A treasure is buried under a square of an $8\times 8$ board. Under each other square is a message which indicates the minimum number of steps needed to reach the square with the treasure. Each step takes one from a square to another square sharing a common side. What is the minmum number of squares we must dig up in order to bring up the treasure for sure?
2012 Tournament of Towns
Spring 2012
Junior O-Level
The number $4$ has an odd number of odd positive divisors, namely $1$, and an even number of even positive divisors, namely $2$ and $4$. Is there a number with an odd number of even positive divisors and an even number of odd positive divisors?
In the parallelogram $ABCD$, the diagonal $AC$ touches the incircles of triangles $ABC$ and $ADC$ at $W$ and $Y$ respectively, and the diagonal $BD$ touches the incircles of triangles $BAD$ and $BCD$ at $X$ and $Z$ respectively. Prove that either $W,X, Y$ and $Z$ coincide, or $WXYZ$ is a rectangle.
Brackets are to be inserted into the expression $10 \div 9 \div 8 \div 7 \div 6 \div 5 \div 4 \div 3 \div 2$ so that the resulting number is an integer. (a) Determine the maximum value of this integer. (b) Determine the minimum value of this integer.
RyNo, a little rhinoceros, has $17$ scratch marks on its body. Some are horizontal and the rest are vertical. Some are on the left side and the rest are on the right side. If RyNo rubs one side of its body against a tree, two scratch marks, either both horizontal or both vertical, will disappear from that side. However, at the same time, two new scratch marks, one horizontal and one vertical, will appear on the other side. If there are less than two horizontal and less than two vertical scratch marks on the side being rubbed, then nothing happens. If RyNo continues to rub its body against trees, is it possible that at some point in time, the numbers of horizontal and vertical scratch marks have interchanged on each side of its body?
Junior A-Level
It is possible to place an even number of pears in a row such that the masses of any two neighbouring pears differ by at most $1$ gram. Prove that it is then possible to put the pears two in a bag and place the bags in a row such that the masses of any two neighbouring bags differ by at most $1$ gram.
One hundred points are marked in the plane, with no three in a line. Is it always possible to connect the points in pairs such that all fifty segments intersect one another?
In a team of guards, each is assigned a different positive integer. For any two guards, the ratio of the two numbers assigned to them is at least $3:1$. A guard assigned the number $n$ is on duty for $n$ days in a row, off duty for $n$ days in a row, back on duty for $n$ days in a row, and so on. The guards need not start their duties on the same day. Is it possible that on any day, at least one in such a team of guards is on duty?
Each entry in an $n\times n$ table is either $+$ or $-$. At each step, one can choose a row or a column and reverse all signs in it. From the initial position, it is possible to obtain the table in which all signs are $+$. Prove that this can be accomplished in at most $n$ steps.
Let $p$ be a prime number. A set of $p + 2$ positive integers, not necessarily distinct, is called interesting if the sum of any $p$ of them is divisible by each of the other two. Determine all interesting sets.
A bank has one million clients, one of whom is Inspector Gadget. Each client has a unique PIN number consisting of six digits. Dr. Claw has a list of all the clients. He is able to break into the account of any client, choose any $n$ digits of the PIN number and copy them. The n digits he copies from different clients need not be in the same $n$ positions. He can break into the account of each client, but only once. What is the smallest value of $n$ which allows Dr.Claw to determine the complete PIN number of Inspector Gadget?
Let $AH$ be an altitude of an equilateral triangle $ABC$. Let $I$ be the incentre of triangle $ABH$, and let $L, K$ and $J$ be the incentres of triangles $ABI,BCI$ and $CAI$ respectively. Determine $\angle KJL$.
Senior O-Level
Each vertex of a convex polyhedron lies on exactly three edges, at least two of which have the same length. Prove that the polyhedron has three edges of the same length.
The cells of a $1\times 2n$ board are labelled $1,2,...,, n, -n,..., -2, -1$ from left to right. A marker is placed on an arbitrary cell. If the label of the cell is positive, the marker moves to the right a number of cells equal to the value of the label. If the label is negative, the marker moves to the left a number of cells equal to the absolute value of the label. Prove that if the marker can always visit all cells of the board, then $2n + 1$ is prime.
Consider the points of intersection of the graphs $y = \cos x$ and $x = 100 \cos (100y)$ for which both coordinates are positive. Let $a$ be the sum of their $x$-coordinates and $b$ be the sum of their $y$-coordinates. Determine the value of $\frac{a}{b}$.
A quadrilateral $ABCD$ with no parallel sides is inscribed in a circle. Two circles, one passing through $A$ and $B$, and the other through $C$ and $D$, are tangent to each other at $X$. Prove that the locus of $X$ is a circle.
