2008 AMC 12B Problems/Problem 19
Problem 19
A function is defined by for all complex numbers , where and are complex numbers and . Suppose that and are both real. What is the smallest possible value of ?
Solution
We need only concern ourselves with the imaginary portions of and (both of which must be 0). These are:
Since appears in both equations, we let it equal 0 to simplify the equations. This yields two single-variable equations. Equation 1 tells us that the imaginary part of must be , and equation 2 tells us that the real part of must be . Therefore, . There are no restrictions on , so to minimize 's absolute value, we let .
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See Also
2008 AMC 12B (Problems • Answer Key • Resources) | |
Preceded by Problem 18 |
Followed by Problem 20 |
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