2008 AIME I Problem 7

Attempt Problem 7 of the 2008 AIME I below, then check your answer against the professionally curated solution from LIVE by Po-Shen Loh. You can also try the full timed exam, view all 2008 AIME I solutions, or check the answer key.

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7.

Let SiS_i be the set of all integers nn such that 100in<100(i+1).100i \le n \lt 100(i + 1). For example, S4S_4 is the set {400,401,402,,499}.\{400, 401, 402, \ldots, 499\}. How many of the sets S0,S1,S2,,S999S_0, S_1, S_2, \ldots, S_{999} do not contain a perfect square?

Answer: 708
Concepts:perfect squarecounting integers in a range
Difficulty rating: 2510
Solution:

Consecutive squares a2a^2 and (a+1)2(a + 1)^2 differ by 2a+1992a + 1 \le 99 for a49,a \le 49, so the squares from 121^2 to 502=250050^2 = 2500 never skip a hundred-block: every set S0,S1,,S25S_0, S_1, \ldots, S_{25} contains a perfect square. For a50a \ge 50 the gap 2a+11012a + 1 \ge 101 exceeds 100,100, so each of the sets S26,,S999S_{26}, \ldots, S_{999} contains at most one square.

The largest number involved is 99999,99999, and 3162=9985699999<3172.316^2 = 99856 \le 99999 \lt 317^2. So the squares landing in S26,,S999S_{26}, \ldots, S_{999} are 512,522,,316251^2, 52^2, \ldots, 316^2 — that is, 266266 squares occupying 266266 distinct sets out of those 974.974.

Therefore 974266=708974 - 266 = 708 sets contain no perfect square.

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