Summer is a great time to explore cool problems to keep your skills sharp!  Schedule a class today!

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k a May Highlights and 2025 AoPS Online Class Information
jlacosta   0
May 1, 2025
May is an exciting month! National MATHCOUNTS is the second week of May in Washington D.C. and our Founder, Richard Rusczyk will be presenting a seminar, Preparing Strong Math Students for College and Careers, on May 11th.

Are you interested in working towards MATHCOUNTS and don’t know where to start? We have you covered! If you have taken Prealgebra, then you are ready for MATHCOUNTS/AMC 8 Basics. Already aiming for State or National MATHCOUNTS and harder AMC 8 problems? Then our MATHCOUNTS/AMC 8 Advanced course is for you.

Summer camps are starting next month at the Virtual Campus in math and language arts that are 2 - to 4 - weeks in duration. Spaces are still available - don’t miss your chance to have an enriching summer experience. There are middle and high school competition math camps as well as Math Beasts camps that review key topics coupled with fun explorations covering areas such as graph theory (Math Beasts Camp 6), cryptography (Math Beasts Camp 7-8), and topology (Math Beasts Camp 8-9)!

Be sure to mark your calendars for the following upcoming events:
[list][*]May 9th, 4:30pm PT/7:30pm ET, Casework 2: Overwhelming Evidence — A Text Adventure, a game where participants will work together to navigate the map, solve puzzles, and win! All are welcome.
[*]May 19th, 4:30pm PT/7:30pm ET, What's Next After Beast Academy?, designed for students finishing Beast Academy and ready for Prealgebra 1.
[*]May 20th, 4:00pm PT/7:00pm ET, Mathcamp 2025 Qualifying Quiz Part 1 Math Jam, Problems 1 to 4, join the Canada/USA Mathcamp staff for this exciting Math Jam, where they discuss solutions to Problems 1 to 4 of the 2025 Mathcamp Qualifying Quiz!
[*]May 21st, 4:00pm PT/7:00pm ET, Mathcamp 2025 Qualifying Quiz Part 2 Math Jam, Problems 5 and 6, Canada/USA Mathcamp staff will discuss solutions to Problems 5 and 6 of the 2025 Mathcamp Qualifying Quiz![/list]
Our full course list for upcoming classes is below:
All classes run 7:30pm-8:45pm ET/4:30pm - 5:45pm PT unless otherwise noted.

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0 replies
jlacosta
May 1, 2025
0 replies
k i Peer-to-Peer Programs Forum
jwelsh   157
N Dec 11, 2023 by cw357
Many of our AoPS Community members share their knowledge with their peers in a variety of ways, ranging from creating mock contests to creating real contests to writing handouts to hosting sessions as part of our partnership with schoolhouse.world.

To facilitate students in these efforts, we have created a new Peer-to-Peer Programs forum. With the creation of this forum, we are starting a new process for those of you who want to advertise your efforts. These advertisements and ensuing discussions have been cluttering up some of the forums that were meant for other purposes, so we’re gathering these topics in one place. This also allows students to find new peer-to-peer learning opportunities without having to poke around all the other forums.

To announce your program, or to invite others to work with you on it, here’s what to do:

1) Post a new topic in the Peer-to-Peer Programs forum. This will be the discussion thread for your program.

2) Post a single brief post in this thread that links the discussion thread of your program in the Peer-to-Peer Programs forum.

Please note that we’ll move or delete any future advertisement posts that are outside the Peer-to-Peer Programs forum, as well as any posts in this topic that are not brief announcements of new opportunities. In particular, this topic should not be used to discuss specific programs; those discussions should occur in topics in the Peer-to-Peer Programs forum.

Your post in this thread should have what you're sharing (class, session, tutoring, handout, math or coding game/other program) and a link to the thread in the Peer-to-Peer Programs forum, which should have more information (like where to find what you're sharing).
157 replies
jwelsh
Mar 15, 2021
cw357
Dec 11, 2023
k i C&P posting recs by mods
v_Enhance   0
Jun 12, 2020
The purpose of this post is to lay out a few suggestions about what kind of posts work well for the C&P forum. Except in a few cases these are mostly meant to be "suggestions based on historical trends" rather than firm hard rules; we may eventually replace this with an actual list of firm rules but that requires admin approval :) That said, if you post something in the "discouraged" category, you should not be totally surprised if it gets locked; they are discouraged exactly because past experience shows they tend to go badly.
-----------------------------
1. Program discussion: Allowed
If you have questions about specific camps or programs (e.g. which classes are good at X camp?), these questions fit well here. Many camps/programs have specific sub-forums too but we understand a lot of them are not active.
-----------------------------
2. Results discussion: Allowed
You can make threads about e.g. how you did on contests (including AMC), though on AMC day when there is a lot of discussion. Moderators and administrators may do a lot of thread-merging / forum-wrangling to keep things in one place.
-----------------------------
3. Reposting solutions or questions to past AMC/AIME/USAMO problems: Allowed
This forum contains a post for nearly every problem from AMC8, AMC10, AMC12, AIME, USAJMO, USAMO (and these links give you an index of all these posts). It is always permitted to post a full solution to any problem in its own thread (linked above), regardless of how old the problem is, and even if this solution is similar to one that has already been posted. We encourage this type of posting because it is helpful for the user to explain their solution in full to an audience, and for future users who want to see multiple approaches to a problem or even just the frequency distribution of common approaches. We do ask for some explanation; if you just post "the answer is (B); ez" then you are not adding anything useful.

