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Algebra Difficulty 4.5 AIME Prove it Silk Road Mathematics Competition

For every positive integer mm prove the inequality {m}12>18(m+1)|\{\sqrt{m}\} - \frac{1}{2}| > \frac{1}{8(\sqrt{m}+1)}.

Solution

Let [m]=k[\sqrt{m}] = k. Then
{m}12=122k+12m=124k2+4k+14m2k+1+2m. |\{\sqrt{m}\} - \frac{1}{2}| = \frac{1}{2}|2k + 1 - 2\sqrt{m}| = \frac{1}{2} \cdot \frac{|4k^2 + 4k + 1 - 4m|}{2k + 1 + 2\sqrt{m}}.
The numerator of the last fraction is an odd positive integer, and therefore at least 11. Thus,
{m}121212k+1+2m12(4m+1)>18(m+1), |\{\sqrt{m}\} - \frac{1}{2}| \ge \frac{1}{2} \cdot \frac{1}{2k + 1 + 2\sqrt{m}} \ge \frac{1}{2(4\sqrt{m} + 1)} > \frac{1}{8(\sqrt{m} + 1)},

Q.E.D.

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