2001 AIME II Problems/Problem 8
Problem
A certain function has the properties that for all positive real values of , and that for . Find the smallest for which .
Solution
Iterating the condition , we find that for positive integers . We know the definition of from , so we would like to express . Indeed,
We now need the smallest such that . The range of , is . So when , we have . Multiplying by : , so the smallest value of is . Then,
Because we forced , so
We want the smaller value of .
An alternative approach is to consider the graph of , which iterates every power of , and resembles the section from dilated by a factor of at each iteration.
Solution 2(Graphing)
See also
2001 AIME II (Problems • Answer Key • Resources) | ||
Preceded by Problem 7 |
Followed by Problem 9 | |
1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 | ||
All AIME Problems and Solutions |
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