You are also encouraged to post questions about a specific problem in the specific thread for that problem, or about previous user's solutions. It's almost always better to use the existing thread than to start a new one, to keep all the discussion in one place easily searchable for future visitors.
-----------------------------
4. Advice posts: Allowed, but read below first
You can use this forum to ask for advice about how to prepare for math competitions in general. But you should be aware that this question has been asked many many times. Before making a post, you are encouraged to look at the following:
[list]
[*] Stop looking for the right training: A generic post about advice that keeps getting stickied :)
[*] There is an enormous list of links on the Wiki of books / problems / etc for all levels.
[/list]
When you do post, we really encourage you to be as specific as possible in your question. Tell us about your background, what you've tried already, etc.

Actually, the absolute best way to get a helpful response is to take a few examples of problems that you tried to solve but couldn't, and explain what you tried on them / why you couldn't solve them. Here is a great example of a specific question.
-----------------------------
5. Publicity: use P2P forum instead
See https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h2489297_peertopeer_programs_forum.
Some exceptions have been allowed in the past, but these require approval from administrators. (I am not totally sure what the criteria is. I am not an administrator.)
-----------------------------
6. Mock contests: use Mock Contests forum instead
Mock contests should be posted in the dedicated forum instead:
https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c594864_aops_mock_contests
-----------------------------
7. AMC procedural questions: suggest to contact the AMC HQ instead
If you have a question like "how do I submit a change of venue form for the AIME" or "why is my name not on the qualifiers list even though I have a 300 index", you would be better off calling or emailing the AMC program to ask, they are the ones who can help you :)
-----------------------------
8. Discussion of random math problems: suggest to use MSM/HSM/HSO instead
If you are discussing a specific math problem that isn't from the AMC/AIME/USAMO, it's better to post these in Middle School Math, High School Math, High School Olympiads instead.
-----------------------------
9. Politics: suggest to use Round Table instead
There are important conversations to be had about things like gender diversity in math contests, etc., for sure. However, from experience we think that C&P is historically not a good place to have these conversations, as they go off the rails very quickly. We encourage you to use the Round Table instead, where it is much more clear that all posts need to be serious.
-----------------------------
10. MAA complaints: discouraged
We don't want to pretend that the MAA is perfect or that we agree with everything they do. However, we chose to discourage this sort of behavior because in practice most of the comments we see are not useful and some are frankly offensive.
[list] [*] If you just want to blow off steam, do it on your blog instead.
[*] When you have criticism, it should be reasoned, well-thought and constructive. What we mean by this is, for example, when the AOIME was announced, there was great outrage about potential cheating. Well, do you really think that this is something the organizers didn't think about too? Simply posting that "people will cheat and steal my USAMOO qualification, the MAA are idiots!" is not helpful as it is not bringing any new information to the table.
[*] Even if you do have reasoned, well-thought, constructive criticism, we think it is actually better to email it the MAA instead, rather than post it here. Experience shows that even polite, well-meaning suggestions posted in C&P are often derailed by less mature users who insist on complaining about everything.
[/list]
-----------------------------
11. Memes and joke posts: discouraged
It's fine to make jokes or lighthearted posts every so often. But it should be done with discretion. Ideally, jokes should be done within a longer post that has other content. For example, in my response to one user's question about olympiad combinatorics, I used a silly picture of Sogiita Gunha, but it was done within a context of a much longer post where it was meant to actually make a point.

