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: 307

The sequences $a_1, a_2, a_3,...$ and $b_1, b_2, b_3,... $suffices for all positive integers $n$ of the following recursion: $a_{n+1} = a_n - b_n$ and $b_{n+1} = 2b_n$, if $a_n \ge b_n$, $a_{n+1} = 2a_n$ and $b_{n+1} = b_n - a_n$, if $a_n < b_n$. For which pairs $(a_1, b_1)$ of positive real initial terms is there an index $k$ with $a_k = 0$?
Periodic sequences $(a_n),(b_n),(c_n)$ and $(d_n)$ satisfy the following conditions: $$a_{n+1}=a_n+b_n,\enspace\enspace b_{n+1}=b_n+c_n,$$ $$c_{n+1}=c_n+d_n,\enspace\enspace d_{n+1}=d_n+a_n,$$ for $n=1,2,\ldots$. Prove that $a_2=b_2=c_2=d_2=0$.
Let $a_n$ be a sequence of positive numbers such that: i) $\dfrac{a_{n+2}}{a_n}=\dfrac{1}{4}$, for every $n\in\mathbb{N}^{\star}$ ii) $\dfrac{a_{k+1}}{a_k}+\dfrac{a_{n+1}}{a_n}=1$, for every $ k,n\in\mathbb{N}^{\star}$ with $|k-n|\neq 1$. (a) Prove that $(a_n)$ is a geometric progression. (n) Prove that exists $t>0$, such that $\sqrt{a_{n+1}}\leq \dfrac{1}{2}a_n+t$
The sequence $a_i$ is defined as $a_1 = 2, a_2 = 3$, and $a_{n+1} = 2a_{n-1}$ or $a_{n+1} = 3a_n - 2a_{n-1}$ for all integers $n \ge 2$. Prove that no term in $a_i$ is in the range $[1612, 2012]$.
Let $P_1(x)=\frac{1}{x}$ and $P_n(x)=P_{n-1}(x)+P_{n-1}(x-1)$ for every natural $ n$ greater than $1$. Find the value of $P_{2008}(2008)$. [i](Mathophile)[/i]
Let $m\ge2$ be an integer. The sequence $(a_n)_{n\in\mathbb N}$ is defined by $a_0=0$ and $a_n=\left\lfloor\frac nm\right\rfloor+a_{\left\lfloor\frac nm\right\rfloor}$ for all $n$. Determine $\lim_{n\to\infty}\frac{a_n}n$.
Let $p_n$ be a bounded sequence of integers which satisfies the recursion $$p_n =\frac{p_{n-1} +p_{n-2} + p_{n-3}p _{n-4}}{p_{n-1} p_{n-2}+ p_{n-3} +p_{n-4}}.$$ Show that the sequence eventually becomes periodic.
Two sequences $(a_k)_{k\ge 0}$ and $(b_k)_{k\ge 0}$ of integers are given by $b_k = a_k + 9$ and $a_{k+1} = 8b_k + 8$ for $k\ge 0$. Suppose that the number $1988$ occurs in one of these sequences. Show that the sequence $(a_k)$ does not contain any nonzero perfect square.
The sequence $(a_n)$ is defined by $a_1 = 1$ and $a_{n+1} = \sqrt{a_n^2 +\frac{1}{a_n}}$ for $n \ge 1$. Prove that there exists $a$ such that $\frac{1}{2} \le \frac{a_n}{n^a} \le 2$ for $n \ge 1$.
Let $n$ be an integer greater than $1$. Define \[x_1 = n, y_1 = 1, x_{i+1} =\left[ \frac{x_i+y_i}{2}\right] , y_{i+1} = \left[ \frac{n}{x_{i+1}}\right], \qquad \text{for }i = 1, 2, \ldots\ ,\] where $[z]$ denotes the largest integer less than or equal to $z$. Prove that \[ \min \{x_1, x_2, \ldots, x_n \} =[ \sqrt n ]\]
Let $f(m,1)=f(1,n)=1$ for $m\geq 1, n\geq 1$ and let $f(m,n)=f(m-1, n)+ f(m, n-1) +f(m-1 ,n-1)$ for $m>1$ and $n>1$. Also let $$ S(n)= \sum_{a+b=n} f(a,b) \,\,\;\; a\geq 1 \,\, \text{and} \,\; b\geq 1.$$ Prove that $$S(n+2) =S(n) +2S(n+1) \,\, \; \text{for} \, \, n \geq 2.$$
For a positive integer $K$, de fine a sequence, $\{a_n\}$, as following: $a_1 = K$ and $a_{n+1} =a_n -1$ if $a_n$ is even $a_{n+1} =\frac{a_n - 1}{2}$ if $a_n$ is odd , for all $n \ge 1$. Find the smallest value of $K$, which makes $a_{2005}$ the first term equal to $0$.
