2022 AIME I Problems/Problem 4

Problem

Let $w = \dfrac{\sqrt{3} + i}{2}$ and $z = \dfrac{-1 + i\sqrt{3}}{2},$ where $i = \sqrt{-1}.$ Find the number of ordered pairs $(r,s)$ of positive integers not exceeding $100$ that satisfy the equation $i \cdot w^r = z^s.$

Solution

We rewrite $w$ and $z$ in polar form: $\begin{align*} w &= e^{i\cdot\frac{\pi}{6}}, \\ z &= e^{i\cdot\frac{2\pi}{3}}. \end{align*}$ The equation $i \cdot w^r = z^s$ becomes $\begin{align*} e^{i\cdot\frac{\pi}{2}} \cdot \left(e^{i\cdot\frac{\pi}{6}}\right)^r &= \left(e^{i\cdot\frac{2\pi}{3}}\right)^s \\ e^{i\left(\frac{\pi}{2}+\frac{\pi}{6}r\right)} &= e^{i\left(\frac{2\pi}{3}s\right)}. \end{align*}$ Note that $\frac{\pi}{2}+\frac{\pi}{6}r=\frac{2\pi}{3}s+2\pi k$ for some integer $k,$ or

~MRENTHUSIASM ~bluesoul

2022 AIME I (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by Problem 3	Followed by Problem 5
1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15
All AIME Problems and Solutions

Page

Toolbox

Search

2022 AIME I Problems/Problem 4

Problem

Solution

See Also