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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:
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[*]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]
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0 replies
jlacosta
May 1, 2025
0 replies
k i Adding contests to the Contest Collections
dcouchman   1
N Apr 5, 2023 by v_Enhance
Want to help AoPS remain a valuable Olympiad resource? Help us add contests to AoPS's Contest Collections.

Find instructions and a list of contests to add here: https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c40244h1064480_contests_to_add
1 reply
dcouchman
Sep 9, 2019
v_Enhance
Apr 5, 2023
k i Zero tolerance
ZetaX   49
N May 4, 2019 by NoDealsHere
Source: Use your common sense! (enough is enough)
Some users don't want to learn, some other simply ignore advises.
But please follow the following guideline:


To make it short: ALWAYS USE YOUR COMMON SENSE IF POSTING!
If you don't have common sense, don't post.


More specifically:

For new threads:


a) Good, meaningful title:
The title has to say what the problem is about in best way possible.
If that title occured already, it's definitely bad. And contest names aren't good either.
That's in fact a requirement for being able to search old problems.

Examples:
Bad titles:
- "Hard"/"Medium"/"Easy" (if you find it so cool how hard/easy it is, tell it in the post and use a title that tells us the problem)
- "Number Theory" (hey guy, guess why this forum's named that way¿ and is it the only such problem on earth¿)
- "Fibonacci" (there are millions of Fibonacci problems out there, all posted and named the same...)
- "Chinese TST 2003" (does this say anything about the problem¿)
Good titles:
- "On divisors of a³+2b³+4c³-6abc"
- "Number of solutions to x²+y²=6z²"
- "Fibonacci numbers are never squares"


b) Use search function:
Before posting a "new" problem spend at least two, better five, minutes to look if this problem was posted before. If it was, don't repost it. If you have anything important to say on topic, post it in one of the older threads.
If the thread is locked cause of this, use search function.

Update (by Amir Hossein). The best way to search for two keywords in AoPS is to input
[code]+"first keyword" +"second keyword"[/code]
so that any post containing both strings "first word" and "second form".


c) Good problem statement:
Some recent really bad post was:
[quote]$lim_{n\to 1}^{+\infty}\frac{1}{n}-lnn$[/quote]
It contains no question and no answer.
If you do this, too, you are on the best way to get your thread deleted. Write everything clearly, define where your variables come from (and define the "natural" numbers if used). Additionally read your post at least twice before submitting. After you sent it, read it again and use the Edit-Button if necessary to correct errors.


For answers to already existing threads:


d) Of any interest and with content:
Don't post things that are more trivial than completely obvious. For example, if the question is to solve $x^{3}+y^{3}=z^{3}$, do not answer with "$x=y=z=0$ is a solution" only. Either you post any kind of proof or at least something unexpected (like "$x=1337, y=481, z=42$ is the smallest solution). Someone that does not see that $x=y=z=0$ is a solution of the above without your post is completely wrong here, this is an IMO-level forum.
Similar, posting "I have solved this problem" but not posting anything else is not welcome; it even looks that you just want to show off what a genius you are.

e) Well written and checked answers:
Like c) for new threads, check your solutions at least twice for mistakes. And after sending, read it again and use the Edit-Button if necessary to correct errors.



To repeat it: ALWAYS USE YOUR COMMON SENSE IF POSTING!


Everything definitely out of range of common sense will be locked or deleted (exept for new users having less than about 42 posts, they are newbies and need/get some time to learn).

The above rules will be applied from next monday (5. march of 2007).
Feel free to discuss on this here.
49 replies
ZetaX
Feb 27, 2007
NoDealsHere
May 4, 2019
Balkan MO 2022/1 is reborn
Assassino9931   8
N 31 minutes ago by Giant_PT
Source: Bulgaria EGMO TST 2023 Day 1, Problem 1
Let $ABC$ be a triangle with circumcircle $k$. The tangents at $A$ and $C$ intersect at $T$. The circumcircle of triangle $ABT$ intersects the line $CT$ at $X$ and $Y$ is the midpoint of $CX$. Prove that the lines $AX$ and $BY$ intersect on $k$.
8 replies
Assassino9931
Feb 7, 2023
Giant_PT
31 minutes ago
Something weird with this one FE in integers (probably challenging, maybe not)
Gaunter_O_Dim_of_math   1
N 2 hours ago by Rayanelba
Source: Pang-Cheng-Wu, FE, problem number 52.
During FE problems' solving I found a very specific one:

Find all such f that f: Z -> Z and for all integers a, b, c
f(a^3 + b^3 + c^3) = f(a)^3 + f(b)^3 + f(c)^3.

