production and advertising, what was the absolute dierence between the amount spent on production and the amount spent on advertising? [b]2.4.[/b] Let $A$ be the number of different ways to tile a $1 \times n$ rectangle with tiles of size $1 \times \blacksquare$, $1 \times \blacksquare$, and $1 \times \blacksquare$. Let $B$ be the number of different ways to tile a $1\times n$ rectangle with tiles of size $1 \times \blacksquare$ and $1 \times \blacksquare$, where there are $\blacksquare$ different colors available for the $1 \times \blacksquare$ tiles. Given that $A = B$, find $n$. (Two tilings that are rotations or reflections of each other are considered distinct.) [b]2.5.[/b] An integer $n \ge \blacksquare$ is such that $n$ when represented in base $9$ is written the same way as $2n$ is in base $\blacksquare$. Find $n$. [b]2.6.[/b] Let $x$ be a positive integer such that $1$, $\log_{96}(6x)$, $\log_{96}(\blacksquare x)$ form an arithmetic progression in some order. Find $x$. PS. You had better use hide for answers. Collected [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h2760506p24143309]here[/url].

A convex $n$-gon is dissected into $m$ triangles such that each side of each triangle is either a side of another triangle or a side of the polygon. Prove that $m+n$ is even. Find the number of sides of the triangles inside the square and the number of vertices inside the square in terms of $m$ and $n$.

Let $S = \{1, 2, \ldots, n\}$ for some positive integer $n$, and let $A$ be an $n$-by-$n$ matrix having as entries only ones and zeroes. Define an infinite sequence $\{x_i\}_{i \ge 0}$ to be [i]strange[/i] if: [list] [*] $x_i \in S$ for all $i$, [*] $a_{x_kx_{k+1}} = 1$ for all $k$, where $a_{ij}$ denotes the element in the $i^{\text{th}}$ row and $j^{\text{th}}$ column of $A$. [/list] Prove that the set of strange sequences is empty if and only if $A$ is nilpotent, i.e. $A^m = 0$ for some integer $m$.

$100$ deputies formed $450$ commissions. Each two commissions has no more than three common deputies, and every $5$ - no more than one. Prove that, that there are $4$ commissions that has exactly one common deputy each.

A $5 \times 100$ table is divided into $500$ unit square cells, where $n$ of them are coloured black and the rest are coloured white. Two unit square cells are called [i]adjacent[/i] if they share a common side. Each of the unit square cells has at most two adjacent black unit square cells. Find the largest possible value of $n$.

