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2020 AMC 10B Problem 24

Problem 24 of 25HarderAlgebra

How many positive integers nn satisfy n+100070=n?\dfrac{n+1000}{70} = \lfloor \sqrt{n} \rfloor? (Recall that x\lfloor x\rfloor is the greatest integer not exceeding x.x.)

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Solution

Let k=n.k=\left\lfloor\sqrt n\right\rfloor. The equation gives n=70k1000.n=70k-1000. Also, by the definition of the floor function, k2n<(k+1)2.k^2\le n<(k+1)^2. Substituting n=70k1000,n=70k-1000, we get k270k1000<(k+1)2.k^2\le 70k-1000<(k+1)^2. The left inequality is k270k+10000(k20)(k50)0, \begin{aligned} &k^2-70k+1000\le0 \\ &\quad \Longrightarrow (k-20)(k-50)\le0, \end{aligned} so 20k50.20\le k\le50. The right inequality is 70k1000<k2+2k+1k268k+1001>0. \begin{aligned} &70k-1000<k^2+2k+1 \\ &\quad \Longrightarrow k^2-68k+1001>0. \end{aligned} The roots of k268k+1001k^2-68k+1001 are 34±155,34\pm\sqrt{155}, which are approximately 21.5521.55 and 46.45.46.45. Thus, together with 20k50,20\le k\le50, the possible integer values are k=20,21,47,48,49,50.k=20,21,47,48,49,50. There are 66 such values. Thus, C is the correct answer.

More practice

Concepts: floor and ceiling functions · quadratic · inequality

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