Difference between revisions of "1967 AHSME Problems/Problem 14"

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Since we know that <math>y=f(x)</math>, we can solve for <math>y</math> in terms of <math>x</math>. This gives us
 
Since we know that <math>y=f(x)</math>, we can solve for <math>y</math> in terms of <math>x</math>. This gives us
  
<math>y=\frac{1}{1-x}</math>
+
<math>y=\frac{x}{1-x}</math>
  
<math>\Rightarrow y(1-x)=1</math>
+
<math>\Rightarrow y(1-x)=x</math>
  
<math>\Rightarrow y-yx=1</math>
+
<math>\Rightarrow y-yx=x</math>
  
<math>\Rightarrow yx=y-1</math>
+
<math>\Rightarrow y=yx+x</math>
  
<math>\Rightarrow x=\frac{y-1}{y}</math>
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<math>\Rightarrow y=x(y+1)</math>
  
Therefore, we want to find the function with <math>y</math> that outputs <math>\frac{y-1}{y}</math>
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<math>\Rightarrow x=\frac{y}{y+1}</math>
Listing out the possible outputs from each of the given functions we get
+
 
 +
Therefore, we want to find the function with <math>y</math> that outputs <math>\frac{y}{y+1}</math> Listing out the possible outputs from each of the given functions we get
 
<math>f\left(\frac{1}{y}\right)=\frac{1}{y-1}</math>
 
<math>f\left(\frac{1}{y}\right)=\frac{1}{y-1}</math>
  
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<math>f(-y)=\frac{-y}{y+1}</math>
 
<math>f(-y)=\frac{-y}{y+1}</math>
  
<math>-f(y)=\frac{1}{y-1}</math>
+
<math>-f(y)=\frac{y}{y-1}</math>
  
 
<math>-f(-y)=\frac{y}{y+1}</math>
 
<math>-f(-y)=\frac{y}{y+1}</math>
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== See also ==
 
== See also ==
{{AHSME box|year=1967|num-b=13|num-a=15}}   
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{{AHSME 40p box|year=1967|num-b=13|num-a=15}}   
  
 
[[Category:Introductory Algebra Problems]]
 
[[Category:Introductory Algebra Problems]]
 
{{MAA Notice}}
 
{{MAA Notice}}

Latest revision as of 19:42, 22 August 2023

Problem

Let $f(t)=\frac{t}{1-t}$, $t \not= 1$. If $y=f(x)$, then $x$ can be expressed as

$\textbf{(A)}\ f\left(\frac{1}{y}\right)\qquad \textbf{(B)}\ -f(y)\qquad \textbf{(C)}\ -f(-y)\qquad \textbf{(D)}\ f(-y)\qquad \textbf{(E)}\ f(y)$

Solution

Since we know that $y=f(x)$, we can solve for $y$ in terms of $x$. This gives us

$y=\frac{x}{1-x}$

$\Rightarrow y(1-x)=x$

$\Rightarrow y-yx=x$

$\Rightarrow y=yx+x$

$\Rightarrow y=x(y+1)$

$\Rightarrow x=\frac{y}{y+1}$

Therefore, we want to find the function with $y$ that outputs $\frac{y}{y+1}$ Listing out the possible outputs from each of the given functions we get $f\left(\frac{1}{y}\right)=\frac{1}{y-1}$

$f(y)=\frac{1}{1-y}$

$f(-y)=\frac{-y}{y+1}$

$-f(y)=\frac{y}{y-1}$

$-f(-y)=\frac{y}{y+1}$

Since $-f(-y)=\frac{y}{y+1}=x$ the answer must be $\boxed{C}$.

See also

1967 AHSC (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 13
Followed by
Problem 15
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