Everything what I've got is that f is odd, f(n) = n or -n or 0
for all n from 0 to 11 (just bash it), but it is very simple and do not give the main idea.
I actually have spent not so much time on this problem, but definitely have no clue. As far as I see, number theory here or classical FE solving or advanced methods, which I know, do not work at all.
Is here a normal solution (I mean, without bashing and something with a huge number of ugly and weird inequalities)?
Or this is kind of rubbish, which was put just for bash?
1 reply
Gaunter_O_Dim_of_math
3 hours ago
Rayanelba
2 hours ago
USAMO 1985 #2
Mrdavid445   6
N 2 hours ago by anticodon
Determine each real root of \[x^4-(2\cdot10^{10}+1)x^2-x+10^{20}+10^{10}-1=0\]correct to four decimal places.
6 replies
Mrdavid445
Jul 26, 2011
anticodon
2 hours ago
Inequality with rational function
MathMystic33   3
N 3 hours ago by ariopro1387
Source: Macedonian Mathematical Olympiad 2025 Problem 2
Let \( n > 2 \) be an integer, \( k > 1 \) a real number, and \( x_1, x_2, \ldots, x_n \) be positive real numbers such that \( x_1 \cdot x_2 \cdots x_n = 1 \). Prove that:

\[
\frac{1 + x_1^k}{1 + x_2} + \frac{1 + x_2^k}{1 + x_3} + \cdots + \frac{1 + x_n^k}{1 + x_1} \geq n.
\]
When does equality hold?
3 replies
MathMystic33
6 hours ago
ariopro1387
3 hours ago
k A cyclic weighted inequality
MathMystic33   2
N 3 hours ago by grupyorum
Source: 2024 Macedonian Team Selection Test P2
Let $u,v,w$ be positive real numbers. Prove that there exists a cyclic permutation $(x,y,z)$ of $(u,v,w)$ such that for all positive real numbers $a,b,c$ the following holds:
\[
\frac{a}{x\,a + y\,b + z\,c}
\;+\;
\frac{b}{x\,b + y\,c + z\,a}
\;+\;
\frac{c}{x\,c + y\,a + z\,b}
\;\ge\;
\frac{3}{x + y + z}.
\]
2 replies
MathMystic33
4 hours ago
grupyorum
3 hours ago
k Perfect squares imply GCD is a perfect square
MathMystic33   1
N 3 hours ago by grupyorum
Source: 2024 Macedonian Team Selection Test P6
Let \(a,b\) be positive integers such that \(a+1\), \(b+1\), and \(ab\) are perfect squares. Prove that $\gcd(a,b)+1$ is also a perfect square.
1 reply
MathMystic33
4 hours ago
grupyorum
3 hours ago
Divisibility condition with primes
MathMystic33   1
N 3 hours ago by grupyorum
Source: 2024 Macedonian Team Selection Test P1
Let \(p,p_2,\dots,p_k\) be distinct primes and let \(a_2,a_3,\dots,a_k\) be nonnegative integers. Define
\[
m \;=\;
\frac12
\Bigl(\prod_{i=2}^k p_i^{a_i}\Bigr)
\Bigl(\prod_{i=1}^k(p_i+1)\;+\;\sum_{i=1}^k(p_i-1)\Bigr),
\]\[
n \;=\;
\frac12
\Bigl(\prod_{i=2}^k p_i^{a_i}\Bigr)
\Bigl(\prod_{i=1}^k(p_i+1)\;-\;\sum_{i=1}^k(p_i-1)\Bigr).
\]Prove that
\[
p^2-1 \;\bigm|\; p\,m \;-\; n.
\]
1 reply
MathMystic33
4 hours ago
grupyorum
3 hours ago
Non-homogeneous degree 3 inequality
Lukaluce   4
N 3 hours ago by Nuran2010
Source: 2024 Junior Macedonian Mathematical Olympiad P1
Let $a, b$, and $c$ be positive real numbers. Prove that
\[\frac{a^4 + 3}{b} + \frac{b^4 + 3}{c} + \frac{c^4 + 3}{a} \ge 12.\]When does equality hold?

