2022 AMC 10B Problem 24

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24.

Consider functions ff that satisfy f(x)f(y)12xy|f(x)-f(y)|\leq \dfrac{1}{2}|x-y| for all real numbers xx and y.y. Of all such functions that also satisfy the equation f(300)=f(900),f(300) = f(900), what is the greatest possible value of f(f(800))f(f(400))?f(f(800))-f(f(400))?

25 25

50 50

100 100

150 150

200 200

Answer: B
Concepts:functioninequalityextremal argument
Difficulty rating: 2390
Solution:

Applying the contraction inequality twice gives f(f(400))f(f(300))12f(400)f(300)25, \begin{aligned} &|f(f(400))-f(f(300))|\\ &\quad\le\frac12|f(400)-f(300)|\\ &\quad\le25, \end{aligned} and similarly f(f(800))f(f(900))25.|f(f(800))-f(f(900))|\le25.

Set M=f(f(300))=f(f(900)).M=f(f(300))=f(f(900)). The triangle inequality now yields f(f(800))f(f(400))f(f(800))M+Mf(f(400))50. \begin{aligned} &|f(f(800))-f(f(400))|\\ &\quad\le|f(f(800))-M|\\ &\qquad+|M-f(f(400))|\\ &\quad\le50. \end{aligned}

To attain the bound, define ff by linear interpolation through the points (300,600),(400,550),(550,575),(650,625),(800,650),(900,600).\begin{gathered}(300,600),(400,550),(550,575),\\ (650,625),(800,650),(900,600).\end{gathered} and set f(x)=600f(x)=600 for x300x\leq300 or x900.x\geq900. Every segment has slope with absolute value at most 12,\dfrac12, so the contraction condition holds. In particular, f(300)=f(900)=600,f(300)=f(900)=600, f(400)=550,f(400)=550, and f(800)=650.f(800)=650. Hence f(f(400))=f(550)=575,f(f(400))=f(550)=575, while f(f(800))=f(650)=625,f(f(800))=f(650)=625, giving the difference 50.50.

Thus, the answer is B .

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