Maths Olympiad Prep

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Algebra Difficulty 5.5 AIME, harder Find the answer

## Task B-1.2.

Solve the equation

x2023+2022x=20222023x. || x-2023|+2022 x|=|2022-| 2023-x|| .

A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.

Solution

## Solution.

Two real numbers have the same absolute value if and only if they are either equal or opposite numbers. Therefore, it holds that

x2023+2022x=20222023x or x2023+2022x=2022+2023x |x-2023|+2022 x=2022-|2023-x| \text { or }|x-2023|+2022 x=-2022+|2023-x| \text {. }

Note that x2023=2023x|x-2023|=|2023-x|. In the first case, we get the equation

2x2023=20222022x, i.e., x2023=10111011x \begin{aligned} 2|x-2023| & =2022-2022 x, \text { i.e., } \\ |x-2023| & =1011-1011 x \end{aligned}

This equation will have a solution if 10111011x01011-1011 x \geqslant 0, i.e., if x1x \leqslant 1. Then we have either

x2023=10111011x1012x=3034x=30341012>1, \begin{aligned} x-2023 & =1011-1011 x \\ 1012 x & =3034 \\ x & =\frac{3034}{1012}>1, \end{aligned}

which is not a solution, or

x2023=1011+1011x1010x=1012x=10121010=506505 \begin{aligned} x-2023 & =-1011+1011 x \\ -1010 x & =1012 \\ x & =-\frac{1012}{1010}=-\frac{506}{505} \end{aligned}

which is a solution.

In the second case, from x2023+2022x=2022+2023x|x-2023|+2022 x=-2022+|2023-x| we get 2022x=20222022 x=-2022, so x=1x=-1.

All solutions to the given equation are x=506505 and x=1x=-\frac{506}{505} \text{ and } x=-1.

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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.