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2014 AMC 12A Problem 18

Problem 18 of 25IntermediateAlgebra

The domain of the function f(x)=log12(log4(log14(log16(log116x))))\tiny f(x)=\log_{\frac{1}{2}}\!\left(\log_4\!\left(\log_{\frac{1}{4}}\!\left(\log_{16}\!\left(\log_{\frac{1}{16}}x\right)\right)\right)\right) is an interval of length mn,\dfrac{m}{n}, where mm and nn are relatively prime positive integers. What is m+n?m+n?

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Solution

Working from the outside, ff is defined exactly when log4 ⁣(log14 ⁣(log16 ⁣(log116x)))\log_4\!\left(\log_{\frac{1}{4}}\!\left(\log_{16}\!\left(\log_{\frac{1}{16}}x\right)\right)\right) >0,\gt0, which is equivalent to log14 ⁣(log16 ⁣(log116x))>1.\log_{\frac{1}{4}}\!\left(\log_{16}\!\left(\log_{\frac{1}{16}}x\right)\right)\gt1. Since the base 14<1,\tfrac14\lt1, this means 0<log16 ⁣(log116x)<14,0\lt\log_{16}\!\left(\log_{\frac{1}{16}}x\right)\lt\tfrac14, hence 1<log116x<1614=2.1\lt\log_{\frac{1}{16}}x\lt16^{\frac{1}{4}}=2. As 116<1,\tfrac{1}{16}\lt1, this reverses to (116)2<x<(116)1,\left(\tfrac{1}{16}\right)^2\lt x\lt\left(\tfrac{1}{16}\right)^1, i.e. 1256<x<116.\tfrac{1}{256}\lt x\lt\tfrac{1}{16}. The length is 1161256=15256,\tfrac{1}{16}-\tfrac{1}{256}=\tfrac{15}{256}, so m+n=15+256=271.m+n=15+256=271. Thus, the correct answer is C.

More practice

Concepts: logarithm · inequality

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