Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / Junior Balkan MO Shortlist /3 of 29

Junior Balkan MO Shortlist

Algebra Difficulty 5.4 AIME, harder Find the answer

Let mm and nn be positive integers with m≤2000m\le 2000 and k=3−mnk=3-\frac{m}{n}. Find the smallest positive value of kk.

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

Solution

Given the problem with positive integers m m and n n such that m≤2000 m \leq 2000 , and k=3−mn k = 3 - \frac{m}{n} . We are tasked to find the smallest positive value of k k .

Firstly, to ensure k k is positive, we need:
k=3−mn>0, k = 3 - \frac{m}{n} > 0,
which implies:
3>mn. 3 > \frac{m}{n}.

Rearranging gives:
n>m3. n > \frac{m}{3}.

Since m m and n n are integers, n n must be greater than m3\frac{m}{3}, so we set:
n≥⌈m3⌉. n \geq \left\lceil \frac{m}{3} \right\rceil.

The expression for k k becomes:
k=3n−mn. k = \frac{3n - m}{n}.

To minimize the positive value of k k , we need the smallest possible n n that satisfies the condition. Setting the equality n=⌈m3⌉ n = \left\lceil \frac{m}{3} \right\rceil leads to:
n=⌈m3⌉. n = \left\lceil \frac{m}{3} \right\rceil.

Substitute n=⌈m3⌉ n = \left\lceil \frac{m}{3} \right\rceil into the expression for k k :
k=3⌈m3⌉−m⌈m3⌉. k = \frac{3\left\lceil \frac{m}{3} \right\rceil - m}{\left\lceil \frac{m}{3} \right\rceil}.

To find the smallest positive k k , consider the smallest value for which this fraction can exist. For ⌈m3⌉\left\lceil \frac{m}{3} \right\rceil to be as close as possible to m3\frac{m}{3}, let m=3t+1 m = 3t + 1 or m=3t+2 m = 3t + 2 for the smallest integer change.

By setting m=2000 m = 2000 , we have:
n=⌈20003⌉=667. n = \left\lceil \frac{2000}{3} \right\rceil = 667.

This gives:
k=3×667−2000667=2001−2000667=1667. k = \frac{3 \times 667 - 2000}{667} = \frac{2001 - 2000}{667} = \frac{1}{667}.

Thus, the smallest positive value of k k is:
1667. \boxed{\frac{1}{667}}.

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,604 problems in a working order, from Junior Challenge level to the IMO shortlist.

Source: Omni-MATH, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.