Given positive integer $m,n$, color the points of the regular $(2m+2n)$-gon in black and white, $2m$ in black and $2n$ in white. The [i]coloring distance[/i] $d(B,C) $ of two black points $B,C$ is defined as the smaller number of white points in the two paths linking the two black points. The [i]coloring distance[/i] $d(W,X) $ of two white points $W,X$ is defined as the smaller number of black points in the two paths linking the two white points. We define the matching of black points $\mathcal{B}$ : label the $2m$ black points with $A_1,\cdots,A_m,B_1,\cdots,B_m$ satisfying no $A_iB_i$ intersects inside the gon. We define the matching of white points $\mathcal{W}$ : label the $2n$ white points with $C_1,\cdots,C_n,D_1,\cdots,D_n$ satisfying no $C_iD_i$ intersects inside the gon. We define $P(\mathcal{B})=\sum^m_{i=1}d(A_i,B_i), P(\mathcal{W} )=\sum^n_{j=1}d(C_j,D_j) $. Prove that: $\max_{\mathcal{B}}P(\mathcal{B})=\max_{\mathcal{W}}P(\mathcal{W})$

How many permutations $a_1, a_2, \ldots, a_n$ of $\{1, 2, . . ., n \}$ are sorted into increasing order by at most three repetitions of the following operation: Move from left to right and interchange $a_i$ and $a_{i+1}$ whenever $a_i > a_{i+1}$ for $i$ running from $1$ up to $n - 1 \ ?$

Let $S = \{1,2,..., 2017\}$. Find the maximal $n$ with the property that there exist $n$ distinct subsets of $S$ such that for no two subsets their union equals $S$. Proposed by Gerhard Woeginger

The $X{}$ pentomino consists of five $1\times1$ squares where four squares are all adjacent to the fifth one. Is it possible to cut nine such pentominoes from an $8\times 8$ chessboard, not necessarily cutting along grid lines? (The picture shows how to cut three such $X{}$ pentominoes.) [i]Alexandr Gribalko[/i]

Let $n \geq 3$ be a positive integer. A [i]chipped $n$-board[/i] is a $2 \times n$ checkerboard with the bottom left square removed. Lino wants to tile a chipped $n$-board and is allowed to use the following types of tiles: [list] [*] Type 1: any $1 \times k$ board where $1 \leq k \leq n$ [*] Type 2: any chipped $k$-board where $1 \leq k \leq n$ that must cover the left-most tile of the $2 \times n$ checkerboard. [/list] Two tilings $T_1$ and $T_2$ are considered the same if there is a set of consecutive Type 1 tiles in both rows of $T_1$ that can be vertically swapped to obtain the tiling $T_2$. For example, the following three tilings of a chipped $7$-board are the same: [img]http://i.imgur.com/8QaSgc0.png[/img] For any positive integer $n$ and any positive integer $1 \leq m \leq 2n - 1$, let $c_{m,n}$ be the number of distinct tilings of a chipped $n$-board using exactly $m$ tiles (any combination of tile types may be used), and define the polynomial $$P_n(x) = \sum^{2n-1}_{m=1} c_{m,n}x^m.$$ Find, with justification, polynomials $f(x)$ and $g(x)$ such that $$P_n(x) = f(x)P_{n-1}(x) + g(x)P_{n-2}(x)$$ for all $n \geq 3$.

An ant is moving on the cooridnate plane, starting form point $(0,-1)$ along a straight line until it reaches the $x$- axis at point $(x,0)$ where $x$ is a real number. After it turns $90^o$ to the left and moves again along a straight line until it reaches the $y$-axis . Then it again turns left and moves along a straight line until it reaches the $x$-axis, where it once more turns left by $90^o$ and moves along a straight line until it finally reached the $y$-axis. Can both the length of the ant's journey and distance between it's initial and final point be: (a) rational numbers ? (b) integers? Justify your answers PS. Collected [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c949609_2019_nigerian_senior_mo_round_4]here[/url]

Several segments, which we shall call white, are given, and the sum of their lengths is $1$. Several other segments, which we shall call black, are given, and the sum of their lengths is $1$. Prove that every such system of segments can be distributed on the segment that is $1.51$ long in the following way: Segments of the same colour are disjoint, and segments of different colours are either disjoint or one is inside the other. Prove that there exists a system that cannot be distributed in that way on the segment that is $1.49$ long.

