AlgebraDifficulty 5.8AIME, harderFind the answerItaly
Problem:
For every non-negative real x, we define ⌊x⌋ as the integer part of x, that is, the greatest integer less than or equal to x, and {x}=x−⌊x⌋ as the fractional part of x. Let p be a positive non-integer real solution of the equation {z⌊z⌋}=2021{z}. What is the second smallest possible value of ⌊p⌋?
Pick one
Solution
Solution:
The answer is (E). Let us set n=⌊p⌋ and α={p}. Then the equation can be rewritten as {n(n+α)}=2021α, that is, {nα}=2021α Since on the left we have a fractional part, which is <1, and moreover p is not an integer, we obtain the conditions 0=α<20211. From the equation we also derive that there exists a non-negative integer m such that nα=m+2021α. Rearranging, (n−2021)α=m. Now, if m=0 we have n=2021 which is a solution (one checks that p=2021+α works for every α<20211), and it is also the smallest one. If m≥1, we have α=n−2021m<20211, from which n>2021+2021m≥4042, and hence n≥4043. Indeed, one checks that p=4043+20221 is a solution.
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Source: MathNet,
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