Maths Olympiad Prep

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, 2023

Algebra Difficulty 2.5 Junior Find the answer Canada

Suppose that $a =
1n\dfrac{1}{n},where, where n$ is a
positive integer with n>1n > 1.
Which of the following statements is true?

Pick one

Solution

Since a=1na = \dfrac{1}{n} where
nn is a positive integer with n>1n > 1, then 0<a<10 < a < 1 and 1a=n>1\dfrac{1}{a} = n > 1.

Thus, $0 < a < 1 <
1a$,\dfrac{1}{a}\$, which eliminates choices (D) and (E).

Since 0<a<10 < a < 1, then a2a^2 is positive and a2<aa^2 < a, which eliminates choices (A)
and (C).

Thus, $0 < a^2 < a < 1 <
1a$,\dfrac{1}{a}\$, which tells us that (B) must be correct.

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Source: CEMC, University of Waterloo, licensed CC-BY-NC-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.