Let $m$ and $n$ be positive integers greater than $1$. In each unit square of an $m\times n$ grid lies a coin with its tail side up. A [i]move[/i] consists of the following steps. [list=1] [*]select a $2\times 2$ square in the grid; [*]flip the coins in the top-left and bottom-right unit squares; [*]flip the coin in either the top-right or bottom-left unit square. [/list] Determine all pairs $(m,n)$ for which it is possible that every coin shows head-side up after a finite number of moves. [i]Thanasin Nampaisarn, Thailand[/i]

[b]p1.[/b] It takes $12$ months for Santa Claus to pack gifts. It would take $20$ months for his apprentice to do the job. If they work together, how long will it take for them to pack the gifts? [b]p2.[/b] All passengers on a bus sit in pairs. Exactly $2/5$ of all men sit with women, exactly $2/3$ of all women sit with men. What part of passengers are men? [b]p3.[/b] There are $100$ colored balls in a box. Every $10$-tuple of balls contains at least two balls of the same color. Show that there are at least $12$ balls of the same color in the box. [b]p4.[/b] There are $81$ wheels in storage marked by their two types, say first and second type. Wheels of the same type weigh equally. Any wheel of the second type is much lighter than a wheel of the first type. It is known that exactly one wheel is marked incorrectly. Show that one can determine which wheel is incorrectly marked with four measurements. [b]p5.[/b] Remove from the figure below the specified number of matches so that there are exactly $5$ squares of equal size left: (a) $8$ matches (b) $4$ matches [img]https://cdn.artofproblemsolving.com/attachments/4/b/0c5a65f2d9b72fbea50df12e328c024a0c7884.png[/img] PS. You should use hide for answers. Collected [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h2760506p24143309]here[/url].

On a $2\times 40$ chessboard colored black and white in the standard alternating pattern, $20$ rooks are placed randomly on the black squares. The expected number of white squares with only rooks as neighbors can be expressed as $a/b$, where $a$ and $b$ are coprime positive integers. What is $a + b$? (Two squares are said to be neighbors if they share an edge.)

Let $ n\ge 2 $ be a positive integer and $ S= \{1,2,\cdots ,n\} $. Let two functions $ f:S \rightarrow \{1,-1\} $ and $ g:S \rightarrow S $ satisfy: i) $ f(x)f(y)=f(x+y) , \forall x,y \in S $ \\ ii) $ f(g(x))=f(x) , \forall x \in S $\\ iii) $f(x+n)=f(x) ,\forall x \in S$\\ iv) $ g $ is bijective.\\ Find the number of pair of such functions $ (f,g)$ for every $n$.

[b]p1.[/b] $\vartriangle DEF$ is constructed from equilateral $\vartriangle ABC$ by choosing $D$ on $AB$, $E$ on $BC$ and $F$ on $CA$ so that $\frac{DB}{AB}=\frac{EC}{BC}=\frac{FA}{CA}=a$, where $a$ is a number between $0$ and $1/2$. (a) Show that $\vartriangle DEF$ is also equilateral. (b) Determine the value of $a$ that makes the area of $\vartriangle DEF$ equal to one half the area of $\vartriangle ABC$. [b]p2.[/b] A bowl contains some red balls and some white balls. The following operation is repeated until only one ball remains in the bowl: Two balls are drawn at random from the bowl. If they have different colors, then the red one is discarded and the white one is returned to the bowl. If they have the same color, then both are discarded and a red ball (from an outside supply of red balls) is added to the bowl. (Note that this operation—in either case—reduces the number of balls in the bowl by one.) (a) Show that if the bowl originally contained exactly $1$ red ball and $ 2$ white balls, then the color of the ball remaining at the end (i.e., after two applications of the operation) does not depend on chance, and determine the color of this remaining ball. (b) Suppose the bowl originally contained exactly $1986$ red balls and $1986$ white balls. Show again that the color of the ball remaining at the end does not depend on chance and determine its color. [b]p3.[/b] Let $a, b$, and $c$ be three consecutive positive integers, with $a < b < c.$ (a) Show that $ab$ cannot be the square of an integer. (b) Show that $ac$ cannot be the square of an integer. (c) Show that $abc$ cannot be the square of an integer. [b]p4.[/b] Consider the system of equations $$\sqrt{x}+\sqrt{y}=2$$ $$ x^2+y^2=5$$ (a) Show (algebraically or graphically) that there are two or more solutions in real numbers $x$ and $y$. (b) The graphs of the two given equations intersect in exactly two points. Find the equation of the straight line passing through these two points of intersection. [b]p5.[/b] Let $n$ and $m$ be positive integers. An $n \times m $ rectangle is tiled with unit squares. Let $r(n, m)$ denote the number of rectangles formed by the edges of these unit squares. Thus, for example, $r(2, 1) = 3$. (a) Find $r(2, 3)$. (b) Find $r(n, 1)$. (c) Find, with justification, a formula for $r(n, m)$. PS. You should use hide for answers. Collected [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h2760506p24143309]here[/url].

