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2020 AMC 12B Problem 21

Problem 21 of 25HarderAlgebra

How many positive integers nn satisfy n+100070=⌊n⌋?\frac{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

The right side is an integer, so let k=⌊n⌋.k = \lfloor \sqrt{n} \rfloor. Then n=70k−1000,n = 70k - 1000, and k=⌊n⌋k = \lfloor \sqrt{n} \rfloor requires k2≤n<(k+1)2.k^2 \le n \lt (k + 1)^2. The lower bound k2≤70k−1000k^2 \le 70k - 1000 gives k2−70k+1000≤0,k^2 - 70k + 1000 \le 0, i.e. 20≤k≤50.20 \le k \le 50. The upper bound 70k−1000<(k+1)270k - 1000 \lt (k + 1)^2 gives k2−68k+1001>0,k^2 - 68k + 1001 \gt 0, i.e. k≤21k \le 21 or k≥47.k \ge 47. Intersecting, k∈{20,21,47,48,49,50},k \in \{20, 21, 47, 48, 49, 50\}, giving 66 values of n.n. Thus, the correct answer is C.
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Tagged: floor and ceiling functions · substitution · inequality

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