Maths Olympiad Prep

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Algebra Difficulty 5.3 AIME, harder Prove it Ukraine

Solve the equation x[x]=2016x[x] = 2016.
Here [x][x] is the integer part of the number xx, i.e. the largest integer number not greater than xx.

Solution

Answer: x=2245x = -\frac{224}{5}.
Suppose that x0x \ge 0. Let us denote t=[x]0t = [x] \ge 0, and then we can write the following estimations:
tx<t+1t2x[x]<t2+t. t \le x < t+1 \Rightarrow t^2 \le x[x] < t^2 + t.
442+44=1980<2016<45244^2 + 44 = 1980 < 2016 < 45^2, therefore there are no solutions of the equation among positive numbers.
Suppose that x<0x < 0. Then denote t=[x]<0t = [x] < 0, i.e. [x]=t>0-[x] = -t > 0. Hence,
tx<t+1t1x<tt2+tx[x]t2. t \le x < t+1 \Rightarrow -t-1 \le -x < -t \Rightarrow t^2 + t \le x[x] \le t^2.
442=1936<201644^2 = 1936 < 2016 and 462=1936<2016<4624646^2 = 1936 < 2016 < 46^2 - 46, therefore only possible value is t=45t = -45. Indeed, 45245=1980<2016<452=202545^2 - 45 = 1980 < 2016 < 45^2 = 2025, i.e. the solution is possible. Let us denote x=45+yx = -45 + y, 0y<10 \le y < 1. Then it should hold that:
x[x]=45(45+y)=202545y=201645y=9y=15. x[x] = -45 \cdot (-45 + y) = 2025 - 45y = 2016 \Rightarrow 45y = 9 \Rightarrow y = \frac{1}{5}.
Thus, the desired solution is x=45+15=2245x = -45 + \frac{1}{5} = -\frac{224}{5}.

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