On the other hand, there are many threads which consist largely of posts whose only content is an attached meme with the word "MAA" in it. When done in excess like this, the jokes reflect poorly on the community, so we explicitly discourage them.
-----------------------------
12. Questions that no one can answer: discouraged
Examples of this: "will MIT ask for AOIME scores?", "what will the AIME 2021 cutoffs be (asked in 2020)", etc. Basically, if you ask a question on this forum, it's better if the question is something that a user can plausibly answer :)
-----------------------------
13. Blind speculation: discouraged
Along these lines, if you do see a question that you don't have an answer to, we discourage "blindly guessing" as it leads to spreading of baseless rumors. For example, if you see some user posting "why are there fewer qualifiers than usual this year?", you should not reply "the MAA must have been worried about online cheating so they took fewer people!!". Was sich überhaupt sagen lässt, lässt sich klar sagen; und wovon man nicht reden kann, darüber muss man schweigen.
-----------------------------
14. Discussion of cheating: strongly discouraged
If you have evidence or reasonable suspicion of cheating, please report this to your Competition Manager or to the AMC HQ; these forums cannot help you.
Otherwise, please avoid public discussion of cheating. That is: no discussion of methods of cheating, no speculation about how cheating affects cutoffs, and so on --- it is not helpful to anyone, and it creates a sour atmosphere. A longer explanation is given in Seriously, please stop discussing how to cheat.
-----------------------------
15. Cutoff jokes: never allowed
Whenever the cutoffs for any major contest are released, it is very obvious when they are official. In the past, this has been achieved by the numbers being posted on the official AMC website (here) or through a post from the AMCDirector account.

You must never post fake cutoffs, even as a joke. You should also refrain from posting cutoffs that you've heard of via email, etc., because it is better to wait for the obvious official announcement. A longer explanation is given in A Treatise on Cutoff Trolling.
-----------------------------
16. Meanness: never allowed
Being mean is worse than being immature and unproductive. If another user does something which you think is inappropriate, use the Report button to bring the post to moderator attention, or if you really must reply, do so in a way that is tactful and constructive rather than inflammatory.
-----------------------------

Finally, we remind you all to sit back and enjoy the problems. :D

-----------------------------
(EDIT 2024-09-13: AoPS has asked to me to add the following item.)

Advertising paid program or service: never allowed

Per the AoPS Terms of Service (rule 5h), general advertisements are not allowed.

While we do allow advertisements of official contests (at the MAA and MATHCOUNTS level) and those run by college students with at least one successful year, any and all advertisements of a paid service or program is not allowed and will be deleted.
0 replies
v_Enhance
Jun 12, 2020
0 replies
k i Stop looking for the "right" training
v_Enhance   50
N Oct 16, 2017 by blawho12
Source: Contest advice
EDIT 2019-02-01: https://blog.evanchen.cc/2019/01/31/math-contest-platitudes-v3/ is the updated version of this.

EDIT 2021-06-09: see also https://web.evanchen.cc/faq-contest.html.

Original 2013 post
50 replies
v_Enhance
Feb 15, 2013
blawho12
Oct 16, 2017
Channel name changed
Plane_geometry_youtuber   4
N a minute ago by Yiyj
Hi,

Due to the search handle issue in youtube. My channel is renamed to Olympiad Geometry Club. And the new link is as following:

https://www.youtube.com/@OlympiadGeometryClub

Recently I introduced the concept of harmonic bundle. I will move on to the conjugate median soon. In the future, I will discuss more than a thousand theorems on plane geometry and hopefully it can help to the students preparing for the Olympiad competition.

Please share this to the people may need it.

