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

Tags were heavily modified to better represent problems.

AND
OR
NO

Found problems: 5923

Given a real number $a$, we define a sequence by $x_0 = 1$, $x_1 = x_2 = a$, and $x_{n+1} = 2x_nx_{n-1} - x_{n-2}$ for $n \ge 2$. Prove that if $x_n = 0$ for some $n$, then the sequence is periodic.
Let $a > 1$ be a positive integer and $d > 1$ be a positive integer coprime to $a$. Let $x_1=1$, and for $k\geq 1$, define $$x_{k+1} = \begin{cases} x_k + d &\text{if } a \text{ does not divide } x_k \\ x_k/a & \text{if } a \text{ divides } x_k \end{cases}$$ Find, in terms of $a$ and $d$, the greatest positive integer $n$ for which there exists an index $k$ such that $x_k$ is divisible by $a^n$.
Starting with any $n$-tuple $R_0$, $n\ge 1$, of symbols from $A,B,C$, we define a sequence $R_0, R_1, R_2,\ldots,$ according to the following rule: If $R_j= (x_1,x_2,\ldots,x_n)$, then $R_{j+1}= (y_1,y_2,\ldots,y_n)$, where $y_i=x_i$ if $x_i=x_{i+1}$ (taking $x_{n+1}=x_1$) and $y_i$ is the symbol other than $x_i, x_{i+1}$ if $x_i\neq x_{i+1}$. Find all positive integers $n>1$ for which there exists some integer $m>0$ such that $R_m=R_0$.
The girl continues the sequence of letters $ASSARA... $, adding one of the three letters $A$, $R$ or $S$. When adding the next letter, the girl makes sure that no two written sevens of consecutive letters coincide. At some point it turned out that it was impossible to add a new letter according to these rules. What letter could be written last?
Let $a,b,c$ be positive reals and sequences $\{a_{n}\},\{b_{n}\},\{c_{n}\}$ defined by $a_{k+1}=a_{k}+\frac{2}{b_{k}+c_{k}},b_{k+1}=b_{k}+\frac{2}{c_{k}+a_{k}},c_{k+1}=c_{k}+\frac{2}{a_{k}+b_{k}}$ for all $k=0,1,2,...$. Prove that $\lim_{k\to+\infty}a_{k}=\lim_{k\to+\infty}b_{k}=\lim_{k\to+\infty}c_{k}=+\infty$.
Consider the sequence of numbers defined by $a_1 = 7$, $a_2 = 7^7$ , $ ...$ , $a_n = 7^{a_{n-1}}$ for $n \ge 2$. Determine the last digit of the decimal representation of $a_{2021}$.
For $n\in\mathbb N$, define $$a_n=\frac1{\binom n1}+\frac1{\binom n2}+\ldots+\frac1{\binom nn}.$$ (a) Prove that the sequence $b_n=a_n^n$ is convergent and determine the limit. (b) Show that $\lim_{n\to\infty}b_n>\left(\frac32\right)^{\sqrt3+\sqrt2}$.
We have an infinite sequence of real numbers $x_0,x_1, x_2, ... $ such that $x_{n+1} = \sqrt{x_n -\frac14}$ holds for all natural $n$ and moreover $x_0 \in \frac12$. (a) Prove that for every natural $n$ holds: $x_n > \frac12$ (b) Prove that $\lim_{n \to \infty} x_n$ exists. Calculate this limit.
Given a sequence of integers $A_1,A_2,\cdots A_{99}$ such that for every sub-sequence that contains $m$ consecutive elements, there exist not more than $max\{ \frac{m}{3} ,1\}$ odd integers. Let $S=\{ (i,j) \ | i<j \}$ such that $A_i$ is even and $A_j$ is odd. Find $max\{ |S|\}$.
Let $ f(0) \equal{} f(1) \equal{} 0$ and \[ f(n\plus{}2) \equal{} 4^{n\plus{}2} \cdot f(n\plus{}1) \minus{} 16^{n\plus{}1} \cdot f(n) \plus{} n \cdot 2^{n^2}, \quad n \equal{} 0, 1, 2, \ldots\] Show that the numbers $ f(1989), f(1990), f(1991)$ are divisible by $ 13.$
Given a sequence $\{a_n\}$ of real numbers such that $|a_{k+m} - a_k - a_m| \leq 1$ for all positive integers $k$ and $m$, prove that, for all positive integers $p$ and $q$, \[|\frac{a_p}{p} - \frac{a_q}{q}| < \frac{1}{p} + \frac{1}{q}.\]
Let $p_1, p_2, \ldots$ be a sequence of primes such that $p_1 =2$ and for $n\geq 1, p_{n+1}$ is the largest prime factor of $p_1 p_2 \ldots p_n +1$ . Prove that $p_n \not= 5$ for any $n$.
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.
Consider the sequence $a_1 = 3$ and $a_{n + 1} =\frac{3a_n^2+1}{2}-a_n$ for $n = 1 ,2 ,...$. Prove that if $n$ is a power of $3$ then $n$ divides $a_n$ .
