Since x=⌊x⌋+{x}, we have
f(x)=k=2∑10(⌊k⌊x⌋+k{x}⌋−k⌊x⌋)
The function can then be simplified into
f(x)=k=2∑10(k⌊x⌋+⌊k{x}⌋−k⌊x⌋)
which becomes
f(x)=k=2∑10⌊k{x}⌋
We can see that for each value of k, ⌊k{x}⌋ can equal integers from 0 to k−1.
Clearly, the value of ⌊k{x}⌋ changes only when {x} is equal to any of the fractions k1,k2…kk−1.
So we want to count how many distinct fractions less than 1 have the form nm where n≤10. Explanation for this is provided below. We can find this easily by computing
k=2∑10ϕ(k)
where ϕ(k) is the Euler Totient Function. Basically ϕ(k) counts the number of fractions with k as its denominator (after simplification). This comes out to be 31.
Because the value of f(x) is at least 0 and can increase 31 times, there are a total of (A) 32 different possible values of f(x).
Explanation:
Arrange all such fractions in increasing order and take a current nm to study. Let p denote the previous fraction in the list and xold (0≤xoldp, we clearly have all xnew≥xold. Therefore, the change must be nonnegative.
But among all numerators coprime to n so far, m is the largest. Therefore, choosing nm as x increases the value ⌊n{x}⌋. Since the overall change in f(x) is positive as fractions m/n increase, we deduce that all such fractions correspond to different values of the function.
Minor Latex Edits made by MathWizard10.
Supplement
Here are all the distinct nm and ϕ(k):
When n=2 , nm=21 . ϕ(2)=1
When n=3 , nm=31 , 32 . ϕ(3)=2
When n=4 , nm=41 , 43 . ϕ(4)=2
When n=5 , nm=51 , 52 , 53 , 54 . ϕ(5)=4
When n=6 , nm=61 , 65 . ϕ(6)=2
When n=7 , nm=71 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 . ϕ(7)=6
When n=8 , nm=81 , 83 , 85 , 87 . ϕ(8)=4
When n=9 , nm=91 , 92 , 94 , 95 , 97 , 98 . ϕ(9)=6
When n=10 , nm=101 , 103 , 107 , 109 . ϕ(10)=4
∑k=210ϕ(k)=31
31+1=(A) 32
~isabelchen