Difference between revisions of "1997 AIME Problems/Problem 12"
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<cmath>\begin{align*} | <cmath>\begin{align*} | ||
− | + | 19 &= \frac{b - \frac da}{19 - e} + e\\ | |
97 &= \frac{b - \frac da}{97 - e} + e\\ | 97 &= \frac{b - \frac da}{97 - e} + e\\ | ||
− | b - \frac da &= ( | + | b - \frac da &= (19 - e)^2 = (97 - e)^2\\ |
− | + | 19 - e &= \pm (97 - e) | |
\end{align*}</cmath> | \end{align*}</cmath> | ||
Revision as of 00:58, 11 November 2015
Problem
The function defined by
, where
,
,
and
are nonzero real numbers, has the properties
,
and
for all values except
. Find the unique number that is not in the range of
.
Contents
Solution
Solution 1
First, we use the fact that for all
in the domain. Substituting the function definition, we have
, which reduces to
In order for this fraction to reduce to
, we must have
and
. From
, we get
or
. The second cannot be true, since we are given that
are nonzero. This means
, so
.
The only value that is not in the range of this function is . To find
, we use the two values of the function given to us. We get
and
. Subtracting the second equation from the first will eliminate
, and this results in
, so
Alternatively, we could have found out that by using the fact that
.
Solution 2
First, we note that is the horizontal asymptote of the function, and since this is a linear function over a linear function, the unique number not in the range of
will be
.
. Without loss of generality, let
, so the function becomes
.
(Considering as a limit) By the given,
.
, so
.
as
reaches the vertical asymptote, which is at
. Hence
. Substituting the givens, we get
Clearly we can discard the positive root, so .
Solution 3
We first note (as before) that the number not in the range of
is
, as
is evidently never 0 (otherwise,
would be a constant function, violating the condition
).
We may represent the real number as
, with two such column vectors
considered equivalent if they are scalar multiples of each other. Similarly,
we can represent a function
as a matrix
. Function composition and
evaluation then become matrix multiplication.
Now in general,
In our problem
. It follows that
for some nonzero real
. Since
it follows that
. (In fact, this condition condition is equivalent
to the condition that
for all
in the domain of
.)
We next note that the function
evaluates to 0 when
equals 19 and 97. Therefore
Thus
, so
,
our answer.
Solution 4
Any number that is not in the domain of the inverse of cannot be in the range of
. Starting with
, we rearrange some things to get
. Clearly,
is the number that is outside the range of
.
Since we are given , we have that
All the quadratic terms, linear terms, and constant terms must be equal on both sides for this to be a true statement so we have that
.
This solution follows in the same manner as the last paragraph of the first solution.
See also
1997 AIME (Problems • Answer Key • Resources) | ||
Preceded by Problem 11 |
Followed by Problem 13 | |
1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 | ||
All AIME Problems and Solutions |
The problems on this page are copyrighted by the Mathematical Association of America's American Mathematics Competitions.