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2018 AMC 10A Problem 14

Problem 14 of 25IntermediateAlgebra

What is the greatest integer less than or equal to 3100+2100396+296?\dfrac{3^{100}+2^{100}}{3^{96}+2^{96}}?

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Solution

Let a=396a=3^{96} and b=296b=2^{96}. The expression is 81a+16ba+b=16+65aa+b\dfrac{81a+16b}{a+b}=16+\dfrac{65a}{a+b}, so it is less than 16+65=8116+65=81. To show the floor is 8080, we also need the expression to be greater than 8080. This is equivalent to 81a+16b>80a+80b81a+16b>80a+80b, or a>64ba>64b. Because (32)2=94>2,\left(\dfrac32\right)^2=\dfrac94>2, we have ab=(32)96>248>64.\dfrac{a}{b}=\left(\dfrac32\right)^{96}>2^{48}>64. Hence the expression is greater than 8080 and less than 81.81. Thus, A is the correct answer.

More practice

Concepts: exponent · floor and ceiling functions · bounding to limit cases

Problem text and solution from the LIVE past-contest archive. See also the AoPS wiki page for community solutions.