AlgebraDifficulty 5.5AIME, harderProve itSoviet Union
Problem:
What is the smallest n for which there is a solution to sinx1+sinx2+…+sinxn=0, sinx1+2sinx2+…+nsinxn=100?
Solution
Solution:
Put x1=x2=…=x10=3π/2, x11=x12=…=x20=π/2. Then sinx1+sinx2+…+sinx20=(−1−1−1−…−1)+(1+1+…+1)=0, and sinx1+2sinx2+…+20sinx20=−(1+2+…+10)+(11+12+…+20)=100. So there is a solution with n=20.
If there is a solution with n<20, then there must be a solution for n=19 (put any extra xi=0). But then 100=(sinx1+2sinx2+…+19sinx19)−10(sinx1+sinx2+…+sinx19) =−9sinx1−8sinx2−7sinx3−…−sinx9+sinx11+2sinx12+…+9sinx19. But ∣rhs∣≤(9+8+…+1)+(1+2+…+9)=90. Contradiction. So there is no solution for n<20.
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Source: MathNet,
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