Maths Olympiad Prep

Track / Stage 4 / 281 of 340 #541 of 1964

Problem 541

AMC 12 late, AIME early
Number theory Difficulty 4.9 Find the answer

20. Let x\lfloor x\rfloor be the greatest integer not exceeding xx. For instance, 3.4=3,2=2\lfloor 3.4\rfloor=3,\lfloor 2\rfloor=2, and 2.7=3\lfloor-2.7\rfloor=-3. Determine the value of the constant λ>0\lambda>0 so that 2λn=1n+λλn2\lfloor\lambda n\rfloor=1-n+\lfloor\lambda\lfloor\lambda n\rfloor\rfloor for all positive integers nn.

A number or a short expression. Spacing, $ signs and \frac vs / are all fine.

Official solution

20. 1+21+\sqrt{2}

Source: NuminaMath-1.5, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic, difficulty and ordering added by this site.