All too often, through common school mathematics, students find themselves excelling in school math classes by memorizing formulas, but not their applications or the motivation behind them. As a consequence, understanding derived in this manner is tragically based on little or no proof.This is why studying proofs is paramount! Proofs help us understand the nature of mathematics and show us the key to appreciating its elegance.But even getting past the concern of "why should this be true?" students often face the question of "when will I ever need this in life?" Proofs in Competition Math aims to remedy these issues at a wide range of levels, from the fundamentals of competition math all the way to the Olympiad level and beyond.Don't worry if you don't know all of the math in this book; there will be prerequisites for each skill level, giving you a better idea of your current strengths and weaknesses and allowing you to set realistic goals as a math student. So, mathematical minds, we set you off!

Elementary School Math Contests contains over 500 challenging math contest problems and detailed step-by-step solutions in Number Theory, Algebra, Counting & Probability, and Geometry. The problems and solutions are accompanied with formulas, strategies, and tips.This book is written for beginning mathletes who are interested in learning advanced problem solving and critical thinking skills in preparation for elementary and middle school math competitions.

This is the ninth book of problems and solutions from the American Mathematics Competitions (AMC) contests. It chronicles 325 problems from the thirteen AMC 12 contests given in the years between 2001 and 2007. The authors were the joint directors of the AMC 12 and the AMC 10 competitions during that period. The problems have all been edited to ensure that they conform to the current style of the AMC 12 competitions. Graphs and figures have been redrawn to make them more consistent in form and style, and the solutions to the problems have been both edited and supplemented. A problem index at the back of the book classifies the problems into subject areas of Algebra, Arithmetic, Complex Numbers, Counting, Functions, Geometry, Graphs, Logarithms, Logic, Number Theory, Polynomials, Probability, Sequences, Statistics, and Trigonometry. A problem that uses a combination of these areas is listed multiple times. The problems on these contests are posed by members of the mathematical community in the hope that all secondary school students will have an opportunity to participate in problem-solving and an enriching mathematical experience.

This book can be used by students in grades 3-5: (1) who seek material more challenging than they typically encounter in their math classroom, and (2) who would like to build a solid problem solving foundation for future math competitions such as AMC 8, Mathcounts, and other math competitions. Each chapter consists of (1) basic skill and knowledge section with plenty of examples, (2) exercise problems, and (3) detailed solutions to all exercise problems.

" ... offer[s] a challenging exploration of problem solving mathematics and preparation for programs such as MATHCOUNTS and the American Mathematics Competition."--Back cover