In an $8\times 8$ chessboard, the rows are numbers from $1$ to $8$ and the columns are labelled from $a$ to $h$. In a two-player game on this chessboard, the first player has a White Rook which starts on the square $b2$, and the second player has a Black Rook which starts on the square $c4$. The two players take turns moving their rooks. In each move, a rook lands on another square in the same row or the same column as its starting square. However, that square cannot be under attack by the other rook, and cannot have been landed on before by either rook. The player without a move loses the game. Which player has a winning strategy?
Senior A-Level
same as Junior A p1 - 1
One hundred points are marked inside a circle, with no three in a line. Prove that it is possible to connect the points in pairs such that all fifty lines intersect one another inside the circle.
Let $n$ be a positive integer. Prove that there exist integers $a_1, a_2,..., a_n$ such that for any integer $x$, the number $(... (((x^2 + a_1)^2 + a_2)^2 + ...)^2 + a_{n-1})^2 + a_n$ is divisible by $2n - 1$.
Alex marked one point on each of the six interior faces of a hollow unit cube. Then he connected by strings any two marked points on adjacent faces. Prove that the total length of these strings is at least $6\sqrt2$.
Let $\ell$ be a tangent to the incircle of triangle $ABC$. Let $\ell_a,\ell_b$ and $\ell_c$ be the respective images of $\ell$ under reflection across the exterior bisector of $\angle A,\angle B$ and $\angle C$. Prove that the triangle formed by these lines is congruent to $ABC$.
We attempt to cover the plane with an infinite sequence of rectangles, overlapping allowed. (a) Is the task always possible if the area of the $n$th rectangle is $n^2$ for each $n$? (b) Is the task always possible if each rectangle is a square, and for any number $N$, there exist squares with total area greater than $N$?
Konstantin has a pile of $100$ pebbles. In each move, he chooses a pile and splits it into two smaller ones until he gets $100 $ piles each with a single pebble. (a) Prove that at some point, there are $30$ piles containing a total of exactly $60$ pebbles. (b) Prove that at some point, there are $20$ piles containing a total of exactly $60$ pebbles. (c) Prove that Konstantin may proceed in such a way that at no point, there are $19$ piles containing a total of exactly $60$ pebbles.
Fall 2012
Junior O-Level
Five students have the first names Clark, Donald, Jack, Robin and Steve, and have the last names (in a different order) Clarkson, Donaldson, Jackson, Robinson and Stevenson. It is known that Clark is $1$ year older than Clarkson, Donald is $2$ years older than Donaldson, Jack is $3$ years older than Jackson, Robin is $4$ years older than Robinson. Who is older, Steve or Stevenson and what is the difference in their ages?
Let $C(n)$ be the number of prime divisors of a positive integer n. (For example, $C(10) = 2,C(11) = 1, C(12) = 2$). Consider set S of all pairs of positive integers $(a, b)$ such that $a\ne b$ and $C(a + b) = C(a) + C(b)$. Is set $S$ finite or infinite?
A table $10 \times 10$ was filled according to the rules of the game “Bomb Squad”: several cells contain bombs (one bomb per cell) while each of the remaining cells contains a number, equal to the number of bombs in all cells adjacent to it by side or by vertex.
A circle touches sides $AB, BC, CD$ of a parallelogram $ABCD$ at points $K, L, M$ respectively. Prove that the line $KL$ bisects the height of the parallelogram drawn from the vertex $C$ to $AB$.
For a class of $20$ students several field trips were arranged. In each trip at least one student participated. Prove that there was a field trip such that each student who participated in it took part in at least $1/20$-th of all field trips.
Junior A-Level
The decimal representation of an integer uses only two different digits. The number is at least $10$ digits long, and any two neighbouring digits are distinct. What is the greatest power of two that can divide this number?
Chip and Dale play the following game. Chip starts by splitting $222$ nuts between two piles, so Dale can see it. In response, Dale chooses some number $N$ from $1$ to $222$. Then Chip moves nuts from the piles he prepared to a new (third) pile until there will be exactly $N$ nuts in any one or two piles. When Chip accomplishes his task, Dale gets an exact amount of nuts that Chip moved. What is the maximal number of nuts that Dale can get for sure, no matter how Chip acts? (Naturally, Dale wants to get as many nuts as possible, while Chip wants to lose as little as possible).
Some cells of a $11 \times 11$ table are filled with pluses. It is known that the total number of pluses in the given table and in any of its $2 \times 2$ sub-tables is even. Prove that the total number of pluses on the main diagonal of the given table is also even. ($2 \times 2$ sub-table consists of four adjacent cells, four cells around a common vertex).
Given a triangle $ABC$. Suppose I is its incentre, and $X, Y, Z$ are the incentres of triangles $AIB, BIC$ and $AIC$ respectively. The incentre of triangle $XYZ$ coincides with $I$. Is it necessarily true that triangle $ABC$ is regular?
