The order of books on a shelf is called wrong if no three adjacent books are arranged in order of height (either increasing or decreasing). How many wrong orders is it possible to construct from \(n\) books of different heights, if: a) \(n = 4\); b) \(n = 5\)?
Prove that if the irreducible rational fraction \(p/q\) is a root of the polynomial \(P (x)\) with integer coefficients, then \(P (x) = (qx - p) Q (x)\), where the polynomial \(Q (x)\) also has integer coefficients.
Let \(a\), \(b\), \(c\) be integers; where \(a\) and \(b\) are not equal to zero.
Prove that the equation \(ax + by = c\) has integer solutions if and only if \(c\) is divisible by \(d = \mathrm{GCD} (a, b)\).
Several pieces of carpet are laid along a corridor. Pieces cover the entire corridor from end to end without omissions and even overlap one another, so that over some parts of the floor lie several layers of carpet. Prove that you can remove a few pieces, perhaps by taking them out from under others and leaving the rest exactly in the same places they used to be, so that the corridor will still be completely covered and the total length of the pieces left will be less than twice the length corridor.
On a line, there are 50 segments. Prove that either it is possible to find some 8 segments all of which have a shared intersection, or there can be found 8 segments, no two of which intersect.