2012 AIME II Problems/Problem 10

Problem 10

Find the number of positive integers $n$ less than $1000$ for which there exists a positive real number $x$ such that $n=x\lfloor x \rfloor$.

Note: $\lfloor x \rfloor$ is the greatest integer less than or equal to $x$.

Solution

Solution 1

We know that $x$ cannot be irrational because the product of a rational number and an irrational number is irrational (but $n$ is an integer). Therefore $x$ is rational.

Let $x = a + \frac{b}{c}$ where $a,b,c$ are nonnegative integers and $0 \le b < c$ (essentially, $x$ is a mixed number). Then, $$n = \left(a + \frac{b}{c}\right) \left\lfloor a +\frac{b}{c} \right\rfloor \Rightarrow n = \left(a + \frac{b}{c}\right)a = a^2 + \frac{ab}{c}$$

Here it is sufficient for $\frac{ab}{c}$ to be an integer. We can use casework to find values of $n$ based on the value of $a$:

$a = 0 \implies$ nothing because n is positive

$a = 1 \implies \frac{b}{c} = \frac{0}{1}$

$a = 2 \implies \frac{b}{c} = \frac{0}{2},\frac{1}{2}$

$a = 3 \implies\frac{b}{c} =\frac{0}{3},\frac{1}{3},\frac{2}{3}$

The pattern continues up to $a = 31$. Note that if $a = 32$, then $n > 1000$. However if $a = 31$, the largest possible $x$ is $31 + \frac{30}{31}$, in which $n$ is still less than $1000$. Therefore the number of positive integers for $n$ is equal to $1+2+3+...+31 = \frac{31 \cdot 32}{2} = \boxed{496}.$

Solution 2

Notice that $x\lfloor x\rfloor$ is continuous over the region $x \in [k, k+1)$ for any integer $k$. Therefore, it takes all values in the range $[k\lfloor k\rfloor, (k+1)\lfloor k+1\rfloor) = [k^2, (k+1)k)$ over that interval. Note that if $k>32$ then $k^2 > 1000$ and if $k=31$, the maximum value attained is $31*32 < 1000$. It follows that the answer is $\sum_{k=1}^{31} (k+1)k-k^2 = \sum_{k=1}^{31} k = \frac{31\cdot 32}{2} = \boxed{496}.$

Solution 3

Bounding gives $x^2\le n. Thus there are a total of $x$ possible values for $n$, for each value of $x^2$. Checking, we see $31^2+31=992<1000$, so there are $$1+2+3+...+32= \boxed{496}$$ such values for $n$.

Solution 4

After a bit of experimenting, we let $n=l^2+s, s < 2n+1$. We claim that I (the integer part of $x$) = $l$ . (Prove it yourself using contradiction !) so now we get that $x=l+\frac{s}{l}$. This implies that solutions exist iff $s, or for all natural numbers of the form $l^2+s$ where $s. Hence, 1 solution exists for $l=1$! 2 for $l=2$ and so on. Therefore our final answer is $31+30+\dots+1= \boxed{496}$

 2012 AIME II (Problems • Answer Key • Resources) Preceded byProblem 9 Followed byProblem 11 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 All AIME Problems and Solutions