2002 AMC 12A Problems/Problem 6

The following problem is from both the 2002 AMC 12A #6 and 2002 AMC 10A #4, so both problems redirect to this page.

Problem

For how many positive integers $m$ does there exist at least one positive integer n such that $m \cdot n \le m + n$?

$\textbf{(A) } 4\qquad \textbf{(B) } 6\qquad \textbf{(C) } 9\qquad \textbf{(D) } 12\qquad \textbf{(E) } \text{infinitely many}$

Solution 1

For any $m$ we can pick $n=1$, we get $m \cdot 1 \le m + 1$, therefore the answer is $\boxed{\textbf{(E) } \text{infinitely many}}$.

Solution 2

Another solution, slightly similar to this first one would be using Simon's Favorite Factoring Trick.

$(m-1)(n-1) \leq 1$

Let $n=1$, then

$0 \leq 1$

This means that there are infinitely many numbers $m$ that can satisfy the inequality. So the answer is $\boxed{\textbf{(E) } \text{infinitely many}}$.

Solution 3

If we subtract $n$ from both sides of the equation, we get $m \cdot n - n \le m$. Factor the left side to get $(m - 1)(n) \le m$. Divide both sides by $(m-1)$ and we get $n \le \frac {m}{m-1}$. The fraction $\frac {m}{m-1} > 1$ if $m > 1$. There is an infinite amount of integers greater than $1$, therefore the answer is $\boxed{\textbf{(E) } \text{infinitely many}}$.

Video Solution by Daily Dose of Math

https://youtu.be/fo4oSDca-6c

~Thesmartgreekmathdude

See Also

2002 AMC 12A (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 5
Followed by
Problem 7
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
All AMC 12 Problems and Solutions
2002 AMC 10A (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 3
Followed by
Problem 5
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
All AMC 10 Problems and Solutions

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