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Algebra Level 3

2 + 2 + 1 100 + 2 + 2 100 + 2 + 3 100 + + 2 + 99 100 \left \lfloor \sqrt{2}\right \rfloor + \left \lfloor \sqrt{2}+\frac{1}{100}\right \rfloor+\left \lfloor \sqrt{2}+\frac{2}{100}\right \rfloor+\left \lfloor \sqrt{2}+\frac{3}{100}\right \rfloor+ \cdots + \left \lfloor\sqrt{2}+\frac{99}{100}\right \rfloor

Evaluate the sum above.


The answer is 141.

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2 solutions

Brian Moehring
Sep 12, 2018

Let's generalize!!! Thanks to @Emil Gueorguiev for pointing out I could further generalize by changing every instance of 1 0 n 10^n in my original solution to n n . The following is the result of making this change (which helps readability too since I no longer have exponents in my summation indices)

Let r r be any real number and let n n be some non-negative integer. Then the sum we're interested in is k = 0 n 1 r + k n = k = 0 n 1 r + { r } + k n = k = 0 n 1 r + n { r } + k n = n r + k = 0 n 1 n { r } + k n = n r + k = 0 n n { r } 1 0 + k = n n { r } n 1 1 = n r + n { r } = n r + n { r } = n r \begin{aligned} \sum_{k=0}^{n-1} \left\lfloor r + \frac{k}{n} \right\rfloor &= \sum_{k=0}^{n-1} \left\lfloor \lfloor r\rfloor + \{r\} + \frac{k}{n} \right\rfloor \\ &= \sum_{k=0}^{n-1} \lfloor r \rfloor + \left\lfloor \frac{n\{r\} + k}{n} \right\rfloor \\ &= n\lfloor r \rfloor + \sum_{k=0}^{n-1} \left\lfloor \frac{\left\lfloor n\{r\}\right\rfloor + k}{n} \right\rfloor \\ &= n\lfloor r \rfloor + \sum_{k=0}^{n - \left\lfloor n\{r\}\right\rfloor - 1} 0 + \sum_{k=n - \left\lfloor n\{r\}\right\rfloor}^{n - 1} 1 \\ &= n\lfloor r \rfloor + \left\lfloor n\{r\}\right\rfloor \\ &= \Big\lfloor n \lfloor r \rfloor + n\{r\}\Big\rfloor \\ &= \lfloor n r\rfloor \end{aligned}

Set r = 2 r=\sqrt{2} and n = 100 n=100 to make our sum identical to the one in the problem, giving an answer of 100 2 = 141.421356 = 141 \left\lfloor 100 \sqrt{2}\right\rfloor = \lfloor 141.421356 \rfloor = \boxed{141}

Great result. I think it can be generalized even further in the same way, instead with 10^n, just work with n. That seems to be the final generalization. What do you think?

A Former Brilliant Member - 2 years, 9 months ago

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Huh... that's right. I had still been thinking about concrete examples as I wrote the proof (in which case 1 0 n 10^n is nicer because it behaves nicely in decimal form) but you can change all the 1 0 n 10^n to n n with no further change in the proof. Thanks for pointing that out.

Brian Moehring - 2 years, 9 months ago
Chew-Seong Cheong
Sep 12, 2018

The general term of the given sum can be written as 2 + k 100 \left \lfloor \sqrt 2+\dfrac k{100}\right \rfloor , where k k is an integer and 0 k 99 0\le k \le 99 . Since 2 + 9 9 100 2.404 < 3 \sqrt 2+\dfrac 99{100} \approx 2.404 < 3 ,

2 + k 100 = { 1 if 2 + k 100 < 2 or 0 k 58 2 if 2 + k 100 2 or 59 k 99 \left \lfloor \sqrt 2+\dfrac k{100}\right \rfloor= \begin{cases} 1 & \text{if } \sqrt 2+\dfrac k{100} < 2 \text{ or }0 \le k \le 58 \\ 2 & \text{if } \sqrt 2+\dfrac k{100} \ge 2 \text{ or } 59 \le k \le 99 \end{cases}

Then we have:

S = k = 0 99 2 + k 100 = k = 0 58 1 + k = 59 99 2 = 59 + 82 = 141 \begin{aligned} S & = \sum_{k=0}^{99} \left \lfloor \sqrt 2 + \frac k{100} \right \rfloor = \sum_{k=0}^{58} 1 + \sum_{k=59}^{99} 2 = 59 + 82 = \boxed{141} \end{aligned}

Nice solution!!!

A Former Brilliant Member - 2 years, 9 months ago

Good solution but can be easily solved with A.P.

The Gaming Nut - 2 years, 9 months ago

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