a) The vertices (corners) in a regular polygon with 10 sides are colored black and white in an alternating fashion (i.e. one vertex is black, the next is white, etc). Two people play the following game. Each player in turn draws a line connecting two vertices of the same color. These lines must not have common vertices (i.e. must not begin or end on the same dot as another line) with the lines already drawn. The winner of the game is the player who made the final move. Which player, the first or the second, would win if the right strategy is used?
b) The same problem, but for a regular polygon with 12 sides.
We consider a sequence of words consisting of the letters “A” and “B”. The first word in the sequence is “A”, the \(k\)-th word is obtained from the \((k-1)\)-th by the following operation: each “A” is replaced by “AAB” and each “B” by “A”. It is easy to see that each word is the beginning of the next, thus obtaining an infinite sequence of letters: AABAABAAABAABAAAB...
a) Where in this sequence will the 1000th letter “A” be?
b) Prove that this sequence is non-periodic.
What figure should I put in place of the “?” in the number \(888 \dots 88\,?\,99 \dots 999\) (eights and nines are written 50 times each) so that it is divisible by 7?
Solve the equation \(x + \frac{1}{(y + 1/z)}= 10/7\) in natural numbers.
In a certain kingdom there were 32 knights. Some of them were vassals of others (a vassal can have only one suzerain, and the suzerain is always richer than his vassal). A knight with at least four vassals is given the title of Baron. What is the largest number of barons that can exist under these conditions?
(In the kingdom the following law is enacted: “the vassal of my vassal is not my vassal”).
A numerical sequence is defined by the following conditions: \[a_1 = 1, \quad a_{n+1} = a_n + \lfloor \sqrt{a_n}\rfloor .\]
Prove that among the terms of this sequence there are an infinite number of complete squares.
The function \(f(x)\) on the interval \([a, b]\) is equal to the maximum of several functions of the form \(y = C \times 10^{- | x-d |}\) (where \(d\) and \(C\) are different, and all \(C\) are positive). It is given that \(f (a) = f (b)\). Prove that the sum of the lengths of the sections on which the function increases is equal to the sum of the lengths of the sections on which the function decreases.
Sage thought of the sum of some three natural numbers, and the Patricia thought about their product.
“If I knew,” said Sage, “that your number is greater than mine, then I would immediately name the three numbers that are needed.”
“My number is smaller than yours,” Patricia answered, “and the numbers you want are ..., ... and ....”
What numbers did Patricia name?
Initially, a natural number \(A\) is written on a board. You are allowed to add to it one of its divisors, distinct from itself and one. With the resulting number you are permitted to perform a similar operation, and so on.
Prove that from the number \(A = 4\) one can, with the help of such operations, come to any given in advance composite number.
A student did not notice the multiplication sign between two three-digit numbers and wrote one six-digit number. The result was three times greater.
Find these numbers.