Let $N$ be an odd number, $N\geq 3$. $N$ tennis players take part in a championship. Before starting the championship, a commission puts the players in a row depending on how good they think the players are. During the championship, every player plays with every other player exactly once, and each match has a winner. A match is called [i]suprising[/i] if the winner was rated lower by the commission. At the end of the tournament, players are arranged in a line based on the number of victories they have achieved. In the event of a tie, the commission's initial order is used to decide which player will be higher. It turns out that the final order is exactly the same as the commission's initial order. What is the maximal number of suprising matches that could have happened.

There are $24$ participants attended a meeting. Each two of them shook hands once or not. A total of $216$ handshakes occured in the meeting. For any two participants who have shaken hands, at most $10$ among the rest $22$ participants have shaken hands with exactly one of these two persons. Define a [i]friend circle[/i] to be a group of $3$ participants in which each person has shaken hands with the other two. Find the minimum possible value of friend circles.

Five girls and five boys took part in a competition. Suppose that we can number the boys and girls $1, 2, 3, 4, 5$ such that for each $1 \leq i,j \leq 5$, there are exactly $|i-j|$ contestants that the girl numbered $i$ and the boy numbered $j$ both know. Let $a_i$ and $b_i$ be the number of contestants that the girl numbered $i$ knows and the number of contestants that the boy numbered $i$ knows respectively. Find the minimum value of $\max(\sum\limits_{i=1}^5a_i, \sum\limits_{i=1}^5b_i)$. (Note that for a pair of contestants $A$ and $B$, $A$ knowing $B$ doesn't mean that $B$ knows $A$ and a contestant cannot know themself.)

12. What is the sum of all possible $\left(\begin{array}{l}i \\ j\end{array}\right)$ subject to the restrictions that $i \geq 10, j \geq 0$, and $i+j \leq 20$ ? Count different $i, j$ that yield the same value separately - for example, count both $\left(\begin{array}{c}10 \\ 1\end{array}\right)$ and $\left(\begin{array}{c}10 \\ 9\end{array}\right)$.

Let $n > 1$ be a given integer. An $n \times n \times n$ cube is composed of $n^3$ unit cubes. Each unit cube is painted with one colour. For each $n \times n \times 1$ box consisting of $n^2$ unit cubes (in any of the three possible orientations), we consider the set of colours present in that box (each colour is listed only once). This way, we get $3n$ sets of colours, split into three groups according to the orientation. It happens that for every set in any group, the same set appears in both of the other groups. Determine, in terms of $n$, the maximal possible number of colours that are present.

$8$ CPLP football teams competed in a championship in which each team played one and only time with each of the other teams. In football, each win is worth $3$ points, each draw is worth $1$ point and the defeated team does not score. In that championship four teams were in first place with $15$ points and the others four came in second with $N$ points each. Knowing that there were $12$ draws throughout the championship, determine $N$.

A bug is walking on the surface of a Rubik's cube(cube $3 \times 3 \times 3$). It can go to the adjacent cell on the same face or on the adjacent face. One day the bug started walking from some cell and returned to it, and visited all other cells exactly once. Prove that he made an even amount of moves that changed the face he is on.

