2015 AIME I Problem 14

Attempt Problem 14 of the 2015 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 2015 AIME I solutions, or check the answer key.

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14.

For each integer n2,n \ge 2, let A(n)A(n) be the area of the region in the coordinate plane defined by the inequalities 1x<n1 \le x \lt n and 0yxx,0 \le y \le x\lfloor\sqrt{x}\rfloor, where x\lfloor\sqrt{x}\rfloor is the greatest integer not exceeding x.\sqrt{x}. Find the number of values of nn with 2n10002 \le n \le 1000 for which A(n)A(n) is an integer.

Answer: 483
Concepts:floor and ceiling functionstrapezoidcaseworkpattern recognition
Difficulty rating: 3500
Solution:

On the strip mx<m+1m \le x \lt m + 1 we have x=k=m,\lfloor\sqrt{x}\rfloor = k = \lfloor\sqrt{m}\rfloor, so the region above it is a trapezoid under y=kxy = kx with area A(m+1)A(m)=(2m+1)k2:A(m+1) - A(m) = \frac{(2m+1)k}{2}: an integer when kk is even, a half-integer when kk is odd. Hence as nn grows by 1,1, the integrality of A(n)A(n) is unchanged while kk is even and flips at every step while kk is odd.

Consider the block of 2k+12k + 1 values k2<n(k+1)2.k^2 \lt n \le (k+1)^2. Starting from A(1)=0,A(1) = 0, the statuses of A(k2)A(k^2) cycle with period 4:4: integer for k0,1k \equiv 0, 1 and non-integer for k2,3(mod4)k \equiv 2, 3 \pmod 4 (an odd block flips the status an odd number of times, an even block preserves it). Counting integer values of A(n)A(n) inside each block: for k=4j3k = 4j - 3 the block alternates, beginning and ending with non-integers, giving 4j3;4j - 3; for k=4j2k = 4j - 2 every value is a non-integer, giving 0;0; for k=4j1k = 4j - 1 it alternates, beginning and ending with integers, giving 4j;4j; for k=4jk = 4j all 8j+18j + 1 values are integers.

For j=1,,7,j = 1, \ldots, 7, covering 2n292,2 \le n \le 29^2, the four blocks contribute (4j3)+0+4j(4j - 3) + 0 + 4j +(8j+1)=16j2+ (8j + 1) = 16j - 2 integers, totaling j=17(16j2)=434.\sum_{j=1}^{7}(16j - 2) = 434. Then the block k=29k = 29 contributes 2929 integers for 841<n900,841 \lt n \le 900, the block k=30k = 30 contributes none, and for k=31k = 31 the alternation over 961<n1000961 \lt n \le 1000 begins with an integer at n=962n = 962 and gives 2020 more. The total is 434+29+20=483.434 + 29 + 20 = 483.

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