This website contains problems from math contests. Problems and corresponding tags were obtained from the Art of Problem Solving website.

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Found problems: 429

Find the biggest real number $C$, such that for every different positive real numbers $a_1,a_2...a_{2019}$ that satisfy inequality : $\frac{a_1}{|a_2-a_3|} + \frac{a_2}{|a_3-a_4|} + ... + \frac{a_{2019}}{|a_1-a_2|} > C$
Let $\mathcal{P}$ be a convex polygon and $\textbf{T}$ be a triangle with vertices among the vertices of $\mathcal{P}$. By removing $\textbf{T}$ from $\mathcal{P}$, we end up with $0, 1, 2,$ or $3$ smaller polygons (possibly with shared vertices) which we call the effect of $\textbf{T}$. A triangulation of $P$ is a way of dissecting it into some triangles using some non-intersecting diagonals. We call a triangulation of $\mathcal{P}$ $\underline{\text{beautiful}}$, if for each of its triangles, the effect of this triangle contains exactly one polygon with an odd number of vertices. Prove that a triangulation of $\mathcal{P}$ is beautiful if and only if we can remove some of its diagonals and end up with all regions as quadrilaterals.
Let $n\geqslant 2$ be a positive integer. Paul has a $1\times n^2$ rectangular strip consisting of $n^2$ unit squares, where the $i^{\text{th}}$ square is labelled with $i$ for all $1\leqslant i\leqslant n^2$. He wishes to cut the strip into several pieces, where each piece consists of a number of consecutive unit squares, and then [i]translate[/i] (without rotating or flipping) the pieces to obtain an $n\times n$ square satisfying the following property: if the unit square in the $i^{\text{th}}$ row and $j^{\text{th}}$ column is labelled with $a_{ij}$, then $a_{ij}-(i+j-1)$ is divisible by $n$. Determine the smallest number of pieces Paul needs to make in order to accomplish this.
$2017$ engineers attend a conference. Any two engineers if they converse, converse with each other in either Chinese or English. No two engineers converse with each other more than once. It is known that within any four engineers, there was an even number of conversations and furthermore within this even number of conversations: i) At least one conversation is in Chinese. ii) Either no conversations are in English or the number of English conversations is at least that of Chinese conversations. Show that there exists $673$ engineers such that any two of them conversed with each other in Chinese.
Given a finite set of points in the plane, each with integer coordinates, is it always possible to color the points red or white so that for any straight line $L$ parallel to one of the coordinate axes the difference (in absolute value) between the numbers of white and red points on $L$ is not greater than $1$?
Determine all integers $ n\geq 2$ having the following property: for any integers $a_1,a_2,\ldots, a_n$ whose sum is not divisible by $n$, there exists an index $1 \leq i \leq n$ such that none of the numbers $$a_i,a_i+a_{i+1},\ldots,a_i+a_{i+1}+\ldots+a_{i+n-1}$$ is divisible by $n$. Here, we let $a_i=a_{i-n}$ when $i >n$. [i]Proposed by Warut Suksompong, Thailand[/i]
In a company of people some pairs are enemies. A group of people is called [i]unsociable[/i] if the number of members in the group is odd and at least $3$, and it is possible to arrange all its members around a round table so that every two neighbors are enemies. Given that there are at most $2015$ unsociable groups, prove that it is possible to partition the company into $11$ parts so that no two enemies are in the same part. [i]Proposed by Russia[/i]
Ivan is playing Lego with $4n^2$ $1 \times 2$ blocks. First, he places $2n^2$ $1 \times 2$ blocks to fit a $2n \times 2n$ square as the bottom layer. Then he builds the top layer on top of the bottom layer using the remaining $2n^2$ $1 \times 2$ blocks. Note that the blocks in the bottom layer are connected to the blocks above it in the top layer, just like real Lego blocks. He wants the whole two-layered building to be connected and not in seperate pieces. Prove that if he can do so, then the four $1\times 2$ blocks connecting the four corners of the bottom layer, must be all placed horizontally or all vertically. [i]Proposed by Ivan Chan Kai Chin[/i]
There are $ n \geq 5$ pairwise different points in the plane. For every point, there are just four points whose distance from which is $ 1$. Find the maximum value of $ n$.