Proposed by Petar Filipovski
4 replies
Lukaluce
Apr 14, 2025
Nuran2010
3 hours ago
Circumcircle of MUV tangent to two circles at once
MathMystic33   1
N 3 hours ago by ariopro1387
Source: Macedonian Mathematical Olympiad 2025 Problem 1
Given is an acute triangle \( \triangle ABC \) with \( AB < AC \). Let \( M \) be the midpoint of side \( BC \), and let \( X \) and \( Y \) be points on segments \( BM \) and \( CM \), respectively, such that \( BX = CY \). Let \( \omega_1 \) be the circumcircle of \( \triangle ABX \), and \( \omega_2 \) the circumcircle of \( \triangle ACY \). The common tangent \( t \) to \( \omega_1 \) and \( \omega_2 \), which lies closer to point \( A \), touches \( \omega_1 \) and \( \omega_2 \) at points \( P \) and \( Q \), respectively. Let the line \( MP \) intersect \( \omega_1 \) again at \( U \), and the line \( MQ \) intersect \( \omega_2 \) again at \( V \). Prove that the circumcircle of triangle \( \triangle MUV \) is tangent to both \( \omega_1 \) and \( \omega_2 \).
1 reply
MathMystic33
6 hours ago
ariopro1387
3 hours ago
Bears making swams
NO_SQUARES   0
4 hours ago
Source: Regional Stage of ARO 2025 11.7
There are several bears living on the $2025$ islands of the Arctic Ocean. Every bear sometimes swims from one island to another. It turned out that every bear made at least one swim in a year, but no two bears made equal swams. At the same time, exactly one swim was made between each two islands $A$ and $B$: either from $A$ to $B$ or from $B$ to $A$. Prove that there were no bears on some island at the beginning and at the end of the year.
A. Kuznetsov
0 replies
NO_SQUARES
4 hours ago
0 replies
((n-1)!-n)(n-2)!=m(m-2)
NO_SQUARES   0
4 hours ago
Source: Regional Stage of ARO 2025 9.5=11.4
Find all pairs of integer numbers $m$ and $n>2$ such that $((n-1)!-n)(n-2)!=m(m-2)$.
A. Kuznetsov
0 replies
NO_SQUARES
4 hours ago
0 replies
Maximum number of edge‐colors for strong monochromatic connectivity
MathMystic33   0
4 hours ago
Source: 2024 Macedonian Team Selection Test P5
Let \(P\) be a convex polyhedron with the following properties:
1) \(P\) has exactly \(666\) edges.
2) The degrees of all vertices of \(P\) differ by at most \(1\).
3) There is an edge‐coloring of \(P\) with \(k\) colors such that for each color \(c\) and any two distinct vertices \(V_1,V_2\), there exists a path from \(V_1\) to \(V_2\) all of whose edges have color \(c\).
Determine the largest positive integer \(k\) for which such a polyhedron \(P\) exists.
0 replies
MathMystic33
4 hours ago
0 replies
Functional equation with extra divisibility condition
MathMystic33   1
N 4 hours ago by grupyorum
Source: 2025 Macedonian Team Selection Test P4
Find all functions $f:\mathbb{N}_0\to\mathbb{N}$ such that
1) \(f(a)\) divides \(a\) for every \(a\in\mathbb{N}_0\), and
2) for all \(a,b,k\in\mathbb{N}_0\) we have
\[
    f\bigl(f(a)+kb\bigr)\;=\;f\bigl(a + k\,f(b)\bigr).
  \]
1 reply
MathMystic33
5 hours ago
grupyorum
4 hours ago
Concurrency of tangent touchpoint lines on thales circles
MathMystic33   0
4 hours ago
Source: 2024 Macedonian Team Selection Test P4
Let $\triangle ABC$ be an acute scalene triangle. Denote by $k_A$ the circle with diameter $BC$, and let $B_A,C_A$ be the contact points of the tangents from $A$ to $k_A$, chosen so that $B$ and $B_A$ lie on opposite sides of $AC$ and $C$ and $C_A$ lie on opposite sides of $AB$. Similarly, let $k_B$ be the circle with diameter $CA$, with tangents from $B$ touching at $C_B,A_B$, and $k_C$ the circle with diameter $AB$, with tangents from $C$ touching at $A_C,B_C$.
Prove that the lines $B_AC_A, C_BA_B, A_CB_C$ are concurrent.
0 replies
MathMystic33
4 hours ago
0 replies
Bushy and Jumpy and the unhappy walnut reordering
popcorn1   51
N Apr 22, 2025 by Blast_S1
Source: IMO 2021 P5
Two squirrels, Bushy and Jumpy, have collected 2021 walnuts for the winter. Jumpy numbers the walnuts from 1 through 2021, and digs 2021 little holes in a circular pattern in the ground around their favourite tree. The next morning Jumpy notices that Bushy had placed one walnut into each hole, but had paid no attention to the numbering. Unhappy, Jumpy decides to reorder the walnuts by performing a sequence of 2021 moves. In the $k$-th move, Jumpy swaps the positions of the two walnuts adjacent to walnut $k$.

