Floor x x

If real number x x is such that x 3 x = 3 { x }^{ 3 }-\left\lfloor x \right\rfloor =3 , what is the sum of all the values of x 3 { x }^{ 3 } ?

Notation: \lfloor \cdot \rfloor denotes the floor function .


The answer is 4.0.

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1 solution

Chew-Seong Cheong
Jul 15, 2017

From x 3 x = 3 {\color{#3D99F6}x^3} - \lfloor x \rfloor = 3 . Since the RHS is positive, x > 0 x > 0 . As x \lfloor x \rfloor and 3 are integers, x 3 \color{#3D99F6}x^3 must be an integer. Let x 3 = n x^3 = n . Then n n 3 = 3 n - \lfloor \sqrt [3]n \rfloor = 3 , n 3 = n 3 \implies \lfloor \sqrt [3]n \rfloor = n - 3 . For x > 0 x > 0 :

L H S R H S n 3 = 0 3 < n 3 < 2 No solution n 3 = 1 2 < n 3 < 5 Solution: n = x 3 = 4 n 3 = 2 5 < n 3 < 24 No solution \begin{array} {ccl} \underline{LHS} & \underline{RHS} \\ \lfloor \sqrt [3]n \rfloor = 0 & - 3 < n-3 < - 2 & \small \color{#D61F06} \text{No solution} \\ \lfloor \sqrt [3]n \rfloor = 1 & - 2 < n-3 < 5 & \small \color{#3D99F6} \text{Solution: }n = x^3 = 4 \\ \lfloor \sqrt [3]n \rfloor = 2 & 5 < n-3 < 24 & \small \color{#D61F06} \text{No solution} \end{array}

It is obvious that for n 3 2 \lfloor \sqrt [3]n \rfloor \ge 2 , there is no solution. And x 3 = 4 x^3 = \boxed{4} is the only solution.

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