Let $ R_1,R_2, \ldots$ be the family of finite sequences of positive integers defined by the following rules: $ R_1 \equal{} (1),$ and if $ R_{n - 1} \equal{} (x_1, \ldots, x_s),$ then \[ R_n \equal{} (1, 2, \ldots, x_1, 1, 2, \ldots, x_2, \ldots, 1, 2, \ldots, x_s, n).\] For example, $ R_2 \equal{} (1, 2),$ $ R_3 \equal{} (1, 1, 2, 3),$ $ R_4 \equal{} (1, 1, 1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4).$ Prove that if $ n > 1,$ then the $ k$th term from the left in $ R_n$ is equal to 1 if and only if the $ k$th term from the right in $ R_n$ is different from 1.
For an integer $a \ge 2$, denote by $\delta_(a) $ the second largest divisor of $a$. Let $(a_n)_{n\ge 1}$ be a sequence of integers such that $a_1 \ge 2$ and $$a_{n+1} = a_n + \delta_(a_n)$$ for all $n \ge 1$. Prove that there exists a positive integer $k$ such that $a_k$ is divisible by $3^{2022}$.
Let $(x_n)$ be a sequence of positive integers defined as follows: $x_1$ is a fixed six-digit number and for any $n \geq 1$, $x_{n+1}$ is a prime divisor of $x_n + 1$. Find $x_{19} + x_{20}$.
There are $n$ children around a round table. Erika is the oldest among them and she has $n$ candies, while no other child has any candy. Erika decided to distribute the candies according to the following rules. In every round, she chooses a child with at least two candies and the chosen child sends a candy to each of his/her two neighbors. (So in the first round Erika must choose herself). For which $n \ge 3$ is it possible to end the distribution after a finite number of rounds with every child having exactly one candy?
For every integer $d \geq 1$, let $M_d$ be the set of all positive integers that cannot be written as a sum of an arithmetic progression with difference $d$, having at least two terms and consisting of positive integers. Let $A = M_1$, $B = M_2 \setminus \{2 \}, C = M_3$. Prove that every $c \in C$ may be written in a unique way as $c = ab$ with $a \in A, b \in B.$
let $a_1,a_2,...a_n$ a sequence of real numbers such that $a_1+....+a_n=0$. define $b_i=a_1+a_2+....a_i$ for all $1 \leq i \leq n$ .suppose $b_i(a_{j+1}-a_{i+1}) \geq 0$ for all $1 \leq i \leq j \leq n-1$. Show that $$\max_{1 \leq l \leq n} |a_l| \geq \max_{1 \leq m \leq n} |b_m|$$
We define the [i]Fibonacci sequence[/i] $\{F_n\}_{n\ge0}$ by $F_0=0$, $F_1=1$, and for $n\ge2$, $F_n=F_{n-1}+F_{n-2}$; we define the [i]Stirling number of the second kind[/i] $S(n,k)$ as the number of ways to partition a set of $n\ge1$ distinguishable elements into $k\ge1$ indistinguishable nonempty subsets. For every positive integer $n$, let $t_n = \sum_{k=1}^{n} S(n,k) F_k$. Let $p\ge7$ be a prime. Prove that \[ t_{n+p^{2p}-1} \equiv t_n \pmod{p} \] for all $n\ge1$. [i]Proposed by Victor Wang[/i]
For an $A=\{ a_i\}^{\infty}_{i=0}$ sequence let $SA=\{ a_0, a_0+a_1, a_0+a_1+a_2, \ldots\}$ be the sequence of partial sums of the $a_0+a_1+\ldots$ series. Does there exist a non-identically zero sequence $A$ such that all of the sequences $A, SA, SSA, SSSA, \ldots$ are convergent? (translated by Miklós Maróti)
Does there exist a sequence $ \{b_{i}\}_{i=1}^\infty$ of positive real numbers such that for each natural $ m$: \[ b_{m}+b_{2m}+b_{3m}+\dots=\frac1m\]
The sequence $a_n (n\geq 1)$ of natural numbers is defined as $a_{n+1}=a_n+b_n,$ where $b_n$ is the number that has the same digits as $a_n$ but in the opposite order ($b_n$ can start with $0$). For example, if $a_1=180,$ then $a_2=261, a_3=423.$ a) Decide if $a_1$ can be chosen so that $a_7$ is prime. b) Decide if $a_1$ can be chosen so that $a_5$ is prime.
Does there exist an integer $n \ge 3$ and an arithmetic sequence $a_0, a_1, ... , a_n$ such that the polynomial $a_nx^n +... + a_1x + a_0$ has $n$ roots which also form an arithmetic sequence?