Prove that there exists a value of $k$ such that, on the $k$-th move, Jumpy swaps some walnuts $a$ and $b$ such that $a<k<b$.
51 replies
popcorn1
Jul 20, 2021
Blast_S1
Apr 22, 2025
Bushy and Jumpy and the unhappy walnut reordering
G H J
G H BBookmark kLocked kLocked NReply
Source: IMO 2021 P5
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popcorn1
1098 posts
#1 • 17 Y
Y by Functional_equation, centslordm, InternetPerson10, Mathmick51, TheStrayCat, megarnie, Aritra12, 554183, adityaguharoy, Aopamy, yshk, deplasmanyollari, eggymath, Kingsbane2139, Rounak_iitr, Funcshun840, cubres
Two squirrels, Bushy and Jumpy, have collected 2021 walnuts for the winter. Jumpy numbers the walnuts from 1 through 2021, and digs 2021 little holes in a circular pattern in the ground around their favourite tree. The next morning Jumpy notices that Bushy had placed one walnut into each hole, but had paid no attention to the numbering. Unhappy, Jumpy decides to reorder the walnuts by performing a sequence of 2021 moves. In the $k$-th move, Jumpy swaps the positions of the two walnuts adjacent to walnut $k$.

Prove that there exists a value of $k$ such that, on the $k$-th move, Jumpy swaps some walnuts $a$ and $b$ such that $a<k<b$.
This post has been edited 2 times. Last edited by popcorn1, Jul 20, 2021, 8:40 PM
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ComiCabE
25 posts
#2 • 36 Y
Y by centslordm, Modesti, lahmacun, Mathmick51, InternetPerson10, TheStrayCat, megarnie, edfearay123, NumberX, Pitagar, oolite, guptaamitu1, VicKmath7, richrow12, CahitArf, Timmy456, Bobcats, PianoPlayer111, GioOrnikapa, WinterSecret, rayfish, FragileBonds, Aopamy, SPHS1234, jeteagle, Mehrshad, Dukejukem, Rexaria112, mathmax12, levifb, TheHimMan, Stuffybear, eggymath, Funcshun840, Kingsbane2139, cubres
Let us assume that the statement is false. At each $k$'th iteration we will color the $k$'th walnut in pink. Observe that if the inequality $a<k<b$ doesn't hold, then we must have swapped walnuts of the same sort (either both uncolored or both pink). This implies that what happens to the colors is that at each iteration Jumpy just paints a certain uncolored walnut in pink.
Now let's keep track of the number of pairs of adjacent walnuts which are both pink. At the start of the process it's $0$, and at the end it's $2021$. But observe that the parity of this quantity can change only when Jumpy colors a nut that has one pink and one uncolored neighbor. A contradiction! Q.E.D.
This post has been edited 2 times. Last edited by ComiCabE, Jul 20, 2021, 9:44 PM
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InternetPerson10
450 posts
#3 • 8 Y
Y by TheStrayCat, sarjinius, centslordm, skyguy88, ike.chen, eggymath, Rounak_iitr, cubres
Dude awesome problem.

