Difference between revisions of "2011 AMC 10B Problems/Problem 24"
m (→Solution 1) |
m (→Solution 1) |
||
Line 6: | Line 6: | ||
== Solution 1== | == Solution 1== | ||
− | For <math>y=mx+2</math> to not pass through any lattice points with <math>0<x\leq 100</math> is the same as saying that <math>mx\notin\mathbb Z</math> for <math>x\in\{1,2,\dots,100\}</math>, or in other words, <math>m</math> is not expressible as a ratio of positive integers <math> | + | For <math>y=mx+2</math> to not pass through any lattice points with <math>0<x\leq 100</math> is the same as saying that <math>mx\notin\mathbb Z</math> for <math>x\in\{1,2,\dots,100\}</math>, or in other words, <math>m</math> is not expressible as a ratio of positive integers <math>s/t</math> with <math>t\leq 100</math>. Hence the maximum possible value of <math>a</math> is the first real number after 1/2 that is so expressible. Now, smallest rational number greater than 1/2 with denominator <math>d=2,3,4,\dots,100</math> is <math>1,\frac23,\frac34,\frac35,\dots,\frac{50}{98},\frac{50}{99},\frac{51}{100}</math> respectively, and the smallest of these is <math>\boxed{\textbf{(B)}\frac{50}{99}}</math>. |
==Solution 2== | ==Solution 2== |
Revision as of 04:21, 22 December 2018
Problem
A lattice point in an -coordinate system is any point where both and are integers. The graph of passes through no lattice point with for all such that . What is the maximum possible value of ?
Solution 1
For to not pass through any lattice points with is the same as saying that for , or in other words, is not expressible as a ratio of positive integers with . Hence the maximum possible value of is the first real number after 1/2 that is so expressible. Now, smallest rational number greater than 1/2 with denominator is respectively, and the smallest of these is .
Solution 2
We see that for the graph of to not pass through any lattice points, the denominator of must be greater than , or else it would be canceled by some which would make an integer. By using common denominators, we find that the order of the fractions from smallest to largest is . We can see that when , would be an integer, so therefore any fraction greater than would not work, as substituting our fraction for would produce an integer for . So now we are left with only and . But since and , we can be absolutely certain that there isn't a number between and that can reduce to a fraction whose denominator is less than or equal to . Since we are looking for the maximum value of , we take the larger of and , which is .
Solution 3
We want to find the smallest such that there will be an integral solution to with . We first test A, but since the denominator has a , must be a nonzero multiple of , but it then will be greater than . We then test B. yields the solution which satisfies . We know that MAA orders the answers in ascending order, so therefore we know that the smallest possible must be
See Also
2011 AMC 10B (Problems • Answer Key • Resources) | ||
Preceded by Problem 23 |
Followed by Problem 25 | |
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 |
The problems on this page are copyrighted by the Mathematical Association of America's American Mathematics Competitions.