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2018 AMC 10B Problem 25

Problem 25 of 25HarderAlgebraCounting & Probability

Let x\lfloor x \rfloor denote the greatest integer less than or equal to x.x. How many real numbers xx satisfy the equation x2+10,000x=10,000x?x^2 + 10{,}000\lfloor x \rfloor = 10{,}000x?

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Solution

Let a=x.a = \lfloor x \rfloor. The equation reads x2=10,000(xa)x^2 = 10{,}000(x - a) =10,000{x},= 10{,}000\{x\}, and since 0{x}<1,0 \le \{x\} < 1, this forces 0x2<10,000,0 \le x^2 < 10{,}000, so 100<x<100.-100 < x < 100. On each interval [a,a+1)[a, a + 1) the quantity 10,000xx210{,}000x - x^2 increases from 10,000aa210{,}000a - a^2 and approaches, but does not reach, 10,000(a+1)(a+1)2.10{,}000(a+1) - (a+1)^2. It hits 10,000a10{,}000a exactly once precisely when (a+1)2<10,000.(a + 1)^2 < 10{,}000. That holds for the integers 100a98,-100 \le a \le 98, which is 199199 solutions. Thus, C is the correct answer.

More practice

Concepts: floor and ceiling functions · counting integers in a range

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