Found problems: 259
A $2010\times 2010$ board is divided into corner-shaped figures of three cells. Prove that it is possible to mark one cell in each figure such that each row and each column will have the same number of marked cells.
[i]I. Bogdanov & O. Podlipsky[/i]
Decompose a $5$-dimensional real linear space into the irreducible invariant subspaces of the group generated by cyclic permutations of the basis vectors.
Find all linear homogeneous differential equations with continuous coefficients (on the whole real line) such that for any solution $ f(t)$ and any real number $ c,f(t\plus{}c)$ is also a solution.
To each vertex of a regular pentagon an integer is assigned, so that the sum of all five numbers is positive. If three consecutive vertices are assigned the numbers $x,y,z$ respectively, and $y<0$, then the following operation is allowed: $x,y,z$ are replaced by $x+y,-y,z+y$ respectively. Such an operation is performed repeatedly as long as at least one of the five numbers is negative. Determine whether this procedure necessarily comes to an end after a finite number of steps.
The numbers $1,2,...,1970$ are written on a board. One is allowed to remove $2$ numbers and to write down their difference instead. When repeated often enough, only one number remains. Show that this number is odd.
Given $v = (a,b,c,d) \in \mathbb{N}^4$, let $\Delta^{1} (v) = (|a-b|,|b-c|,|c-d|,|d-a|)$ and $\Delta^{k} (v) = \Delta(\Delta^{k-1} (v))$ for $k > 1$. Define $f(v) = \min\{k \in \mathbb{N} : \Delta^k (v) = (0,0,0,0)\}$ and $\max(v) = \max\{a,b,c,d\}.$ Show that $f(v) < 1000\log \max(v)$ for all sufficiently large $v$ and $f(v) > 0.001 \log \max (v)$ for infinitely many $v$.
Several distinct real numbers are written on a blackboard. Peter wants to create an algebraic expression such that among its values there would be these and only these numbers. He may use any real numbers, brackets, signs $+, -, \times$ and a special sign $\pm$. Usage of $\pm$ is equivalent to usage of $+$ and $-$ in all possible combinations. For instance, the expression $5 \pm 1$ results in $\{4, 6\}$, while $(2 \pm 0.5) \pm 0.5$ results in $\{1, 2, 3\}$.
Can Peter construct an expression if the numbers on the blackboard are :
(a) $1, 2, 4$ ? [i]($2$ points)[/i]
(b) any $100$ distinct real numbers ? [i]($6$ points)[/i]
Players $A$ and $B$ play a game with $N \geq 2012$ coins and $2012$ boxes arranged around a circle. Initially $A$ distributes the coins among the boxes so that there is at least $1$ coin in each box. Then the two of them make moves in the order $B,A,B,A,\ldots $ by the following rules:
[b](a)[/b] On every move of his $B$ passes $1$ coin from every box to an adjacent box.
[b](b)[/b] On every move of hers $A$ chooses several coins that were [i]not[/i] involved in $B$'s previous move and are in different boxes. She passes every coin to an adjacent box.
Player $A$'s goal is to ensure at least $1$ coin in each box after every move of hers, regardless of how $B$ plays and how many moves are made. Find the least $N$ that enables her to succeed.
Let $n\ge 1$ be an odd integer. Alice and Bob play the following game, taking alternating turns, with Alice playing first. The playing area consists of $n$ spaces, arranged in a line. Initially all spaces are empty. At each turn, a player either
• places a stone in an empty space, or
• removes a stone from a nonempty space $s,$ places a stone in the nearest empty space to the left of $s$ (if such a space exists), and places a stone in the nearest empty space to the right of $s$ (if such a space exists).
Furthermore, a move is permitted only if the resulting position has not occurred previously in the game. A player loses if he or she is unable to move. Assuming that both players play optimally throughout the game, what moves may Alice make on her first turn?
A frog begins at $P_0 = (0,0)$ and makes a sequence of jumps according to the following rule: from $P_n=(x_n,y_n)$, the frog jumps to $P_{n+1}$, which may be any of the points $(x_n+7, y_n+2)$, $(x_n+2,y_n+7)$, $(x_n-5, y_n-10)$, or $(x_n-10,y_n-5)$. There are $M$ points $(x,y)$ with $|x|+|y| \le 100$ that can be reached by a sequence of such jumps. Find the remainder when $M$ is divided by $1000$.
A group of $67$ students pass their examination consisting of $6$ questions, labeled with the numbers $1$ to $6$. A correct answer to question $n$ is quoted $n$ points and for an incorrect answer to the same question a student loses $n$ point.
a) Find the least possible positive difference between any $2$ final scores
b) Show that at least $4$ participants have the same final score
c) Show that at least $2$ students gave identical answer to all six questions.
In Happy City there are $2014$ citizens called $A_1, A_2, \dots , A_{2014}$. Each of them is either [i]happy[/i] or [i]unhappy[/i] at any moment in time. The mood of any citizen $A$ changes (from being unhappy to being happy or vice versa) if and only if some other happy citizen smiles at $A$. On Monday morning there were $N$ happy citizens in the city.