On a flat plane in Camelot, King Arthur builds a labyrinth $\mathfrak{L}$ consisting of $n$ walls, each of which is an infinite straight line. No two walls are parallel, and no three walls have a common point. Merlin then paints one side of each wall entirely red and the other side entirely blue. At the intersection of two walls there are four corners: two diagonally opposite corners where a red side and a blue side meet, one corner where two red sides meet, and one corner where two blue sides meet. At each such intersection, there is a two-way door connecting the two diagonally opposite corners at which sides of different colours meet. After Merlin paints the walls, Morgana then places some knights in the labyrinth. The knights can walk through doors, but cannot walk through walls. Let $k(\mathfrak{L})$ be the largest number $k$ such that, no matter how Merlin paints the labyrinth $\mathfrak{L},$ Morgana can always place at least $k$ knights such that no two of them can ever meet. For each $n,$ what are all possible values for $k(\mathfrak{L}),$ where $\mathfrak{L}$ is a labyrinth with $n$ walls?
Let ${n}$ and $k$ be positive integers. There are given ${n}$ circles in the plane. Every two of them intersect at two distinct points, and all points of intersection they determine are pairwise distinct (i. e. no three circles have a common point). No three circles have a point in common. Each intersection point must be colored with one of $n$ distinct colors so that each color is used at least once and exactly $k$ distinct colors occur on each circle. Find all values of $n\geq 2$ and $k$ for which such a coloring is possible. [i]Proposed by Horst Sewerin, Germany[/i]
Given that $a_1, a_2, \ldots,a_{2020}$ are integers, find the maximal number of subsequences $a_i,a_{i+1}, ..., a_j$ ($0<i\leq j<2021$) with with sum $2021$
A function $f(S)$ assigns to each nine-element subset of $S$ of the set $\{1,2,\ldots, 20\}$ a whole number from $1$ to $20$. Prove that regardless of how the function $f$ is chosen, there will be a ten-element subset $T\subset\{1,2,\ldots, 20\}$ such that $f(T - \{k\})\neq k$ for all $k\in T$.
Consider a checkered $3m\times 3m$ square, where $m$ is an integer greater than $1.$ A frog sits on the lower left corner cell $S$ and wants to get to the upper right corner cell $F.$ The frog can hop from any cell to either the next cell to the right or the next cell upwards. Some cells can be [i]sticky[/i], and the frog gets trapped once it hops on such a cell. A set $X$ of cells is called [i]blocking[/i] if the frog cannot reach $F$ from $S$ when all the cells of $X$ are sticky. A blocking set is [i] minimal[/i] if it does not contain a smaller blocking set.[list=a][*]Prove that there exists a minimal blocking set containing at least $3m^2-3m$ cells. [*]Prove that every minimal blocking set containing at most $3m^2$ cells.
The figure below shows a ring made of six small sections which you are to paint on a wall. You have four paint colors available and will paint each of the six sections a solid color. Find the number of ways you can choose to paint each of the six sections if no two adjacent section can be painted with the same color. [asy] size(3cm); draw(unitcircle); draw(scale(0.6)*unitcircle); for(int i = 0; i < 6; ++i){ draw(dir(60*i)--0.6*dir(60*i)); } [/asy]
Given a simple, connected graph with $n$ vertices and $m$ edges. Prove that one can find at least $m$ ways separating the set of vertices into two parts, such that the induced subgraphs on both parts are connected.