There are some balls, on each of which a positive integer not exceeding $14$ (and not necessarily distinct) is written, and the sum of the numbers on all balls is $S$. Find the greatest possible value of $S$ such that, regardless of what the integers are, one can ensure that the balls can be divided into two piles so that the sum of the numbers on the balls in each pile does not exceed $129$.

Find the digits left and right of the decimal point in the decimal form of the number \[ (\sqrt{2} + \sqrt{3})^{1980}. \]

[b]p1.[/b] Given an equilateral triangle $ABC$ with area $16\sqrt3$, and an interior point $P$ with distances from vertices $|AP| = 4$ and $|BP| = 6$. (a) Find the length of each side. (b) Find the distance from point $P$ to the side $AB$. (c) Find the distance $|PC|$. [b]p2.[/b] Several players play the following game. They form a circle and each in turn tosses a fair coin. If the coin comes up heads, that player drops out of the game and the circle becomes smaller, if it comes up tails that player remains in the game until his or her next turn to toss. When only one player is left, he or she is the winner. For convenience let us name them $A$ (who tosses first), $B$ (second), $C$ (third, if there is a third), etc. (a) If there are only two players, what is the probability that $A$ (the first) wins? (b) If there are exactly $3$ players, what is the probability that $A$ (the first) wins? (c) If there are exactly $3$ players, what is the probability that $B$ (the second) wins? [b]p3.[/b] A circular castle of radius $r$ is surrounded by a circular moat of width $m$ ($m$ is the shortest distance from each point of the castle wall to its nearest point on shore outside the moat). Life guards are to be placed around the outer edge of the moat, so that at least one life guard can see anyone swimming in the moat. (a) If the radius $r$ is $140$ feet and there are only $3$ life guards available, what is the minimum possible width of moat they can watch? (b) Find the minimum number of life guards needed as a function of $r$ and $m$. [img]https://cdn.artofproblemsolving.com/attachments/a/8/d7ff0e1227f9dcf7e49fe770f7dae928581943.png[/img] [b]p4.[/b] (a)Find all linear (first degree or less) polynomials $f(x)$ with the property that $f(g(x)) = g(f(x))$ for all linear polynomials $g(x)$. (b) Prove your answer to part (a). (c) Find all polynomials $f(x)$ with the property that $f(g(x)) = g(f(x))$ for all polynomials $g(x)$. (d) Prove your answer to part (c). [b]p5.[/b] A non-empty set $B$ of integers has the following two properties: i. each number $x$ in the set can be written as a sum $x = y+ z$ for some $y$ and $z$ in the set $B$. (Warning: $y$ and $z$ may or may not be distinct for a given $x$.) ii. the number $0$ can not be written as a sum $0 = y + z$ for any $y$ and $z$ in the set $B$. (a) Find such a set $B$ with exactly $6$ elements. (b) Find such a set $B$ with exactly $6$ elements, and such that the sum of all the $6$ elements is $1988$. (c) What is the smallest possible size of such a set $B$ ? (d) Prove your answer to part (c). PS. You should use hide for answers. Collected [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h2760506p24143309]here[/url].