Let $ a, b \in \mathbb{N}$ with $ 1 \leq a \leq b,$ and $ M \equal{} \left[\frac {a \plus{} b}{2} \right].$ Define a function $ f: \mathbb{Z} \mapsto \mathbb{Z}$ by \[ f(n) \equal{} \begin{cases} n \plus{} a, & \text{if } n \leq M, \\ n \minus{} b, & \text{if } n >M. \end{cases} \] Let $ f^1(n) \equal{} f(n),$ $ f_{i \plus{} 1}(n) \equal{} f(f^i(n)),$ $ i \equal{} 1, 2, \ldots$ Find the smallest natural number $ k$ such that $ f^k(0) \equal{} 0.$
Let $x_0, a, b$ be reals given such that $b > 0$ and $x_0 \ne 0$. For every nonnegative integer $n$ a real value $x_{n+1}$ is chosen that satisfies $$x^2_{n+1}= ax_nx_{n+1} + bx^2_n .$$ a) Find how many different values $x_n$ can take. b) Find the sum of all possible values of $x_n$ with repetitions as a function of $n, x_0, a, b$.
Let $a_1=2020$ and let $a_{n+1}=\sqrt{2020+a_n}$ for $n\ge 1$. How much is $\left\lfloor a_{2020}\right\rfloor$? Note: $\lfloor x\rfloor$ denotes the integer part of a number, that is that is, the immediate integer less than $x$. For example, $\lfloor 2.71\rfloor=2$ and $\lfloor \pi\rfloor=3$.
We consider the sequence $t_1,t_2,t_3,...$ By $P_n$ we mean the product of the first $n$ terms of the sequence. Given that $t_{n+1} = t_n \cdot t_{n+2}$ for each $n$, and that $P_{40} = P_{80} = 8$. Calculate $t_1$ and $t_2$.
Let $\{a_n\}^\infty_{n=0}$ be the sequence of integers such that $a_0=1$, $a_1=1$, $a_{n+2}=2a_{n+1}-2a_n$. Decide whether $$a_n=\sum_{k=0}^{\left\lfloor\frac n2\right\rfloor}\binom n{2k}(-1)^k.$$
Let $a$ be a positive integer and let $\{a_n\}$ be defined by $a_0 = 0$ and \[a_{n+1 }= (a_n + 1)a + (a + 1)a_n + 2 \sqrt{a(a + 1)a_n(a_n + 1)} \qquad (n = 1, 2 ,\dots ).\] Show that for each positive integer $n$, $a_n$ is a positive integer.
Find all positive integers $a_1, a_2, \ldots, a_n$ such that \[ \frac{99}{100} = \frac{a_0}{a_1} + \frac{a_1}{a_2} + \cdots + \frac{a_{n-1}}{a_n}, \] where $a_0 = 1$ and $(a_{k+1}-1)a_{k-1} \geq a_k^2(a_k - 1)$ for $k = 1,2,\ldots,n-1$.
A sequence of real numbers $ a_{0},\ a_{1},\ a_{2},\dots$ is defined by the formula \[ a_{i \plus{} 1} \equal{} \left\lfloor a_{i}\right\rfloor\cdot \left\langle a_{i}\right\rangle\qquad\text{for}\quad i\geq 0; \]here $a_0$ is an arbitrary real number, $\lfloor a_i\rfloor$ denotes the greatest integer not exceeding $a_i$, and $\left\langle a_i\right\rangle=a_i-\lfloor a_i\rfloor$. Prove that $a_i=a_{i+2}$ for $i$ sufficiently large. [i]Proposed by Harmel Nestra, Estionia[/i]
$(GDR 3)$ Find the number of permutations $a_1, \cdots, a_n$ of the set $\{1, 2, . . ., n\}$ such that $|a_i - a_{i+1}| \neq 1$ for all $i = 1, 2, . . ., n - 1.$ Find a recurrence formula and evaluate the number of such permutations for $n \le 6.$
The sequence $f_1, f_2, \cdots, f_n, \cdots $ of functions is defined for $x > 0$ recursively by \[f_1(x)=x , \quad f_{n+1}(x) = f_n(x) \left(f_n(x) + \frac 1n \right)\] Prove that there exists one and only one positive number $a$ such that $0 < f_n(a) < f_{n+1}(a) < 1$ for all integers $n \geq 1.$
Let $T_k = k - 1$ for $k = 1, 2, 3,4$ and \[T_{2k-1} = T_{2k-2} + 2^{k-2}, T_{2k} = T_{2k-5} + 2^k \qquad (k \geq 3).\] Show that for all $k$, \[1 + T_{2n-1} = \left[ \frac{12}{7}2^{n-1} \right] \quad \text{and} \quad 1 + T_{2n} = \left[ \frac{17}{7}2^{n-1} \right],\] where $[x]$ denotes the greatest integer not exceeding $x.$
Let $a_0 = 1998$ and $a_{n+1} =\frac{a_n^2}{a_n +1}$ for each nonnegative integer $n$. Prove that $[a_n] = 1994- n$ for $0 \le n \le 1000$
The numbers $a_1,a_2,...,a_n$ ( $n\ge 3$) satisfy the relations $$a_1=a_n = 0, a_{k-1}+ a_{k+1}\le 2a_k \,\,\, (k = 2, 3,..., n-1)$$ Prove that the numbers $a_1,a_2,...,a_n$ are non-negative.