The following happened on Monday during the day: the citizen $A_1$ smiled at citizen $A_2$, then $A_2$ smiled at $A_3$, etc., and, finally, $A_{2013}$ smiled at $A_{2014}$. Nobody smiled at anyone else apart from this. Exactly the same repeated on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. There were exactly $2000$ happy citizens on Thursday evening.
Determine the largest possible value of $N$.
We are given $2n$ natural numbers
\[1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, \ldots, n - 1, n - 1, n, n.\]
Find all $n$ for which these numbers can be arranged in a row such that for each $k \leq n$, there are exactly $k$ numbers between the two numbers $k$.
The integers $-1$, $2$, $-3$, $4$, $-5$, $6$ are written on a blackboard. At each move, we erase two numbers $a$ and $b$, then we re-write $2a+b$ and $2b+a$. How many of the sextuples $(0,0,0,3,-9,9)$, $(0,1,1,3,6,-6)$, $(0,0,0,3,-6,9)$, $(0,1,1,-3,6,-9)$, $(0,0,2,5,5,6)$ can be gotten?
$
\textbf{(A)}\ 1
\qquad\textbf{(B)}\ 2
\qquad\textbf{(C)}\ 3
\qquad\textbf{(D)}\ 4
\qquad\textbf{(E)}\ 5
$
There three piles of pebbles, containing 5, 49, and 51 pebbles respectively. It is allowed to combine any two piles into a new one or to split any pile consisting of even number of pebbles into two equal piles. Is it possible to have 105 piles with one pebble in each in the end?
[i](3 points)[/i]
Sydney the squirrel is at $(0, 0)$ and is trying to get to $(2021, 2022)$. She can move only by reflecting her position over any line that can be formed by connecting two lattice points, provided that the reflection puts her on another lattice point. Is it possible for Sydney to reach $(2021, 2022)$?
Starting with the triple $(1007\sqrt{2},2014\sqrt{2},1007\sqrt{14})$, define a sequence of triples $(x_{n},y_{n},z_{n})$ by
$x_{n+1}=\sqrt{x_{n}(y_{n}+z_{n}-x_{n})}$
$y_{n+1}=\sqrt{y_{n}(z_{n}+x_{n}-y_{n})}$
$ z_{n+1}=\sqrt{z_{n}(x_{n}+y_{n}-z_{n})}$
for $n\geq 0$.Show that each of the sequences $\langle x_n\rangle _{n\geq 0},\langle y_n\rangle_{n\geq 0},\langle z_n\rangle_{n\geq 0}$ converges to a limit and find these limits.
Let $S_i$ be the sum of the first $i$ terms of the arithmetic sequence $a_1,a_2,a_3\ldots $. Show that the value of the expression
\[\frac{S_i}{i}(j-k) + \frac{S_j}{j}(k-i) +\ \frac{S_k}{k}(i-j)\]
does not depend on the numbers $i,j,k$ nor on the choice of the arithmetic sequence $a_1,a_2,a_3,\ldots$.
What is the area of the region defined by the inequality $ |3x\minus{}18|\plus{}|2y\plus{}7|\le 3$?
$ \textbf{(A)}\ 3 \qquad
\textbf{(B)}\ \frac{7}{2} \qquad
\textbf{(C)}\ 4 \qquad
\textbf{(D)}\ \frac{9}{2} \qquad
\textbf{(E)}\ 5$
Prove that $ \forall x\in \mathbb{R} $ , $ \cos ^7x+\cos ^7(x+\frac {2\pi}{3})+\cos ^7(x+\frac {4\pi}{3})=\frac {63}{64}\cos 3x $
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$.
The numbers $1, 2, 3, \ldots , 10$ are written on the blackboard. In each step, Andrew chooses two numbers $a, b$ which are written on the blackboard such that $a\geqslant 2b$, he erases them, and in their place writes the number $a-2b$.
Find all numbers $n$, such that after a sequence of steps as above, at the end only the number $n$ will remain on the blackboard.
The numbers $\frac{1}{1}, \frac{1}{2}, \cdots , \frac{1}{2012}$ are written on the blackboard. Aïcha chooses any two numbers from the blackboard, say $x$ and $y$, erases them and she writes instead the number $x + y + xy$. She continues to do this until only one number is left on the board. What are the possible values of the final number?
There are $ n$ markers, each with one side white and the other side black. In the beginning, these $ n$ markers are aligned in a row so that their white sides are all up. In each step, if possible, we choose a marker whose white side is up (but not one of the outermost markers), remove it, and reverse the closest marker to the left of it and also reverse the closest marker to the right of it. Prove that, by a finite sequence of such steps, one can achieve a state with only two markers remaining if and only if $ n \minus{} 1$ is not divisible by $ 3$.
[i]Proposed by Dusan Dukic, Serbia[/i]
A game is played on a board with an infinite row of holes labelled $0, 1, 2, \dots$. Initially, $2009$ pebbles are put into hole $1$; the other holes are left empty. Now steps are performed according to the following scheme:
(i) At each step, two pebbles are removed from one of the holes (if possible), and one pebble is put into each of the neighbouring holes.
(ii) No pebbles are ever removed from hole $0$.
(iii) The game ends if there is no hole with a positive label that contains at least two pebbles.
Show that the game always terminates, and that the number of pebbles in hole $0$ at the end of the game is independent of the specific sequence of steps. Determine this number.