[u]Part 1[/u] [b]p1.[/b] Two kids $A$ and $B$ play a game as follows: From a box containing $n$ marbles ($n > 1$), they alternately take some marbles for themselves, such that: 1. $A$ goes first. 2. The number of marbles taken by $A$ in his first turn, denoted by $k$, must be between $1$ and $n$, inclusive. 3. The number of marbles taken in a turn by any player must be between $1$ and $k$, inclusive. The winner is the one who takes the last marble. What is the sum of all $n$ for which $B$ has a winning strategy? [b]p2.[/b] How many ways can your rearrange the letters of "Alejandro" such that it contains exactly one pair of adjacent vowels? [b]p3.[/b] Assuming real values for $p, q, r$, and $s$, the equation $$x^4 + px^3 + qx^2 + rx + s$$ has four non-real roots. The sum of two of these roots is $q + 6i$, and the product of the other two roots is $3 - 4i$. Find the smallest value of $q$. [b]p4.[/b] Lisa has a $3$D box that is $48$ units long, $140$ units high, and $126$ units wide. She shines a laser beam into the box through one of the corners, at a $45^o$ angle with respect to all of the sides of the box. Whenever the laser beam hits a side of the box, it is reflected perfectly, again at a $45^o$ angle. Compute the distance the laser beam travels until it hits one of the eight corners of the box. [u]Part 2[/u] [b]p5.[/b] How many ways can you divide a heptagon into five non-overlapping triangles such that the vertices of the triangles are vertices of the heptagon? [b]p6.[/b] Let $a$ be the greatest root of $y = x^3 + 7x^2 - 14x - 48$. Let $b$ be the number of ways to pick a group of $a$ people out of a collection of $a^2$ people. Find $\frac{b}{2}$ . [b]p7.[/b] Consider the equation $$1 -\frac{1}{d}=\frac{1}{a}+\frac{1}{b}+\frac{1}{c},$$ with $a, b, c$, and $d$ being positive integers. What is the largest value for $d$? [b]p8.[/b] The number of non-negative integers $x_1, x_2,..., x_{12}$ such that $$x_1 + x_2 + ... + x_{12} \le 17$$ can be expressed in the form ${a \choose b}$ , where $2b \le a$. Find $a + b$. [u]Part 3[/u] [b]p9.[/b] In the diagram below, $AB$ is tangent to circle $O$. Given that $AC = 15$, $AB = 27/2$, and $BD = 243/34$, compute the area of $\vartriangle ABC$. [img]https://cdn.artofproblemsolving.com/attachments/b/f/b403e5e188916ac4fb1b0ba74adb7f1e50e86a.png[/img] [b]p10.[/b] If $$\left[2^{\log x}\right]^{[x^{\log 2}]^{[2^{\log x}]...}}= 2, $$ where $\log x$ is the base-$10$ logarithm of $x$, then it follows that $x =\sqrt{n}$. Compute $n^2$. [b]p11.[/b] [b]p12.[/b] Find $n$ in the equation $$133^5 + 110^5 + 84^5 + 27^5 = n^5, $$ where $n$ is an integer less than $170$. [u]Part 4[/u] [b]p13.[/b] Let $x$ be the answer to number $14$, and $z$ be the answer to number $16$. Define $f(n)$ as the number of distinct two-digit integers that can be formed from digits in $n$. For example, $f(15) = 4$ because the integers $11$, $15$, $51$, $55$ can be formed from digits of $15$. Let $w$ be such that $f(3xz - w) = w$. Find $w$. [b]p14.[/b] Let $w$ be the answer to number $13$ and $z$ be the answer to number $16$. Let $x$ be such that the coefficient of $a^xb^x$ in $(a + b)^{2x}$ is $5z^2 + 2w - 1$. Find $x$. [b]p15.[/b] Let $w$ be the answer to number $13$, $x$ be the answer to number $14$, and $z$ be the answer to number $16$. Let $A$, $B$, $C$, $D$ be points on a circle, in that order, such that $\overline{AD}$ is a diameter of the circle. Let $E$ be the intersection of $\overleftrightarrow{AB}$ and $\overleftrightarrow{DC}$, let $F$ be the intersection of $\overleftrightarrow{AC}$ and $\overleftrightarrow{BD}$, and let $G$ be the intersection of $\overleftrightarrow{EF}$ and $\overleftrightarrow{AD}$. Now, let $AE = 3x$, $ED = w^2 - w + 1$, and $AD = 2z$. If $FG = y$, find $y$. [b]p16.[/b] Let $w$ be the answer to number $13$, and $x$ be the answer to number $16$. Let $z$ be the number of integers $n$ in the set $S = \{w,w + 1, ... ,16x - 1, 16x\}$ such that $n^2 + n^3$ is a perfect square. Find $z$. PS. You had better use hide for answers. Collected [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h2760506p24143309]here[/url].

Let $A_1,A_2,...,A_n$ be $n \ge 2$ distinct points on a circle. Find the number of colorings of these points with $p \ge 2$ colors such that every two adjacent points receive different colors

Let $n \ge 3$ points be given in the plane, no three of which lie on the same line. Determine whether it is always possible to draw an $n$-gon whose vertices are the given points and whose sides do not intersect. [i]Remark.[/i] The $n$-gon can be concave.