Maths Olympiad Prep

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Algebra Difficulty 4.4 AIME Prove it United States

Problem:
Find the minimum of x22xx^{2}-2x over all real numbers xx.

Solution

Solution:
Write x22x=x22x+11=(x1)21x^{2}-2x = x^{2}-2x+1-1 = (x-1)^{2}-1. Since (x1)20(x-1)^{2} \geq 0, it is clear that the minimum is 1-1.

Alternate method: The graph of y=x22xy = x^{2}-2x is a parabola that opens up. Therefore, the minimum occurs at its vertex, which is at b2a=(2)2=1\frac{-b}{2a} = \frac{-(-2)}{2} = 1. But 1221=11^{2}-2 \cdot 1 = -1, so the minimum is 1-1.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.