GeometryDifficulty 7.4National olympiad, round 2Find the answer
Let A0\equal(0,0). Distinct points A1,A2,… lie on the x-axis, and distinct points B1,B2,… lie on the graph of y\equalx. For every positive integer n, An\minus1BnAn is an equilateral triangle. What is the least n for which the length A0An≥100?
Pick one
Solution
1. Let An=(xn,0) and Bn=(xn,xn). Since An−1BnAn is an equilateral triangle, the distance between An−1 and An is equal to the distance between An−1 and Bn.
2. The distance between An−1 and An is ∣xn−xn−1∣.
3. The distance between An−1 and Bn is: (xn−xn−1)2+(xn)2=(xn−xn−1)2+xn
4. Since An−1BnAn is an equilateral triangle, we have: ∣xn−xn−1∣=(xn−xn−1)2+xn
5. Squaring both sides, we get: (xn−xn−1)2=(xn−xn−1)2+xn
6. Simplifying, we find: 0=xn This is a contradiction unless xn=0, which is not possible for all 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 is 23s.
8. The height from Bn to the x-axis is xn. Therefore, the side length s of the equilateral triangle is: s=32xn=32xn
9. The distance between An−1 and An is s, so: xn−xn−1=32xn
10. Let yn=xn−xn−1. Then: yn=32xn
11. Since yn is an arithmetic series, we can write: yn=y1+(n−1)d where d is the common difference.
12. Given x0=0, we have: xn=i=1∑nyi=i=1∑n(y1+(i−1)d)
13. We need to find the smallest n such that xn≥100.
14. Using the formula for the sum of an arithmetic series: xn=ny1+2n(n−1)d
15. Given y1=32x1 and d=32, we need to solve: n(32x1)+2n(n−1)(32)≥100
16. Simplifying, we find: 32nx1+3n(n−1)≥100
17. Solving for n, we find that n=17 is the smallest integer satisfying the inequality.
The final answer is 17
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