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Algebra Difficulty 6.4 National olympiad Find the answer

If P(x)P(x) denotes a polynomial of degree nn such that P(k)=kk+1P(k)=\frac{k}{k+1} for k=0,1,2,,nk=0,1,2,\ldots,n , determine P(n+1)P(n+1) .

A number or a short expression. Spacing and $ signs are ignored.

Solution

Let Q(x)=(x+1)P(x)xQ(x) = (x+1)P(x) - x , and clearly, Q(x)Q(x) has a degree of n+1n+1 .
Then, for k=0,1,2,,nk=0,1,2,\ldots,n , Q(k)=(k+1)P(k)k=(k+1)kk+1k=0Q(k) = (k+1)P(k) - k = (k+1)\cdot \dfrac{k}{k+1} - k = 0 .
Thus, k=0,1,2,,nk=0,1,2,\ldots,n are the roots of Q(x)Q(x) .
Since these are all n+1n+1 of the roots of the n+1thn+1^{\text{th}} degree polynomial, by the Factor Theorem , we can write Q(x)Q(x) as Q(x)=c(x)(x1)(x2)(xn)Q(x) = c(x)(x-1)(x-2) \cdots (x-n) where cc is a constant.
Thus, (x+1)P(x)x=c(x)(x1)(x2)(xn).(x+1)P(x) - x = c(x)(x-1)(x-2) \cdots (x-n).
We plug in x=1x = -1 to cancel the (x+1)P(x)(x+1)P(x) and find cc :
\begin{align*} -(-1) &= c(-1)(-1-1)(-1-2) \cdots (-1-n) \\ 1 &= c(-1)^{n+1}(1)(2) \cdots (n+1) \\ c &= (-1)^{n+1}\dfrac{1}{(n+1)!} \\ \end{align*}
Finally, plugging in x=n+1x = n+1 to find P(n+1)P(n+1) gives:
\begin{align*} Q(n+1)&=(n+2)P(n+1)-(n+1)\\ (-1)^{n+1}\dfrac{1}{(n+1)!}\cdot(n+1)! &=(n+2)P(n+1)-(n+1)\\ (-1)^{n+1}&=(n+2)P(n+1)-(n+1)\\ (-1)^{n+1}+(n+1)&=(n+2)P(n+1)\\ P(n+1) &= \dfrac{(-1)^{n+1} + (n+1)}{n+2}\\ \end{align*}
If nn is even, this simplifies to P(n+1)=nn+2P(n+1) = \dfrac{n}{n+2} . If nn is odd, this simplifies to P(n+1)=1P(n+1) = 1 . \Box
~Edits by BakedPotato66

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