A league consists of $2024$ players. A [i]round[/i] involves splitting the players into two different teams and having every member of one team play with every member of the other team. A round is called [i]balanced[/i] if both teams have an equal number of players. A tournament consists of several rounds at the end of which any two players have played each other. The committee organised a tournament last year which consisted of $N$ rounds. Prove that the committee can organise a tournament this year with $N$ balanced rounds. [i]Proposed by Anant Mudgal and Navilarekallu Tejaswi[/i]
For $f(x)=\frac{1}{x}\ (x>0)$, prove the following inequality. \[f\left(t+\frac 12 \right)\leq \int_t^{t+1} f(x)\ dx\leq \frac 16\left\{f(t)+4f\left(t+\frac 12\right)+f(t+1)\right\}\]
For each prime $p$, construct a graph $G_p$ on $\{1,2,\ldots p\}$, where $m\neq n$ are adjacent if and only if $p$ divides $(m^{2} + 1-n)(n^{2} + 1-m)$. Prove that $G_p$ is disconnected for infinitely many $p$
There are $n$ circles drawn on a piece of paper in such a way that any two circles intersect in two points, and no three circles pass through the same point. Turbo the snail slides along the circles in the following fashion. Initially he moves on one of the circles in clockwise direction. Turbo always keeps sliding along the current circle until he reaches an intersection with another circle. Then he continues his journey on this new circle and also changes the direction of moving, i.e. from clockwise to anticlockwise or $\textit{vice versa}$. Suppose that Turbo’s path entirely covers all circles. Prove that $n$ must be odd. [i]Proposed by Tejaswi Navilarekallu, India[/i]
Let $k$ be a positive integer. Two players $A$ and $B$ play a game on an infinite grid of regular hexagons. Initially all the grid cells are empty. Then the players alternately take turns with $A$ moving first. In his move, $A$ may choose two adjacent hexagons in the grid which are empty and place a counter in both of them. In his move, $B$ may choose any counter on the board and remove it. If at any time there are $k$ consecutive grid cells in a line all of which contain a counter, $A$ wins. Find the minimum value of $k$ for which $A$ cannot win in a finite number of moves, or prove that no such minimum value exists.
Let $n\geqslant 2$ be a positive integer. Paul has a $1\times n^2$ rectangular strip consisting of $n^2$ unit squares, where the $i^{\text{th}}$ square is labelled with $i$ for all $1\leqslant i\leqslant n^2$. He wishes to cut the strip into several pieces, where each piece consists of a number of consecutive unit squares, and then [i]translate[/i] (without rotating or flipping) the pieces to obtain an $n\times n$ square satisfying the following property: if the unit square in the $i^{\text{th}}$ row and $j^{\text{th}}$ column is labelled with $a_{ij}$, then $a_{ij}-(i+j-1)$ is divisible by $n$. Determine the smallest number of pieces Paul needs to make in order to accomplish this.
Given a finite set of points in the plane, each with integer coordinates, is it always possible to color the points red or white so that for any straight line $L$ parallel to one of the coordinate axes the difference (in absolute value) between the numbers of white and red points on $L$ is not greater than $1$?
Here $G_{n}$ denotes a simple undirected graph with $n$ vertices, $K_{n}$ denotes the complete graph with $n$ vertices, $K_{n,m}$ the complete bipartite graph whose components have $m$ and $n$ vertices, and $C_{n}$ a circuit with $n$ vertices. The number of edges in the graph $G_{n}$ is denoted $e(G_{n})$. The edges of $K_{n}(n \geq 3)$ are colored with $n$ colors, and every color is used. Show that there is a triangle whose sides have different colors.
Let $n$ be a positive integer. Define a chameleon to be any sequence of $3n$ letters, with exactly $n$ occurrences of each of the letters $a, b,$ and $c$. Define a swap to be the transposition of two adjacent letters in a chameleon. Prove that for any chameleon $X$ , there exists a chameleon $Y$ such that $X$ cannot be changed to $Y$ using fewer than $3n^2/2$ swaps.