Alcumus

Alcumus is a free, educational system that asks questions from the AoPS staff, books, or external contests. AoPS encourages students to use the system. AoPS generates high-quality solutions for the students to learn and to do similar problems easily. You can access Alucmus here. Alcumus can also be found on AoPS's resources page.

The problems in Alcumus cover the following subject

Within each subject there are many topics to set as a Focus Topic to deepen the knowledge of that topic. You can also follow a book from AoPS, use "All Available Topics" or "Let Alcumus Choose a Topic".

You can also get secret honors and quests. They can give you XP, but beware, they can also take away XP. The secret honors are secret and when you get them you most probably won't know why. There are also secret honors which you can get because of performing badly which can take away XP. The quests are missions that must be done in a limited amount of time to earn. There is a log at the bottom left. It shows recent problems you've done, along with you and your friend's achievements, quests, completion/mastery of topics, and level ups. If you click on a problem you've done in the log, you can see its solution again.

Notation

Note that LaTeX is accepted for inputs in Alcumus.

AoPS has a special syntax for entering special types of characters in your answers. Examples of common forms of answers are shown below:

To input a fraction, type x/y where x is the numerator and y is the denominator. 5/6

You can also input this fraction with the LaTeX code for fractions: \frac{5}{6}

To input a square root, type \sqrt{x} where x is the radicand.

You can also type sqrt(x) for a square root.

To type cube roots, you can type either \sqrt[3]{x} or cbrt(x) or sqrt[3](x).

For roots higher than the cube root, type \sqrt[x]{y} or sqrt[x](y). To input $\pi$ type: \pi

A coordinate pair should be entered as (x,y). For example: (4.2,5.2)

A mixed fraction should only be used when the problem specifically asks for a mixed fraction. These should be entered as X y/z, such as: 5 1/3 or 5\frac{1}{3} Coefficients of variables should be written without the multiplication sign: 3x

Multipliers with square roots should be written without the multiplication sign. For example, write $3\sqrt{5}$ as 3\sqrt{5} Powers should be entered with the caret (^) sign. For example, type x squared as x^2

Scientific notation should be entered as x*10^y or x\cdot10^y. 6.02*10^-23

Occasionally you will encounter multiple choice problems. Simply enter the correct letter for these problems.

Take note of the following for answering problems:

Probabilities, decimal values, and ratios should always be expressed as simplified common fractions unless otherwise specified.

Units of measurement should not be included in your answers. This includes dollar signs.

Do not do any intermediate rounding. Any rounding should be done at the end of the calculation process. (Only round if the problem asks you to round.)

If the answer is a polynomial, put your answer in decreasing degree order. For example, use x^2+3x+2 instead of 3x+2+x^2.

