Solve the system of equations: \[\begin{aligned} \sin y - \sin x &= x-y; &&\text{and}\\ \sin y - \sin z &= z-y; && \text{and}\\ x-y+z &= \pi. \end{aligned}\]
Author: I.I. Bogdanov
Peter wants to write down all of the possible sequences of 100 natural numbers, in each of which there is at least one 3, and any two neighbouring terms differ by no more than 1. How many sequences will he have to write out?
Author: I.I. Bogdanov
Peter wants to write down all of the possible sequences of 100 natural numbers, in each of which there is at least one 4 or 5, and any two neighbouring terms differ by no more than 2. How many sequences will he have to write out?
At a contest named “Ah well, monsters!”, 15 dragons stand in a row. Between neighbouring dragons the number of heads differs by 1. If the dragon has more heads than both of his two neighbors, he is considered cunning, if he has less than both of his neighbors – strong, the rest (including those standing at the edges) are considered ordinary. In the row there are exactly four cunning dragons – with 4, 6, 7 and 7 heads and exactly three strong ones – with 3, 3 and 6 heads. The first and last dragons have the same number of heads.
a) Give an example of how this could occur.
b) Prove that the number of heads of the first dragon in all potential examples is the same.
Author: G. Zhukov
The square trinomial \(f (x) = ax^2 + bx + c\) that does not have roots is such that the coefficient \(b\) is rational, and among the numbers \(c\) and \(f (c)\) there is exactly one irrational.
Can the discriminant of the trinomial \(f (x)\) be rational?
Gary drew an empty table of \(50 \times 50\) and wrote on top of each column and to the left of each row a number. It turned out that all 100 written numbers are different, and 50 of them are rational, and the remaining 50 are irrational. Then, in each cell of the table, he wrote down a product of numbers written at the top of its column and to the left of the row (the “multiplication table”). What is the largest number of products in this table which could be rational numbers?
Suppose that in each issue of our journal in the “Quantum” problem book there are five mathematics problems. We denote by \(f (x, y)\) the number of the first of the problems of the \(x\)-th issue for the \(y\)-th year. Write a general formula for \(f (x, y)\), where \(1 \geq x \geq 12\) and \(1970 \geq y \geq 1989\). Solve the equation \(f (x, y) = y\). For example, \(f (6, 1970) = 26\). Since \(1989\), the number of tasks has become less predictable. For example, in recent years, half the issues have 5 tasks, and in other issues there are 10. Even the number of magazine issues has changed, no longer being 12 but now 6.
Author: V.A. Popov
On the interval \([0; 1]\) a function \(f\) is given. This function is non-negative at all points, \(f (1) = 1\) and, finally, for any two non-negative numbers \(x_1\) and \(x_2\) whose sum does not exceed 1, the quantity \(f (x_1 + x_2)\) does not exceed the sum of \(f (x_1)\) and \(f (x_2)\).
a) Prove that for any number \(x\) on the interval \([0; 1]\), the inequality \(f (x_2) \leq 2x\) holds.
b) Prove that for any number \(x\) on the interval \([0; 1]\), the \(f (x_2) \leq 1.9x\) must be true?
The triangle \(C_1C_2O\) is given. Within it the bisector \(C_2C_3\) is drawn, then in the triangle \(C_2C_3O\) – bisector \(C_3C_4\) and so on. Prove that the sequence of angles \(\gamma_n = C_{n + 1}C_nO\) tends to a limit, and find this limit if \(C_1OC_2 = \alpha\).
A rectangular chocolate bar size \(5 \times 10\) is divided by vertical and horizontal division lines into 50 square pieces. Two players are playing the following game. The one who starts breaks the chocolate bar along some division line into two rectangular pieces and puts the resulting pieces on the table. Then players take turns doing the same operation: each time the player whose turn it is at the moment breaks one of the parts into two parts. The one who is the first to break off a square slice \(1\times 1\) (without division lines) a) loses; b) wins. Which of the players can secure a win: the one who starts or the other one?