Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /17 of 105

Algebra Difficulty 4.5 AIME Prove it United States

Problem:
For which positive integers nn does the polynomial P(X)=Xn+Xn1++1P(X) = X^{n} + X^{n-1} + \cdots + 1 have a real root?

Solution

Solution:
The answer is odd nn only. For such odd nn, one can take X=1X = -1 as a real root.

Suppose nn is even. We claim PP has no real roots. Indeed, note first P(1)=n+1P(1) = n + 1, so 11 is not a real root. But for any x1x \neq 1, we have
P(x)=xn++1=xn+11x10 P(x) = x^{n} + \cdots + 1 = \frac{x^{n+1} - 1}{x - 1} \neq 0
since n+1n + 1 is odd implies xn+11x^{n+1} \neq 1.

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.

Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.