We solve problems

Problems Set theory and logic Algorithm Theory Game Theory Symmetric strategies

A two-player game with matches. There are 37 matches on the table. In each turn, a player is allowed to take no more than 5 matches. The winner of the game is the player who takes the final match. Which player wins, if the right strategy is used?

Problem #PRU-102839

Empty Category

12–14 2.0

In the US, it is customary to record the date as follows: the number of the month, then the number of the day and then the year. In Europe, the number comes first, then the month and then the year. How many days are there in the year, the date of which can be read definitively, without knowing how it was written?

Problem #PRU-102844

Problems Combinatorics Painting problems Methods Pigeonhole principle Pigeonhole principle (other) Proof by contradiction Algebra Word Problems Tables and tournaments Tables and tournaments (other)

12–14 3.0

The cells of a \(15 \times 15\) square table are painted red, blue and green. Prove that there are two lines which at least have the same number of cells of one colour.

Problem #PRU-102859

Problems Set theory and logic Mathematical logic Puzzles

12–13 2.0

Can the equality \(K \times O \times T\) = \(U \times W \times E \times H \times S \times L\) be true if instead of the letters in it we substitute integers from 1 to 9 (different letters correspond to different numbers)?

Problem #PRU-102879

Problems Methods Examples and counterexamples. Constructive proofs Pigeonhole principle Pigeonhole principle (other)

12–14 3.0

What is the maximum number of kings, that cannot capture each other, which can be placed on a chessboard of size \(8 \times 8\) cells?

Problem #PRU-102883

Problems Algebra Combinatorics

12–14 2.0

Prove that the number of all arrangements of the largest possible amount of peaceful bishops (figures that move on diagonals and don’t threaten each other) on the \(8\times 8\) chessboard is an exact square.

Problem #PRU-103757

Problems Algebra Algebraic equations and systems of equations Higher order equations. Palindromic polynomial equations Equations of higher order (other) Calculus Real numbers Integer and fractional parts. Archimedean property

12–14 2.0

A resident of one foreign intelligence agency informed the centre about the forthcoming signing of a number of bilateral agreements between the fifteen former republics of the USSR. According to his report, each of them will conclude an agreement exactly with three others. Should this resident be trusted?

Problem #PRU-103780

Problems Methods Algebraic methods Partitions into pairs and groups; bijections Pigeonhole principle Pigeonhole principle (other) Proof by exhaustion

11–13 3.0

In any group of 10 children, out of a total of 60 pupils, there will be three who are in the same class. Will it always be the case that amongst the 60 pupils there will be: 1) 15 classmates? 2) 16 classmates?

Problem #PRU-103787

Problems Methods Algebraic methods Counting in two ways Extremal principle Extremal principle (other) Pigeonhole principle Pigeonhole principle (other)

12–14 3.0

One term a school ran 20 sessions of an after-school Astronomy Club. Exactly five pupils attended each session and no two students encountered one another over all of the sessions more than once. Prove that no fewer than 20 pupils attended the Astronomy Club at some point during the term.

Problem #PRU-103802

Problems Algebra Number systems Decimal number system Number theory. Divisibility Divisibility of a number. General properties Set theory and logic Set theory Set cardinality. One-to-one correspondence

12–13 2.0

Which five-digit numbers are there more of: ones that are not divisible by 5 or those with neither the first nor the second digit on the left being a five?