Thank you!
4 replies
Plane_geometry_youtuber
Yesterday at 9:31 PM
Yiyj
a minute ago
Problem 10
SlovEcience   3
N 18 minutes ago by Phat_23000245
Let \( x, y, z \) be positive real numbers satisfying
\[ xy + yz + zx = 3xyz. \]Prove that
\[
\sqrt{\frac{x}{3y^2z^2 + xyz}} + \sqrt{\frac{y}{3x^2z^2 + xyz}} + \sqrt{\frac{z}{3x^2y^2 + xyz}} \le \frac{3}{2}.
\]
3 replies
SlovEcience
May 30, 2025
Phat_23000245
18 minutes ago
IMO ShortList 2003, combinatorics problem 4
darij grinberg   38
N 19 minutes ago by AshAuktober
Source: Problem 5 of the German pre-TST 2004, written in December 03
Let $x_1,\ldots, x_n$ and $y_1,\ldots, y_n$ be real numbers. Let $A = (a_{ij})_{1\leq i,j\leq n}$ be the matrix with entries \[a_{ij} = \begin{cases}1,&\text{if }x_i + y_j\geq 0;\\0,&\text{if }x_i + y_j < 0.\end{cases}\]Suppose that $B$ is an $n\times n$ matrix with entries $0$, $1$ such that the sum of the elements in each row and each column of $B$ is equal to the corresponding sum for the matrix $A$. Prove that $A=B$.
38 replies
darij grinberg
May 17, 2004
AshAuktober
19 minutes ago
2-var inequality
sqing   15
N 20 minutes ago by sqing
Source: Own
Let $ a,b> 0 ,a^3+ab+b^3=3.$ Prove that
$$ (a+b)(a+1)(b+1) \leq 8$$$$ (a^2+b^2)(a+1)(b+1) \leq 8$$Let $ a,b> 0 ,a^3+ab(a+b)+b^3=3.$ Prove that
$$ (a+b)(a+1)(b+1) \leq \frac{3}{2}+\sqrt[3]{6}+\sqrt[3]{36}$$
15 replies
sqing
Saturday at 1:35 PM
sqing
20 minutes ago
4th grader qual JMO
HCM2001   52
N 3 hours ago by jb2015007
i mean.. whattttt??? just found out about this.. is he on aops? (i'm sure he is) where are you orz lol..
https://www.mathschool.com/blog/results/celebrating-success-douglas-zhang-is-rsm-s-youngest-usajmo-qualifier
52 replies
HCM2001
May 22, 2025
jb2015007
3 hours ago
Book Recomendations
HiCalculus   42
N 4 hours ago by trangbui
Hi, can anyone recommend a few books or websites/sources which could help me prepare for this year's AMC 10? I am aiming to qualify for AIME. Also, in addition to the recommendations for AMC 10, it would be great if somebody could also recommend some sources to prepare for a competition like BmMT (for BmMT, I am aiming for top 20%) or just middle/high school math contests in general.
42 replies
HiCalculus
Yesterday at 7:55 PM
trangbui
4 hours ago
MOP Emails Out! (not clickbait)
Mathandski   107
N Yesterday at 6:37 PM by Martin2001
What an emotional roller coaster the past 34 days have been.

Congrats to all that qualified!
107 replies
Mathandski
Apr 22, 2025
Martin2001
Yesterday at 6:37 PM
EGMO (geo) Radical Center Question
gulab_jamun   10
N Yesterday at 2:36 PM by gulab_jamun
For this theorem, Evan says that the power of point $P$ with respect to $\omega_1$ is greater than 0 if $P$ lies between $A$ and $B$. (I've underlined it). But, I'm a little confused as I thought the power was $OP^2 - r^2$ and since $P$ is inside the circle, wouldn't the power be negative since $OP < r$?
10 replies
gulab_jamun
May 25, 2025
gulab_jamun
Yesterday at 2:36 PM
Frustration with Olympiad Geo
gulab_jamun   14
N Yesterday at 2:32 PM by gulab_jamun
Ok, so right now, I am doing the EGMO book by Evan Chen, but when it comes to problems, there are some that just genuinely frustrate me and I don't know how to deal with them. For example, I've spent 1.5 hrs on the second to last question in chapter 2, and used all the hints, and I still am stuck. It just frustrates me incredibly. Any tips on managing this? (or.... am I js crashing out too much?)
14 replies
gulab_jamun
May 29, 2025
gulab_jamun
Yesterday at 2:32 PM
AIME qual outside US?
daijobu   11
N Yesterday at 2:59 AM by CatCatHead
Can students outside the US take the AIME if they earn a qualifying score?
11 replies
daijobu
May 30, 2025
CatCatHead
Yesterday at 2:59 AM
k BIG BEEF BETWEEN MATHMATICANS (EXPOSED!!!!!) [MathEXplained Magazine]
yolk_eggg   0
Yesterday at 2:17 AM
Source: https://mathexplained.github.io/
Hey AOPS!!!!! :D :D :D :D :D

Hope you're all excited for the summer! As the summer approaches and you're all beginning to get back on the math grind I hope that you'll all also do some leisurely math reading/discovery!!

Check out this month's MathEXplained Magazine issue where we explore:
1. The math behind sports betting
2. The birthday paradox
3. Mathematicians born in May and their contributions to math
4. The ulam spiral
5. The surprising past behind the cubic formula (INSANE BEEF)

You can read this months issue on our website at https://mathexplained.github.io/ or on this google drive file

Additionally, if you are interested in sharing our own niche mathematical interests, I would encourage you to apply for a staff position at: [url][/url]https://tinyurl.com/MEXapply

Don't forget to join our discord server at https://tinyurl.com/MEXplained to let us know who's side you're on!!
0 replies
yolk_eggg
Yesterday at 2:17 AM
0 replies
[$10K+ IN PRIZES] Poolesville Math Tournament (PVMT) 2025
qwerty123456asdfgzxcvb   20
N May 31, 2025 by panda2018
Hi everyone!

