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Geometry Difficulty 7.4 National olympiad, round 2 Find the answer

Let A0\equal(0,0) A_0\equal{}(0,0). Distinct points A1,A2, A_1,A_2,\ldots lie on the x x-axis, and distinct points B1,B2, B_1,B_2,\ldots lie on the graph of y\equalx y\equal{}\sqrt{x}. For every positive integer n n, An\minus1BnAn A_{n\minus{}1}B_nA_n is an equilateral triangle. What is the least n n for which the length A0An100 A_0A_n\ge100?

Pick one

Solution

1. Let An=(xn,0) A_n = (x_n, 0) and Bn=(xn,xn) B_n = (x_n, \sqrt{x_n}) . Since An1BnAn A_{n-1}B_nA_n is an equilateral triangle, the distance between An1 A_{n-1} and An A_n is equal to the distance between An1 A_{n-1} and Bn B_n .

2. The distance between An1 A_{n-1} and An A_n is xnxn1 |x_n - x_{n-1}| .

3. The distance between An1 A_{n-1} and Bn B_n is:
(xnxn1)2+(xn)2=(xnxn1)2+xn \sqrt{(x_n - x_{n-1})^2 + (\sqrt{x_n})^2} = \sqrt{(x_n - x_{n-1})^2 + x_n}

4. Since An1BnAn A_{n-1}B_nA_n is an equilateral triangle, we have:
xnxn1=(xnxn1)2+xn |x_n - x_{n-1}| = \sqrt{(x_n - x_{n-1})^2 + x_n}

5. Squaring both sides, we get:
(xnxn1)2=(xnxn1)2+xn (x_n - x_{n-1})^2 = (x_n - x_{n-1})^2 + x_n

6. Simplifying, we find:
0=xn 0 = x_n
This is a contradiction unless xn=0 x_n = 0 , which is not possible for all n n . Therefore, we need to re-evaluate our approach.

7. Instead, consider the geometric properties of the equilateral triangle. The height of an equilateral triangle with side length s s is 32s \frac{\sqrt{3}}{2} s .

8. The height from Bn B_n to the x-axis is xn \sqrt{x_n} . Therefore, the side length s s of the equilateral triangle is:
s=2xn3=23xn s = \frac{2 \sqrt{x_n}}{\sqrt{3}} = \frac{2}{\sqrt{3}} \sqrt{x_n}

9. The distance between An1 A_{n-1} and An A_n is s s , so:
xnxn1=23xn x_n - x_{n-1} = \frac{2}{\sqrt{3}} \sqrt{x_n}

10. Let yn=xnxn1 y_n = x_n - x_{n-1} . Then:
yn=23xn y_n = \frac{2}{\sqrt{3}} \sqrt{x_n}

11. Since yn y_n is an arithmetic series, we can write:
yn=y1+(n1)d y_n = y_1 + (n-1) d
where d d is the common difference.

12. Given x0=0 x_0 = 0 , we have:
xn=i=1nyi=i=1n(y1+(i1)d) x_n = \sum_{i=1}^n y_i = \sum_{i=1}^n \left( y_1 + (i-1) d \right)

13. We need to find the smallest n n such that xn100 x_n \ge 100 .

14. Using the formula for the sum of an arithmetic series:
xn=ny1+n(n1)2d x_n = n y_1 + \frac{n(n-1)}{2} d

15. Given y1=23x1 y_1 = \frac{2}{\sqrt{3}} \sqrt{x_1} and d=23 d = \frac{2}{3} , we need to solve:
n(23x1)+n(n1)2(23)100 n \left( \frac{2}{\sqrt{3}} \sqrt{x_1} \right) + \frac{n(n-1)}{2} \left( \frac{2}{3} \right) \ge 100

16. Simplifying, we find:
2n3x1+n(n1)3100 \frac{2n}{\sqrt{3}} \sqrt{x_1} + \frac{n(n-1)}{3} \ge 100

17. Solving for n n , we find that n=17 n = 17 is the smallest integer satisfying the inequality.

The final answer is 17 \boxed{17}

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Source: NuminaMath-1.5, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.