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Algebra Difficulty 5.3 AIME, harder Prove it Ukraine

Find all the value of parameter aa, at which the equation x23x[x]+2x=ax^2 - 3x[x] + 2x = a has two positive roots.

Solution

Let's build the graph of the equation, namely the function y=x23x[x]+2x=ay = x^2 - 3x[x] + 2x = a. It is easy to understand that we are interested only when x>0x > 0.
x[0,1)[x]=0y=x2+2xx[1,2)[x]=1y=x2xx[2,3)[x]=2y=x24xx[3,4)[x]=3y=x27x \begin{align*} x \in [0, 1) &\Rightarrow [x] = 0 \Rightarrow y = x^2 + 2x \\ x \in [1, 2) &\Rightarrow [x] = 1 \Rightarrow y = x^2 - x \\ x \in [2, 3) &\Rightarrow [x] = 2 \Rightarrow y = x^2 - 4x \\ x \in [3, 4) &\Rightarrow [x] = 3 \Rightarrow y = x^2 - 7x \end{align*}
While x4x \ge 4, the apex of the parabola y=x2+x(23[x])y = x^2 + x(2 - 3[x]) is situated at the point xb=3x22[x]+1x_b = \frac{3|x| - 2}{2} \ge [x] + 1, which is equivalent to [x]4[x] \ge 4. From this, it follows that the function on every interval like [n,n+1)[n, n + 1) under the condition n4n \ge 4 is downward. In addition, it is downward when x4x \ge 4, which is shown by the following transformations:
x[n1,n)[x]=n1yn1=x2+x(53n)and yn1min>yn1(n)=n2+n(53n); x \in [n - 1, n) \Rightarrow [x] = n - 1 \Rightarrow y_{n-1} = x^2 + x(5 - 3n) \\ \text{and } y_{n-1}^{\min} > y_{n-1}(n) = n^2 + n(5 - 3n);
x[n,n+1)[x]=nyn=x2+x(23n) and ynmax=yn(n)=n2+n(23n)<yn1min. x \in [n, n + 1) \Rightarrow [x] = n \Rightarrow y_n = x^2 + x(2 - 3n) \text{ and } y_n^{\max} = y_n(n) = n^2 + n(2 - 3n) < y_{n-1}^{\min}.
Thus, exactly two positive solutions of the function can exist only when x4x \le 4, and here it is easy to portray the study graph function. For easy perception, the scale is changed. So we can see exactly two positive solutions under the condition 0<a<20 < a < 2, also on the interval 494<a<12-\frac{49}{4} < a < -12.

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