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2019 AMC 10B Problem 9

Problem 9 of 25EasierAlgebra

The function ff is defined by f(x)=xxf(x) = \lfloor|x|\rfloor - |\lfloor x \rfloor| for all real numbers x,x, where r\lfloor r \rfloor denotes the greatest integer less than or equal to the real number r.r. What is the range of f?f?

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Solution

If x0x\ge0, then x=x=x\lfloor|x|\rfloor=\lfloor x\rfloor=|\lfloor x\rfloor|, so f(x)=0f(x)=0. If xx is a negative integer, both terms equal x|x|, so again f(x)=0f(x)=0. If xx is negative and not an integer, write x=ktx=-k-t, where kk is a nonnegative integer and 0<t<10<t<1. Then x=k\lfloor|x|\rfloor=k, while x=k1=k+1|\lfloor x\rfloor|=|-k-1|=k+1, so f(x)=1f(x)=-1. Therefore, the range is {1,0}.\{-1,0\}. Thus, the answer is A .

More practice

Concepts: floor and ceiling functions · absolute value · casework

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