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Algebra Difficulty 4.9 AIME Prove it Ireland

Find the largest solution of the equation {x}2={x2}\{x\}^2 = \{x^2\} which is smaller than 20232023. Here {x}\{x\} is the fractional part of the number xx, e.g. {22/7}=1/7\{22/7\} = 1/7.

Solution

By definition, n=x{x}n = x - \{x\} is an integer. Then x=n+{x}x = n + \{x\} and x2=n2+2n{x}+{x}2x^2 = n^2 + 2n\{x\} + \{x\}^2. Hence {x2}={2n{x}+{x}2}\{x^2\} = \{2n\{x\} + \{x\}^2\}. If {x}2={x2}\{x\}^2 = \{x^2\} then 2n{x}2n\{x\} is an integer.

As x<2023x < 2023, the largest possible nn is n=2022n = 2022. We then look for the largest {x}\{x\} for which 4044{x}4044\{x\} is an integer. As {x}<1\{x\} < 1, 4044{x}<40444044\{x\} < 4044. The largest possible value for {x}\{x\} therefore is {x}=40434044\{x\} = \frac{4043}{4044}. Hence the largest solution is x=2022+40434044x = 2022 + \frac{4043}{4044}.

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