Achievements

Focus On Fractions: Use the frac notation to solve a problem. +20 XP
Rambunctious Radicals: Use the sqrt notation to answer a question. +21 XP
Stuck In the Middle: Correctly answer a question using interval notation. +20 XP
Life of Pi: Correctly answer a question in terms of pi. +31 XP
'All for Naught: Correctly answer a question where the answer is 0. +20 XP
Eek! Gross!: Correctly answer a question where the answer is 144. +44 XP
Slayer: Correctly answer a Level 25 problem on your first try. +25 XP
Busy Bee I: Correctly answer 100 problems in one week. +25 XP
Busy Bee II: Correctly answer 200 problems in one week. +50 XP
Busy Bee III: Correctly answer 300 problems in one week. +75 XP
Never Gonna Give You Up I: Answer 200 problems in a row without hitting "give up". +40 XP
Never Gonna Give You Up II: Answer 500 problems in a row without hitting "give up". +80 XP
Never Gonna Give You Up III: Answer 1000 problems in a row without hitting "give up". +120 XP
Sharpshooter I: Reach Level 10 in Accuracy.
Sharpshooter II: Reach Level 25 in Accuracy.
Brute I: Reach Level 10 in Power.
Brute II: Reach Level 25 in Power.
Made of Iron I: Reach Level 10 in Resilience.
Made of Iron II: Reach Level 25 in Resilience.
Juggernaut I: Reach Level 10 in Stamina.
Juggernaut II: Reach Level 25 in Stamina.
Archimedes I: Reach Level 10 in Prealgebra. +25 XP
Archimedes II: Reach Level 25 in Prealgebra. +50 XP
AlKhwarizmi I: Reach Level 10 in Algebra. +50 XP
AlKhwarizmi II: Reach Level 25 in Algebra. +100 XP
Gauss I: Reach Level 10 in Number Theory. +50 XP
Gauss II: Reach Level 25 in Number Theory. +100 XP
Pascal I: Reach Level 10 in Counting & Probability. +50 XP
Pascal II: Reach Level 25 in Counting & Probability. +100 XP
Euclid I: Reach Level 10 in Geometry. +50 XP
Euclid II: Reach Level 25 in Geometry. +100 XP
Erdos I: Reach an overall level of 10. +125 XP
Erdos II: Reach an overall level of 25. +250 XP
Triple Double: Reach Level 10 in three different subjects. +20 XP
There Is A Prize For This: Gain two overall levels without completing any quests or achievements. +500 XP
Prealgebra Victory: Pass all topics in Prealgebra. +50 XP
Algebra Victory: Pass all topics in Algebra. +80 XP
Number Theory Victory: Pass all topics in Number Theory. +80 XP
Counting Victory: Pass all topics in Counting & Probability. +80 XP
Geometry Victory: Pass all topics in Geometry. +80 XP
Total Victory: Pass all topics in all subjects. +250 XP
Prealgebra Master: Master all topics in Prealgebra. +75 XP
Algebra Master: Master all topics in Algebra. +150 XP
Number Theory Master: Master all topics in Number Theory. +150 XP
Counting Master: Master all topics in Counting & Probability. +150 XP
Geometry Master: Master all topics in Geometry. +150 XP
Alcumus Grandmaster: Master all topics in all subjects. +400 XP
Best Week Ever: Top a weekly hall of fame list. +50 XP
All Time Great: Appear on the all time hall of fame list. +125 XP
Johnny Quest: Complete three different quests in a 24 hour period. +33 XP
Legendary: Complete a 5 star quest. +25 XP
Quest Master I: Complete 25 different quests. +25 XP
Quest Master II: Complete 50 different quests. +50 XP
Quest Master III: Complete 75 different quests. +75 XP
Overachiever I: Obtain 25 achievements. +50 XP
Overachiever II: Obtain 50 achievements. +100 XP
Overachiever III: Obtain 75 achievements. +150 XP
Catch 22: Correctly answer a level 22 problem on the first try. +22 XP
Deja Vu: Answer a problem that you've seen before correctly. +10 XP
Fully Charged: Completely fill the XP Bonus meter. +25 XP
Perseverance: Correctly answer ten questions on the second attempt without any incorrect second attempts in between. +50 XP
Richard: Input "richard" as the answer to a problem. +50 XP
Thanks For the Help!: Get an error report validated. +25 XP
Trisakaidekaphobia: Input "13" as the answer to a problem on a Friday. +13 XP
Amnesia: Answer a problem wrong that you've previously solved correctly. 1 XP
Aren't You A Bit Old For This?: Master all topics in a non-Prealgebra subject, then pass a Prealgebra topic for the first time. +25 XP
Hard Hat Area: Answer a problem correctly when the AoPS Alcumus is under maintenance.
Chicken?: Give up 100 problems.
Double Trouble: Try the same wrong answer twice. +2 XP
Early Bird: Be the first to answer an Alcumus problem on a new day.
J00 R T3H 13:37: Correctly answer a problem when the desktop time displays 13:37. +37 XP
Conspiracy Theory: Input "Illuminati" as the answer to a problem. +50 XP
Indecisive: Change your focus topic for 5 consecutive questions, doing a question after it is given to you, then continuing to switch topics, etc. (Simpler Explanation: Change your focus topic for five consecutive problems.)+25 XP
James Bond: Correctly answer a problem when the desktop time displays 00:07. +7 XP
Life, the Universe, and Everything: Input "42" as the answer to a problem. +42 XP
Them Internets: Correctly answer a question with an answer equal to the last three numbers of the player's IP address. +5 XP
Just Guessing: Get a problem wrong by using 0 as your second guess. +0 XP
Pick Your Poison: Miss your first problem after changing focus topics. -1 XP
Rage-Quit: Leave Alcumus for at least 7 days after answering a problem wrong. -1 XP
Super Secret!: You are not sure how you received this honor. (Correctly answer a problem when the desktop time displays AB:CD:EF, and your answer was ABCDEF, the variables representing digits.) +100 XP
Superstitious: Answer 7 on a problem when the answer is 13. +7 XP
U3BR 13:37: Correctly answer a problem at the 37th second of the 13th minute. +133 XP

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Notation

Achievements

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