Problems

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Let \(O\) be the center of the rectangle \(ABCD\). Find the geometric points of \(M\) for which \(AM \geq OM, BM \geq OM\), \(CM \geq OM\), and \(DM \geq OM\).

Construct a straight line passing through a given point and tangent to a given circle.

Three segments whose lengths are equal to \(a, b\) and \(c\) are given. Using only straightedge and compass construct a segment of length: a) \(ab/c\); b) \(\sqrt {ab}\).

Solve the equations in integers:

a) \(3x^2 + 5y^2 = 345\);

b) \(1 + x + x^2 + x^3 = 2^y\).

In honor of the March 8 holiday, a competition of performances was organized. Two performances reached the final. \(N\) students of the 5th grade played in the first one and \(n\) students of the 4th grade played in the second one. The performance was attended by \(2n\) mothers of all \(2n\) students. The best performance is chosen by a vote of the mothers. It is known that half of the mothers vote honestly, i.e. for the performance that was truly better and the mothers of the other half in any case vote for the performance in which their child participates.

a) Find the probability of the best performance winning by a majority of votes.

b) The same question but this time more than two performances made it to the final.

Many maths problems begin with the question “Is it possible…?”. In these kinds of problems, what you need to do depends on what you think is true.

  • If you believe it is possible, then you must give an example that really satisfies the conditions in the problem.

  • If you believe it is not possible, then you must explain clearly why it cannot be done.

When trying to build an example, it often helps to ask yourself extra questions to narrow things down: “How could it be possible?”, or “What properties must a correct example have?”.

On the other hand, if you have been trying to build an example for a while and nothing works, perhaps the answer is that it is impossible. In that case, look for a property that any example would need to have — and then show why that property cannot actually happen. Let’s see some examples!