Difference between revisions of "1993 USAMO Problems/Problem 1"
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[[Category:Olympiad Algebra Problems]] | [[Category:Olympiad Algebra Problems]] | ||
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Revision as of 20:59, 3 July 2013
Problem
For each integer , determine, with proof, which of the two positive real numbers
and
satisfying
is larger.
Solutions
Solution 1
Square and rearrange the first equation and also rearrange the second.
It is trivial that
since
clearly cannot equal
(Otherwise
). Thus
where we substituted in equations (1) and (2) to achieve (5). Notice that from
we have
. Thus, if
, then
. Since
, multiplying the two inequalities yields
, a contradiction, so
. However, when
equals
or
, the first equation becomes meaningless, so we conclude that for each integer
, we always have
.
Solution 2
Define and
. By Descarte's Rule of Signs, both polynomials' only positive roots are
and
, respectively. With the Intermediate Value Theorem and the fact that
and
, we have
.
Thus,
, which means that
. Also, we find that
. All that remains to prove is that
, or
. We can then conclude that
is between
and
from the Intermediate Value Theorem. From the first equation given,
. Subtracting
gives us
, which is clearly true, as
. Therefore, we conclude that
.
See also
1993 USAMO (Problems • Resources) | ||
Preceded by First Problem |
Followed by Problem 2 | |
1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 | ||
All USAMO Problems and Solutions |
The problems on this page are copyrighted by the Mathematical Association of America's American Mathematics Competitions.