Problem Solving Competition: 2011/2012
The competitions start annually and last from September to May,
but you can enter any time during the academic year.
In Mathematics, there are four different contests, in Physics
and in Informatics
there are two. The conditions of the respective contests are slightly
different. See below for details.
Every primary or secondary school student is eligible to participate
in the competitions. Students in different grades might find the same
problems but in most cases their work is evaluated within their age
group, they compete with students of the same
age only. Therefore, it is essential that the paper should indicate the
1 to 12 grade of the contestant in the current school year. The
KöMaL contests are individual competitions, solutions
produced by a group are not accepted. If two papers turn out to be
practically identical, none of them will be marked.
This year students are not allowed to
participate in both competitions "K" and "B" at the same time.
MATHEMATICS
We have four contests in Mathematics this year.
K contest: this is a joint contest of KöMaL and ABACUS,
exclusively for students of grade 9 - beginning the secondary school
this year. 6 problems in each Month; each of them is worth of 6
points.
C contest: easy exercises for practice. 5 problems in each
Month; each one for 5 points. There are three age categories:
grades 1 to 8 grades 9 to 10 grades 11 to 12th (preferably
those not studying mathematics in a special advanced class. Those in
advanced classes are advised to take part in the B contest).
B contest: this is the traditional contest of KöMaL. 10
problems each month. You can send any number of solutions, but only
the highest six scores are entered.
Age groups:
- up to the 8th grade
- 9th grade
- 10th grade
- 11th grade
- 12th grade
A contest: advanced problems, 3 each month. More demainding
than the B contest, for those who are preparing for national or
international competitions. Here there are no separate age groups.
PHYSICS
M contest: Experimental problems: One measuring task is set each month.
Each of them is worth 6 points. The report must contain a description of
the method, the data obtained sufficient in quantity and quality,
the analysis of the data, and the estimation of the error.
There are no separate age groups.
P contest: 10 theoretical problems each month.
Age groups:
- up to the 8th grade;
- 9th grade;
- 10th grade;
- 11th grade;
- 12th grade.
Every age group may send solutions to all kinds of problems.
In the P contest we evaluate only 3 problems up to the 8th grade and
5 problems from 9th - 12th grade.
INFORMATICS
This year we have two contests in Informatics. There are no
separate age groups, competition is opened for everyone.
I contest: three problems every Month which can be solved in
Pascal, C, C++, BASIC or Delphi.
S contest: one advanced problem every Month which can be
solved in Pascal, C, C++ or JAVA. Solving these problems need deeper
algorithmic thoughts and knowledge.
Please do not send .exe files!
Deadlines, adresses
The deadline in all contests is the 10th of the month
following the publication of the current issue. Should that be
a weekend or bank holiday, the deadline is the next workday.
Send your solutions to the following address:
KöMaL Szerkesztõség (KöMaL feladatok), Budapest 112, P.O.B. 32. H-1518
or by e-mail to: solutions@komal.hu.
Informatics solutions are accepted via e-mail only and should be
sent to the following address: solutions.informatics@komal.hu.
The actual state of the contests appears on our web-site
(http://www.komal.hu/eredmeny/index.e.shtml)
and it is updated regularly. These data are not official, only
for your information. The final results will appear in
August on our Internet home page and in
the September issue of the following academic year.
The cca 10 top contestans are rewarded by a certificate in each category and
this is going to be mailed
to their schools, and their portraits, additionally, will be presented in the
December
issue and the Internet.
The layout of the papers:
By ordinary mail:
- Write the solutions to different problems
on separate A4 sheets of paper.
(This is important because different people are
responsible for the marking.)
- The header of every sheet must contain the following in the upper left
corner (see sample 1):
-the letter code (A, B, C, M, P) and number
of the problem in red
-the full name and the grade of the sender
-the name of the school and the town (and country)
-the e-mail adress of the sender
- Fold each sheet into four separatly so that the header should appear in the front side.
- Solutions to geometry problems should include diagrams.
- Enclose with your solutions a separate
sheet listing your data and the contents of your
mail. See sample 2.
| Sample 1. Header of a sheet |
C. 593.
Robert 314 Smith, 9th grade
Philadelphia High School, Boston
e-mail: robb@phs.edu.us
Denote the age of the captain by C, the age of the ship by S. When the age of the ship was C, the age of the captain was C-(S-C)=2C-S. When the ship was
2C-S ...
|
|
|
| Sample 2. Enclosed list |
Robert 314 Smith, 9th grade
Philadelphia High School, Boston
I send the following 3 papers in:
C. 591., C. 593., B. 3389.
| |
|
By e-mail:
- Send the solutions of different problems
as separate e-mail messages.
- The "subject" field of the e-mail message should
contain the letter code and number of the problem.
- Additional requirements concerning the Informatics solutions
- In the first few comment lines of each program do enter the following information:
- your name and class
- your school.
- your town (country)
The content of the papers:
It is not enough to state the answer. Results with detailed
explanations only will receive full credit. (Reference to standard school
math is accepted without proof.)
| 
