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: 3597

Denote $f_n(X) \in \Bbb Z [X]$ the polynomial $\Pi_{j=1}^n ( X + j -1)$. Show that if the numbers $\alpha$ and $\beta$ satisfy $f'_{1997} (\alpha) = f'_{1999} (\beta) = 0$ , then $f_{1997} (\alpha ) \neq f_{1999} (\beta)$ .
A zig-zag in the plane consists of two parallel half-lines connected by a line segment. Find $z_n$, the maximum number of regions into which $n$ zig-zags can divide the plane. For example, $z_1=2,z_2=12$(see the diagram). Of these $z_n$ regions how many are bounded? [The zig-zags can be as narrow as you please.] Express your answers as polynomials in $n$ of degree not exceeding $2$. [asy] draw((30,0)--(-70,0), Arrow); draw((30,0)--(-20,-40)); draw((-20,-40)--(80,-40), Arrow); draw((0,-60)--(-40,20), dashed, Arrow); draw((0,-60)--(0,15), dashed); draw((0,15)--(40,-65),dashed, Arrow); [/asy]
Let $a_1,a_2,\ldots a_n,k$, and $M$ be positive integers such that $$\frac{1}{a_1}+\frac{1}{a_2}+\cdots+\frac{1}{a_n}=k\quad\text{and}\quad a_1a_2\cdots a_n=M.$$ If $M>1$, prove that the polynomial $$P(x)=M(x+1)^k-(x+a_1)(x+a_2)\cdots (x+a_n)$$ has no positive roots.
Let $ n$ be an even positive integer. Prove that there exists a positive inter $ k$ such that \[ k \equal{} f(x) \cdot (x\plus{}1)^n \plus{} g(x) \cdot (x^n \plus{} 1)\] for some polynomials $ f(x), g(x)$ having integer coefficients. If $ k_0$ denotes the least such $ k,$ determine $ k_0$ as a function of $ n,$ i.e. show that $ k_0 \equal{} 2^q$ where $ q$ is the odd integer determined by $ n \equal{} q \cdot 2^r, r \in \mathbb{N}.$ Note: This is variant A6' of the three variants given for this problem.
Let $G$ be a directed graph with infinitely many vertices. It is known that for each vertex the outdegree is greater than the indegree. Let $O$ be a fixed vertex of $G$. For an arbitrary positive number $n$, let $V_{n}$ be the number of vertices which can be reached from $O$ passing through at most $n$ edges ( $O$ counts). Find the smallest possible value of $V_{n}$.
$(a)$ Prove that for every positive integer $n$, the number of ordered pairs $(x, y)$ of integers satisfying $x^2-xy+y^2 = n$ is divisible by $3.$ $(b)$ Find all ordered pairs of integers satisfying $x^2-xy+y^2=727.$
Find all pairs $(a,b)$ of different positive integers that satisfy the equation $W(a)=W(b)$, where $W(x)=x^{4}-3x^{3}+5x^{2}-9x$.
Let $P(x)$ and $Q(x)$ be polynomials of degree $p$ and $q$ respectively such that every coefficient is $1$ or $2023$. If $P(x)$ divides $Q(x)$, prove that $p+1$ divides $q+1$.
Is there an integer coefficients polynomial $P(x)$ satisfying \[ \begin{cases} P(1+\sqrt[3]{2})=1+\sqrt[3]{2}\\ P(1+\sqrt{5})=2+3\sqrt{5}\end{cases} \]
Prove that for any positive integer $ m$ there exist an infinite number of pairs of integers $(x,y)$ such that $(\text{i})$ $x$ and $y$ are relatively prime; $(\text{ii})$ $x$ divides $y^2+m;$ $(\text{iii})$ $y$ divides $x^2+m.$
Consider a polynomial $P(x) = ax^2 + bx + c$ with $a > 0$ that has two real roots $x_1, x_2$. Prove that the absolute values of both roots are less than or equal to $1$ if and only if $a + b + c \ge 0, a -b + c \ge 0$, and $a - c \ge 0$.
Let $k,n>1$ be integers such that the number $p=2k-1$ is prime. Prove that, if the number $\binom{n}{2}-\binom{k}{2}$ is divisible by $p$, then it is divisible by $p^2$.
If $ P(x),Q(x),R(x)$, and $ S(x)$ are all polynomials such that \[ P(x^5)\plus{}xQ(x^5)\plus{}x^2R(x^5)\equal{}(x^4\plus{}x^3\plus{}x^2\plus{}x\plus{}1)S(x),\] prove that $ x\minus{}1$ is a factor of $ P(x)$.