[b]p1.[/b] Determine the number of ways to place $4$ rooks on a $4 \times 4$ chessboard such that: (a) no two rooks attack one another, and (b) the main diagonal (the set of squares marked $X$ below) does not contain any rooks. [img]https://cdn.artofproblemsolving.com/attachments/e/e/e3aa96de6c8ed468c6ef3837e66a0bce360d36.png[/img] The rooks are indistinguishable and the board cannot be rotated. (Two rooks attack each other if they are in the same row or column.) [b]p2.[/b] Seven students, numbered $1$ to $7$ in counter-clockwise order, are seated in a circle. Fresh Mann has 100 erasers, and he wants to distribute them to the students, albeit unfairly. Starting with person $ 1$ and proceeding counter-clockwise, Fresh Mann gives $i$ erasers to student $i$; for example, he gives $ 1$ eraser to student $ 1$, then $2$ erasers to student $2$, et cetera. He continues around the circle until he does not have enough erasers to give to the next person. At this point, determine the number of erasers that Fresh Mann has. [b]p3.[/b] Let $ABC$ be a triangle with $AB = AC = 17$ and $BC = 24$. Approximate $\angle ABC$ to the nearest multiple of $10$ degrees. [b]p4.[/b] Define a sequence of rational numbers $\{x_n\}$ by $x_1 =\frac35$ and for $n \ge 1$, $x_{n+1} = 2 - \frac{1}{x_n}$ . Compute the product $x_1x_2x_3... x_{2013}$. [b]p5.[/b] In equilateral triangle $ABC$, points $P$ and $R$ lie on segment $AB$, points $I$ and $M$ lie on segment $BC$, and points $E$ and $S$ lie on segment $CA$ such that $PRIMES$ is a equiangular hexagon. Given that $AB = 11$, $PR = 2$, $IM = 3$, and $ES = 5$, compute the area of hexagon $PRIMES$. [b]p6.[/b] Let $f(a, b) = \frac{a^2}{a+b}$ . Let $A$ denote the sum of $f(i, j)$ over all pairs of integers $(i, j)$ with $1 \le i < j \le 10$; that is, $$A = (f(1, 2) + f(1, 3) + ...+ f(1, 10)) + (f(2, 3) + f(2, 4) +... + f(2, 10)) +... + f(9, 10).$$ Similarly, let $B$ denote the sum of $f(i, j)$ over all pairs of integers $(i, j)$ with $1 \le j < i \le 10$, that is, $$B = (f(2, 1) + f(3, 1) + ... + f(10, 1)) + (f(3, 2) + f(4, 2) +... + f(10, 2)) +... + f(10, 9).$$ Compute $B - A$. [b]p7.[/b] Fresh Mann has a pile of seven rocks with weights $1, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16$, and $32$ pounds and some integer X between $1$ and $64$, inclusive. He would like to choose a set of the rocks whose total weight is exactly $X$ pounds. Given that he can do so in more than one way, determine the sum of all possible values of $X$. (The two $1$-pound rocks are indistinguishable.) [b]p8.[/b] Let $ABCD$ be a convex quadrilateral with $AB = BC = CA$. Suppose that point $P$ lies inside the quadrilateral with $AP = PD = DA$ and $\angle PCD = 30^o$. Given that $CP = 2$ and $CD = 3$, compute $CA$. [b]p9.[/b] Define a sequence of rational numbers $\{x_n\}$ by $x_1 = 2$, $x_2 = \frac{13}{2}$ , and for $n \ge 1$, $x_{n+2} = 3 -\frac{3}{x_{n+1}}+\frac{1}{x_nx_{n+1}}$. Compute $x_{100}$. [b]p10.[/b] Ten prisoners are standing in a line. A prison guard wants to place a hat on each prisoner. He has two colors of hats, red and blue, and he has $10$ hats of each color. Determine the number of ways in which the prison guard can place hats such that among any set of consecutive prisoners, the number of prisoners with red hats and the number of prisoners with blue hats differ by at most $2$. PS. You had better use hide for answers. Collected [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h2760506p24143309]here[/url].

Consider $n$ weights, $n \ge 2$, of masses $m_1, m_2, ..., m_n$, where $m_k$ are positive integers such that $1 \le m_ k \le k$ for all $k \in \{1,2,...,n\} $: Prove that we can place the weights on the two pans of a balance such that the pans stay in equilibrium if and only if the number $m_1 + m_2 + ...+ m_n$ is even. Estonian Olympiad

Let $n$ be an odd integer greater than 1 and let $c_1, c_2, \ldots, c_n$ be integers. For each permutation $a = (a_1, a_2, \ldots, a_n)$ of $\{1,2,\ldots,n\}$, define $S(a) = \sum_{i=1}^n c_i a_i$. Prove that there exist permutations $a \neq b$ of $\{1,2,\ldots,n\}$ such that $n!$ is a divisor of $S(a)-S(b)$.

Kathryn has a crush on Joe. Dressed as Catwoman, she attends the same school Halloween party as Joe, hoping he will be there. If Joe gets beat up, Kathryn will be able to help Joe, and will be able to tell him how much she likes him. Otherwise, Kathryn will need to get her hipster friend, Max, who is DJing the event, to play Joe’s favorite song, “Pieces of Me” by Ashlee Simpson, to get him out on the dance floor, where she’ll also be able to tell him how much she likes him. Since playing the song would be in flagrant violation of Max’s musical integrity as a DJ, Kathryn will have to bribe him to play the song. For every $\$10$ she gives Max, the probability of him playing the song goes up $10\%$ (from $0\%$ to $10\%$ for the first $\$10$, from $10\%$ to $20\%$ for the next $\$10$, all the way up to $100\%$ if she gives him $\$100$). Max only accepts money in increments of $\$10$. How much money should Kathryn give to Max to give herself at least a $65\%$ chance of securing enough time to tell Joe how much she likes him?

Prove that there are exactly $\binom{k}{[k/2]}$ arrays $a_1, a_2, \ldots , a_{k+1}$ of nonnegative integers such that $a_1 = 0$ and $|a_i-a_{i+1}| = 1$ for $i = 1, 2, \ldots , k.$

In a country, there are $2018$ cities, some of which are connected by roads. Each city is connected to at least three other cities. It is possible to travel from any city to any other city using one or more roads. For each pair of cities, consider the shortest route between these two cities. What is the greatest number of roads that can be on such a shortest route?

