Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /9 of 39

Algebra Difficulty 5.6 AIME, harder Prove it Romania

Solve in R\mathbb{R} the equation log7(6x+1)=log6(7x1)\log_7(6^x + 1) = \log_6(7^x - 1).

Solution

If log7(6x+1)=log6(7x1)=y\log_7(6^x + 1) = \log_6(7^x - 1) = y, we obtain 6x+1=7y6^x + 1 = 7^y and 7x1=6y7^x - 1 = 6^y. By addition, it follows that 6x+7x=6y+7y6^x + 7^x = 6^y + 7^y. The function f:RRf: \mathbb{R} \to \mathbb{R}, f(x)=6x+7xf(x) = 6^x + 7^x, is injective (it is strictly increasing, as the sum of two strictly increasing functions), so x=yx = y.

To determine xx we need to solve the equation 6x+1=7x6^x + 1 = 7^x, or (67)x+(17)x=1\left(\frac{6}{7}\right)^x + \left(\frac{1}{7}\right)^x = 1. The function g:RRg: \mathbb{R} \to \mathbb{R}, g(x)=(67)x+(17)xg(x) = \left(\frac{6}{7}\right)^x + \left(\frac{1}{7}\right)^x is injective (it is strictly decreasing, as the sum of two strictly decreasing functions). Thus, the equation g(x)=g(1)g(x) = g(1) has the only solution x=1x = 1, and this verifies the equation in the statement.

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.

Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.