A car rides along a circular track in the clockwise direction. At noon Peter and Paul took their positions at two different points of the track. Some moment later they simultaneously ended their duties and compared their notes. The car passed each of them at least $30$ times. Peter noticed that each circle was passed by the car $1$ second faster than the preceding one while Paul’s observation was opposite: each circle was passed $1$ second slower than the preceding one. Prove that their duty was at least an hour and a half long.
(a) A point $A$ is marked inside a circle. Two perpendicular lines drawn through $A$ intersect the circle at four points. Prove that the centre of mass of these four points does not depend on the choice of the lines. (b) A regular $2n$-gon ($n \ge 2$) with centre $A$ is drawn inside a circle (A does not necessarily coincide with the centre of the circle). The rays going from $A$ to the vertices of the $2n$-gon mark $2n$ points on the circle. Then the $2n$-gon is rotated about $A$. The rays going from $A$ to the new locations of vertices mark new $2n$ points on the circle. Let $O$ and $N$ be the centres of gravity of old and new points respectively. Prove that $O = N$.
Peter and Paul play the following game. First, Peter chooses some positive integer $a$ with the sum of its digits equal to $2012$. Paul wants to determine this number, he knows only that the sum of the digits of Peter’s number is $2012$. On each of his moves Paul chooses a positive integer $x$ and Peter tells him the sum of the digits of $|x - a|$. What is the minimal number of moves in which Paul can determine Peter’s number for sure?
Senior O-Level
same as Junior O p3 - 1
Given a convex polyhedron and a sphere intersecting each its edge at two points so that each edge is trisected (divided into three equal parts). Is it necessarily true that all faces of the polyhedron are (a) congruent polygons? (b) regular polygons?
For a class of $20$ students several field trips were arranged. In each trip at least four students participated. Prove that there was a field trip such that each student who participated in it took part in at least $1/17$-th of all field trips.
Let $C(n)$ be the number of prime divisors of a positive integer $n$. (a) Consider set $S$ of all pairs of positive integers $(a, b)$ such that $a \ne b$ and $C(a + b) = C(a) + C(b)$. Is $S$ finite or infinite? (b) Define $S'$ as a subset of S consisting of the pairs $(a, b)$ such that $C(a+b) > 1000$. Is $S'$ finite or infinite?
Among $239$ coins identical in appearance there are two counterfeit coins. Both counterfeit coins have the same weight different from the weight of a genuine coin. Using a simple balance, determine in three weighings whether the counterfeit coin is heavier or lighter than the genuine coin. A simple balance shows if both sides are in equilibrium or left side is heavier or lighter. It is not required to find the counterfeit coins.
Senior A-Level
Given an infinite sequence of numbers $a_1, a_2, a_3,...$ . For each positive integer $k$ there exists a positive integer $t = t(k)$ such that $a_k = a_{k+t} = a_{k+2t} =...$. Is this sequence necessarily periodic? That is, does a positive integer $T$ exist such that $a_k = a_{k+T}$ for each positive integer k?
Chip and Dale play the following game. Chip starts by splitting $1001$ nuts between three piles, so Dale can see it. In response, Dale chooses some number $N$ from $1$ to $1001$. Then Chip moves nuts from the piles he prepared to a new (fourth) pile until there will be exactly $N$ nuts in any one or more piles. When Chip accomplishes his task, Dale gets an exact amount of nuts that Chip moved. What is the maximal number of nuts that Dale can get for sure, no matter how Chip acts? (Naturally, Dale wants to get as many nuts as possible, while Chip wants to lose as little as possible).
same as Junior A p5 - 3
In a triangle $ABC$ two points, $C_1$ and $A_1$ are marked on the sides $AB$ and $BC$ respectively (the points do not coincide with the vertices). Let $K$ be the midpoint of $A_1C_1$ and $I$ be the incentre of the triangle $ABC$. Given that the quadrilateral $A_1BC_1I$ is cyclic, prove that the angle $AKC$ is obtuse.
same as Junior A p7 - 5
(a) A point $A$ is marked inside a sphere. Three perpendicular lines drawn through $A$ intersect the sphere at six points. Prove that the centre of gravity of these six points does not depend on the choice of such three lines. (b) An icosahedron with the centre $A$ is placed inside a sphere (its centre does not necessarily coincide with the centre of the sphere). The rays going from $A$ to the vertices of the icosahedron mark $12$ points on the sphere. Then the icosahedron is rotated about its centre. New rays mark new $12$ points on the sphere. Let $O$ and $N$ be the centres of mass of old and new points respectively. Prove that $O = N$.
There are $1 000 000$ soldiers in a line. The sergeant splits the line into $100$ segments (the length of different segments may be different) and permutes the segments (not changing the order of soldiers in each segment) forming a new line. The sergeant repeats this procedure several times (splits the new line in segments of the same lengths and permutes them in exactly the same way as the first time). Every soldier originally from the first segment recorded the number of performed procedures that took him to return to the first segment for the first time. Prove that at most $100$ of these numbers are different.