In the $k^{\text{th}}$ move, color walnut $k$ green. Then it suffices to show a green walnut and a brown walnut are swapped at one point. For the sake of contradiction assume otherwise, that is, every swap swaps two walnuts of the same color.

Then the state of the colors does not change after every swap, so we may reformulate the problem to the following:
Reformulation wrote:
There are $2021$ brown walnuts in a circle. In each move, Jumpy may choose one walnut whose neighbors are of the same color, and color it green. Show that Jumpy cannot color all walnuts green.
First, consider a gap of $2n$ brown walnuts between two green walnuts on either side. It's impossible to color all these walnuts green. To see this, note that if $n = 1$, neither walnut can be colored (as both neighbors are of different colors). Otherwise, make one move (it cannot be on the first or last brown walnut). This move splits the brown walnuts into two groups, with $2n-1$ brown walnuts in total. Because this is odd, the groups are of different parities, so one group must have an even number of walnuts. Then keep splitting this group until you get a gap of two brown walnuts, at which point you can't color it.

Now make two arbitrary moves; these divide the $2019$ brown walnuts into two groups. As $2019$ is odd, one of these groups must have an even number of walnuts, which you can't color all green. Yay! :DD
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square_root_of_3
78 posts
#4 • 5 Y
Y by centslordm, megarnie, PianoPlayer111, eggymath, cubres
Call a walnut obedient if one of its neighbours is larger than it, and the other one is smaller. We call a process bad if the problem's condition is not satisfied. We want to prove that there are no bad processes.

Lemma 1. The number of obedient walnuts is of the same parity as the number of walnuts.
Proof
Lemma 2. In a bad process, for any $j \in \{0,\ldots, 2021\}$, after $j$ moves, the number of obedient walnuts with labels greater than $j$ is odd.
Proof
Now, if a process is bad, after $2021$ moves there is an odd number of obedient walnuts greater than $2021$, which is a contradiction. Therefore, bad processes don't exist.
This post has been edited 3 times. Last edited by square_root_of_3, Jul 23, 2021, 12:02 PM
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TheStrayCat
161 posts
#5 • 4 Y
Y by centslordm, megarnie, eggymath, cubres
(Found a mistake in my solution, please disregard)
This post has been edited 3 times. Last edited by TheStrayCat, Jul 21, 2021, 4:21 AM
Reason: Found a mistake
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SnowPanda
186 posts
#6 • 4 Y
Y by centslordm, megarnie, eggymath, cubres
Solution
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VulcanForge
626 posts
#7 • 6 Y
Y by Inshaallahgoldmedal, centslordm, megarnie, eggymath, i3435, cubres
Solved with Isaac Zhu, Jeffery Chen, Kevin Wu, Albert Wang, Nacho Cho, Linus Hamilton, Sam Zhang.

Assume for contradiction otherwise. On the $k$-th move, paint the $k$-th acorn red. The key observation due to the assumption at the beginning is that if we are swapping around acorn $k$, then both it's neighbors must be the same color: otherwise the problem would be finished.

Now this gives a contradiction: if we draw an edge between every pair of adjacent red acorns, at each step we gain an even number of edges. But we're supposed to have $2021$ edges at the end, contradiction.
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AnonymousBunny
339 posts
#8 • 3 Y
Y by centslordm, eggymath, cubres
Write the number 0 on each walnut initially. Suppose we change the number on walnut k to 1 on turn k. Assume the problem statement is false, then the neighbors of walnut k at turn k have the same number, so swapping them has no effect on the number sequence.

So we are changing a 0 to 1 at each step and we want to show at some point, we change a sequence like 100 to 110 or 001 to 011.

At any given time, consider the maximal contiguous runs of 0. After the first move, there is one contiguous run of length 2020. I claim that given an initial configuration of 2k consecutive zeroes surroubded by 1s at the endpoints (i.e., $1 0^{2k} 1$) (*), if we change the 0's to 1's one by one, we must hit a forbidden configuration as mentioned above.