The sum of the squares of five real numbers $a_1, a_2, a_3, a_4, a_5$ equals $1$. Prove that the least of the numbers $(a_i - a_j)^2$, where $i, j = 1, 2, 3, 4,5$ and $i \neq j$, does not exceed $\frac{1}{10}.$
Find all sequences $a_{0}, a_{1},\ldots, a_{n}$ of real numbers such that $a_{n}\neq 0$, for which the following statement is true: If $f: \mathbb{R}\to\mathbb{R}$ is an $n$ times differentiable function and $x_{0}<x_{1}<\ldots <x_{n}$ are real numbers such that $f(x_{0})=f(x_{1})=\ldots =f(x_{n})=0$ then there is $h\in (x_{0}, x_{n})$ for which \[a_{0}f(h)+a_{1}f'(h)+\ldots+a_{n}f^{(n)}(h)=0.\]
Show that there are infinitely many polynomials P with real coefficients such that if x, y, and z are real numbers such that $x^2+y^2+z^2+2xyz=1$, then $$P\left(x\right)^2+P\left(y\right)^2+P\left(z\right)^2+2P\left(x\right)P\left(y\right)P\left(z\right) = 1$$
A polynomial $ Q (x) = k_n x ^ n + k_ {n-1} x ^ {n-1} + \ldots + k_1 x + k_0 $ with real coefficients is called [i]powerful[/i] if the equality $ | k_0 | = | k_1 | + | k_2 | + \ldots + | k_ {n-1} | + | k_n | $, and [i]non-increasing[/i] , if $ k_0 \geq k_1 \geq \ldots \geq k_ {n-1} \geq k_n $. Let for the polynomial $ P (x) = a_d x ^ d + a_ {d-1} x ^ {d-1} + \ldots + a_1 x + a_0 $ with nonzero real coefficients, where $ a_d> 0 $, the polynomial $ P (x) (x-1) ^ t (x + 1) ^ s $ is [i]powerful[/i] for some non-negative integers $ s $ and $ t $ ($ s + t> 0 $). Prove that at least one of the polynomials $ P (x) $ and $ (- 1) ^ d P (-x) $ is [i]nonincreasing[/i].
Let $n$ be a positive integer. Prove that there exist polynomials$f(x)$and $g(x$) with integer coefficients such that \[f(x)\left(x + 1 \right)^{2^n}+ g(x) \left(x^{2^n}+ 1 \right) = 2.\]
Prove that for every natural number $k$ ($k \geq 2$) there exists an irrational number $r$ such that for every natural number $m$, \[[r^m] \equiv -1 \pmod k .\] [i]Remark.[/i] An easier variant: Find $r$ as a root of a polynomial of second degree with integer coefficients. [i]Proposed by Yugoslavia.[/i]
What necessary and sufficient condition should the coefficients $ a $, $ b $, $ c $, $ d $ satisfy so that the equation $$ax^3 + bx^2 + cx + d = 0$$ has two opposite roots?
Let $ a$, $ b$, $ c$ be integers each with absolute value less than or equal to $ 10$. The cubic polynomial $ f(x) \equal{} x^3 \plus{} ax^2 \plus{} bx \plus{} c$ satisfies the property \[ \Big|f\left(2 \plus{} \sqrt 3\right)\Big| < 0.0001. \] Determine if $ 2 \plus{} \sqrt 3$ is a root of $ f$.
(a) Solve for $\theta\in\mathbb{R}$: $\cos(4\theta) = \cos(3\theta)$ (b) $\cos\left(\frac{2\pi}{7}\right)$, $\cos\left(\frac{4\pi}{7}\right)$ and $\cos\left(\frac{6\pi}{7}\right)$ are the roots of an equation of the form $ax^3+bx^2+cx+d = 0$ where $a, b, c, d$ are integers. Determine $a, b, c$ and $d$.
The product of two of the four roots of the quartic equation $x^4 - 18x^3 + kx^2+200x-1984=0$ is $-32$. Determine the value of $k$.
Let $f: \mathbb{R}\to\mathbb{R}$ be a continuous function, and $a<b$ be two points in the image of $f$ (that is, there exists $x,y$ such that $f(x)=a$ and $f(y)=b$). Show that there is an interval $I$ such that $f(I)=[a,b]$.
The quadratic polynomials $f$ and $g$ with real coefficients are such that if $g(x)$ is an integer for some $x>0$, then so is $f(x)$. Prove that there exist integers $m,n$ such that $f(x)=mg(x)+n$ for all $x$.