After the resounding success of the first three years of PVMT, the Poolesville High School Math Team is excited to announce the fourth annual Poolesville High School Math Tournament (PVMT)! The PVMT team includes a MOPper and multiple USA(J)MO and AIME qualifiers!

PVMT is open to all 6th-9th graders in the country (including rising 10th graders). Students will compete in teams of up to 4 people, and each participant will take three subject tests as well as the team round. The contest is completely free, and will be held virtually on June 7, 2025, from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM (EST).

Additionally, thanks to our sponsors, we will be awarding approximately $10K+ worth of prizes (including gift cards, Citadel merch, AoPS coupons, Wolfram licenses) to top teams and individuals. More details regarding the actual prizes will be released as we get closer to the competition date.

Further, newly for this year we might run some interesting mini-events, which we will announce closer to the competition date, such as potentially a puzzle hunt and integration bee!

If you would like to register for the competition, the registration form can be found at https://pvmt.org/register.html or https://tinyurl.com/PVMT25.

Additionally, more information about PVMT can be found at https://pvmt.org

If you have any questions not answered in the below FAQ, feel free to ask in this thread or email us at falconsdomath@gmail.com!

We look forward to your participation!

FAQ
20 replies
qwerty123456asdfgzxcvb
Apr 5, 2025
panda2018
May 31, 2025
Expression is a Cube
nosaj   38
N May 31, 2025 by NicoN9
Source: 2015 AIME I Problem 3
There is a prime number $p$ such that $16p+1$ is the cube of a positive integer. Find $p$.
38 replies
nosaj
Mar 20, 2015
NicoN9
May 31, 2025
9 point circle?!?!??!?
Maximilian113   32
N May 31, 2025 by NicoN9
Source: 2025 AIME II P5
Suppose $\triangle ABC$ has angles $\angle BAC = 84^\circ, \angle ABC=60^\circ,$ and $\angle ACB = 36^\circ.$ Let $D, E,$ and $F$ be the midpoints of sides $\overline{BC}, \overline{AC},$ and $\overline{AB},$ respectively. The circumcircle of $\triangle DEF$ intersects $\overline{BD}, \overline{AE},$ and $\overline{AF}$ at points $G, H,$ and $J,$ respectively. The points $G, D, E, H, J,$ and $F$ divide the circumcircle of $\triangle DEF$ into six minor arcs, as shown. Find $\overarc{DE}+2\cdot \overarc{HJ} + 3\cdot \overarc{FG},$ where the arcs are measured in degrees.

IMAGE
32 replies
Maximilian113
Feb 13, 2025
NicoN9
May 31, 2025
UIL Number Sense problem
Potato512   2
N Apr 21, 2025 by buddy2007
I keep seeing a certain type of problem in UIL Number Sense, though I can't figure out how to do it (I aim to do it in my head in about 7-8 seconds).

The problem is x^((p+1)/2) mod p, where p is prime.
For example 11^15 mod 29
I know it technically doesn't work this way, but using fermats little theorem (on √x^(p+1)) always gives either the number itself, x, or the modular inverse, p-x.
By using the theorem i mean √x^28 mod 29 = 1, and then youre left with √x^2 mod 29 or x, but then its + or -.
I was wondering if there is a way to figure out whether its + or -, a slow or fast way if its slow maybe its possible to speed it up.
2 replies
Potato512
Apr 21, 2025
buddy2007
Apr 21, 2025
UIL Number Sense problem
G H J
G H BBookmark kLocked kLocked NReply
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Potato512
1 post
#1
Y by
I keep seeing a certain type of problem in UIL Number Sense, though I can't figure out how to do it (I aim to do it in my head in about 7-8 seconds).

The problem is x^((p+1)/2) mod p, where p is prime.
For example 11^15 mod 29
I know it technically doesn't work this way, but using fermats little theorem (on √x^(p+1)) always gives either the number itself, x, or the modular inverse, p-x.
By using the theorem i mean √x^28 mod 29 = 1, and then youre left with √x^2 mod 29 or x, but then its + or -.
I was wondering if there is a way to figure out whether its + or -, a slow or fast way if its slow maybe its possible to speed it up.
Z K Y
The post below has been deleted. Click to close.
This post has been deleted. Click here to see post.
Ryan2010
368 posts
#2
Y by
if x is a quadratic residue mod 29 then its + but if its not then its -
Z K Y
The post below has been deleted. Click to close.
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buddy2007
2071 posts
#3
Y by
yeah but the question is how do you find that quadratic residue quickly
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by buddy2007, Apr 21, 2025, 5:19 PM
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