Prove that in a game of noughts and crosses on a \(3\times 3\) grid, if the first player uses the right strategy then the second player cannot win.
Vincent makes small weights. He made 4 weights which should have masses (in grams) of 1, 3, 4 and 7, respectively. However, he made a mistake and one of these weights has the wrong mass. By weighing them twice using balance scales (without the use of weights other than those mentioned) can he find which weight has the wrong mass?
There are some coins on a table. One of these coins is fake (has a different weight than a real coin). By weighing them twice using balance scales, determine whether the fake coin is lighter or heavier than a real coin (you don’t need to find the fake coin) if the number of coins is: a) 100; b) 99; c) 98?
Prove that multiplying the polynomial \((x + 1)^{n-1}\) by any polynomial different from zero, we obtain a polynomial having at least \(n\) nonzero coefficients.
A daisy has a) 12 petals; b) 11 petals. Consider the game with two players where: in one turn a player is allowed to remove either exactly one petal or two petals which are next to each other. The loser is the one who cannot make a turn. How should the second player act, in cases a) and b), in order to win the game regardless of the moves of the first player?
Given a board (divided into squares) of the size: a) \(10\times 12\), b) \(9\times 10\), c) \(9\times 11\), consider the game with two players where: in one turn a player is allowed to cross out any row or any column if there is at least one square not crossed out. The loser is the one who cannot make a move. Is there a winning strategy for one of the players?
There are 8 glasses of water on the table. You are allowed to take any two of the glasses and make them have equal volumes of water (by pouring some water from one glass into the other). Prove that, by using such operations, you can eventually get all the glasses to contain equal volumes of water.
A broken calculator carries out only one operation “asterisk”: \(a*b = 1 - a/b\). Prove that using this calculator it is possible to carry out all four arithmetic operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division).
Prove that the following inequalities hold for the Brockard angle \(\varphi\):
a) \(\varphi ^{3} \le (\alpha - \varphi) (\beta - \varphi) (\gamma - \varphi)\) ;
b) \(8 \varphi^{3} \le \alpha \beta \gamma\) (the Jiff inequality).
Prove that there are infinitely many composite numbers among the numbers \(\lfloor 2^k \sqrt{2}\rfloor\) (\(k = 0, 1, \dots\)).