A positive integer $n$ is given. On the segment $[0,n]$ of the real line $m$ distinct segments whose endpoints have integer coordinates are chosen. It turned out that it is impossible to choose some of thos segments such that their total length is $n$ and their union is $[0,n]$ Find the maximum possible value of $m$

There are $100$ books in a row, numbered from $1$ to $100$ in some order. An operation is choose three books and reorder in any order between them(the others $97$ books stay at the same place). Denote that a book is in [i]correct position[/i] if the book $i$ is in the position $i$. Determine the least integer $m$ such that, for any initial configuration, we can realize $m$ operations and all the books will be in the correct position.

A square table of size $7\times 7$ with the four corner squares deleted is given. [list=a] [*] What is the smallest number of squares which need to be colored black so that a $5-$square entirely uncolored Greek cross (Figure 1) cannot be found on the table? [*] Prove that it is possible to write integers in each square in a way that the sum of the integers in each Greek cross is negative while the sum of all integers in the square table is positive. [/list] [asy] size(3.5cm); usepackage("amsmath"); MP("\text{Figure }1.", (1.5, 3.5), N); DPA(box((0,1),(3,2))^^box((1,0),(2,3)), black); [/asy]

There are $2^{2018}$ positions on a circle numbered from $1$ to $2^{2018}$ in a clockwise manner. Initially, two white marbles are placed at positions $2018$ and $2019$. Before the game starts, Ping chooses to place either a black marble or a white marble at each remaining position. At the start of the game, Ping is given an integer $n$ ($0\leq n\leq 2018$) and two marbles, one black and one white. He will then move around the circle, starting at position $2n$ and moving clockwise by $2n$ positions at a time. At the starting position and each position he reaches, Ping must switch the marble at that position with a marble of the other color he carries. If he cannot do so at any position, he loses the game. Is there a way to place the $2^{2018}-2$ remaining marbles so that Ping will never lose the game regardless of the number $n$ and the number of rounds he moves around the circle?

Let $S$ be a set of $n$ points in the plane such that any two points of $S$ are at least $1$ unit apart. Prove there is a subset $T$ of $S$ with at least $\frac{n}{7}$ points such that any two points of $T$ are at least $\sqrt{3}$ units apart.

A $9\times 9$ board has a number written on each square: all squares in the first row have $1$, all squares in the second row have $2$, $\ldots$, all squares in the ninth row have $9$. We will call [i]special [/i] rectangle any rectangle of $2\times 3$ or $3\times 2$ or $4\times 5$ or $5\times 4$ on the board. The permitted operations are: $\bullet$ Simultaneously add $1$ to all the numbers located in a special rectangle. $\bullet$ Simultaneously subtract $1$ from all numbers located in a special rectangle. Demonstrate that it is possible to achieve, through a succession of permitted operations, that $80$ squares to have $0$ (zero). What number is left in the remaining box?

Someone draws at least three lines on paper. Each cuts the other lines two by two. No three lines pass through one point. He chooses a line and counts the intersection points on either side of the line. The numbers of intersections turn out to be the same. He chooses another line. Now the intersections number on one side appears to be six times as large as that on the other side. What is the minimum number of lines where this is possible? [hide=original wording of second sentence]De lijnen snijden elkaar twee aan twee.[/hide]

Let $n\geq 3$ be a positive integer. Inside a $n\times n$ array there are placed $n^2$ positive numbers with sum $n^3$. Prove that we can find a square $2\times 2$ of 4 elements of the array, having the sides parallel with the sides of the array, and for which the sum of the elements in the square is greater than $3n$. [i]Radu Gologan[/i]

Let $ S \equal{} \{x_1, x_2, \ldots, x_{k \plus{} l}\}$ be a $ (k \plus{} l)$-element set of real numbers contained in the interval $ [0, 1]$; $ k$ and $ l$ are positive integers. A $ k$-element subset $ A\subset S$ is called [i]nice[/i] if \[ \left |\frac {1}{k}\sum_{x_i\in A} x_i \minus{} \frac {1}{l}\sum_{x_j\in S\setminus A} x_j\right |\le \frac {k \plus{} l}{2kl}\] Prove that the number of nice subsets is at least $ \dfrac{2}{k \plus{} l}\dbinom{k \plus{} l}{k}$. [i]Proposed by Andrey Badzyan, Russia[/i]