Olympiad Maths Prep

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, 2010

Algebra Difficulty 5.0 AIME, harder Prove it Ukraine

Find all real values of xx for which the value of the function y=(x)2009+(1x)2010y = (\sqrt{x})^{2009} + (\sqrt{1-x})^{2010} is integer?

Solution

Only x=0x = 0 and x=1x = 1.

Obviously x[0,1]x \in [0, 1] and 0(x)2009+(1x)2010<10 \le (\sqrt{x})^{2009} + (\sqrt{1-x})^{2010} < 1. On the other hand we have x1x \le 1 and 1x11-x \le 1 which implies (x)2009+(1x)2010x<(1x)=1(\sqrt{x})^{2009} + (\sqrt{1-x})^{2010} \le x < (1-x) = 1. The case (x)2009+(1x)2010=0(\sqrt{x})^{2009} + (\sqrt{1-x})^{2010} = 0 is impossible, so we have to consider only the case (x)2009+(1x)2010=1(\sqrt{x})^{2009} + (\sqrt{1-x})^{2010} = 1. Equality in the previous inequality obtains iff (x)2009=x(\sqrt{x})^{2009} = x and (1x)2010=1x(\sqrt{1-x})^{2010} = 1-x. This is possible only when x=0x = 0 or x=1x = 1. It's easy to see that both values satisfy the statement.

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