For this we induct. Base case k=1 is trivial. For induction step note that if we change a 0 to 1 in a block of 2k consecutive 0s, we break this block into two blocks of size p,q where p+q=2k-1 is odd, so one of them must be even, say p. Induct on the block of length p.

(*) We are "unwrapping" the circle here after the first move.
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by AnonymousBunny, Jul 21, 2021, 3:48 AM
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TheUltimate123
1740 posts
#9 • 8 Y
Y by centslordm, HamstPan38825, sabkx, math_comb01, eggymath, Dissonant, Rounak_iitr, cubres
Call a walnut \(k\) conservative if on the \(k\)th move Jumpy swaps walnuts \(a\) and \(b\) with \(a,b<k\), and call a walnut \(k\) liberal if on the \(k\)th move Jumpy swaps walnuts \(a\) and \(b\) with \(a,b>k\). Assume for contradiction every walnut is either conservative or liberal.

Claim: If walnut \(k\) is conservative, then it does not move after the \(k\)th move.

Proof. Indeed, I contend the neighbors of \(k\) will always be smaller than the move number. After the \(k\)th move, the neighbors of \(k\) are \(a,b<k\) by design. If on move \(t\), a neighbor of \(k\) is swapped out, since the original neighbor was less than \(t\), the new neighbor is also less than \(t\). \(\blacksquare\)

Claim: If \(k\) is conservative, then its neighbors in the final position are not conservative.

Proof. If the \(k\)th move swaps \(a\) and \(b\), with \(a,b<k\), then \(a\) and \(b\) are not conservative since they move on the \(k\)th move. Whenever either neighbor of \(k\) is replaced, each resulting neighbor \(i\) is not conservative, since it is swapped after the \(i\)th move. \(\blacksquare\)

It follows that there are at most 1010 conservative walnuts. Analogously there are at most 1010 liberal walnuts, contradicting that all walnuts are either conservative or liberal.
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by TheUltimate123, Jul 22, 2021, 4:41 PM
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MarkBcc168
1595 posts
#10 • 7 Y
Y by L567, centslordm, PIartist, sabkx, eggymath, Funcshun840, cubres
Assume for a contradiction that Jumpy never swaps two walnuts $a,b$ with $a<k<b$ in the $k$-th move.

Before Jumpy can swap walnuts, Bushy woke up and observed Jumpy from afar. Bushy is angry upon discovering that Jumpy randomly swaps his beautifully arranged walnuts, so after the $k$-th move, Bushy steps in and removes the walnut $k$ from the hole. Observe that from what we assumed, a vacant hole cannot become occupied with walnut and vice versa.

After Bushy removes the walnut $1$, the remaining walnuts become a single contiguous segment of $2020$ walnuts, which is even. Therefore, when a walnut is removed from this segment, it will be split into an odd and an even segment; we keep our eyes on this even segment. Considering this even segment further, we see that it will eventually be divided to a smaller even segment. Thus, by repeating this argument, eventually, we will get a segment of length $2$ that Bushy cannot take away any either walnut, a contradiction.
This post has been edited 2 times. Last edited by MarkBcc168, Jul 21, 2021, 10:42 PM
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Richangles
139 posts
#11 • 2 Y
Y by centslordm, cubres
I expected this problem to be NT, since P1 was either Algebra or combo. So has the PSC dropped the method of P1, P2, P4 & P5 being a permutation of A, C, G & N?
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jasperE3
11333 posts
#12 • 3 Y
Y by centslordm, eggymath, cubres
No, P1 was NT.
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megarnie
5608 posts
#13 • 4 Y
Y by centslordm, Han-htr, eggymath, cubres
Solution
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554183
484 posts
#14 • 3 Y
Y by centslordm, eggymath, cubres
Wu
On the $k$th move, color walnut $k$ black, and let the other walnuts remain brown. We count the number of pairs of adjacent black walnuts. It’s easy to see that if the opposite is assumed, then the change in the quantity is even. But we require the quantity to become $2021$ which is odd at the end.
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starchan
1609 posts
#15 • 2 Y
Y by centslordm, cubres
Solution?
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by starchan, Jul 28, 2021, 9:52 AM
Reason: Fixed an error in my previous solution.
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