Periodicity and floor functions in 2016!

Algebra Level 5

f ( n ) = 1 0 n + 2016 1 0 n + 1 1 0 2016 1 10 1 0 n + 2015 1 0 n 1 0 2016 1 f(n)= \left \lfloor \dfrac{10^{n+2016}-10^{n+1}}{10^{2016}-1} \right \rfloor - 10\left \lfloor \dfrac{10^{n+2015}-10^n}{10^{2016}-1} \right \rfloor

The above function is defined on the set of natural numbers. If the function is periodic find its period, otherwise write 0.


The answer is 2016.

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1 solution

Arturo Presa
Mar 30, 2016

In general, we use base 10 to represent any real number. For example 652.333333... = 6 1 0 2 + 5 1 0 1 + 2 + 3 10 + 3 1 0 2 + 3 1 0 3 + . . . . = 652 1 3 . 652.333333...=6*10^{2}+5*10^{1}+2+\frac{3}{10}+\frac{3}{10^{2}}+\frac{3}{10^{3}}+....=652\frac{1}{3}. So if x x is any real number then there is sequence a 0 , a 1 , a 2 , a 3 , . . . , a n , . . . , a_{0}, a_{1}, a_{2}, a_{3}, ..., a_{n}, ..., such that any a i a_{i} is a digit, and x = k = 0 a k 1 0 m k x=\sum_{k=0}^{\infty}a_{k}*10^{m-k} for a certain integer m m that depends on x x . In particular, the number x = 1 0 2015 1 1 0 2016 1 x=\dfrac{10^{2015}-1}{10^{2016}-1} can be represented by a series x = k = 0 b k 1 0 k . x=\sum_{k=0}^{\infty}b_{k}*10^{-k}. Now it is easy to see that for any integer n 0 , n\geq 0, f ( n ) = 1 0 n + 1 x 10 1 0 n x = b n + 1 . f(n)= \left \lfloor 10^{n+1}x \right \rfloor - 10\left \lfloor 10^n x \right \rfloor=b_{n+1}. Since x x is a rational number, its decimal representation is periodic. Therefore f ( n ) f(n) is a periodic function. By direct calculations, it can be proved that the period of f f is 2016.

That's great! Still, I am not able to do the calculations. Will you please post them?

Saurabh Chaturvedi - 5 years, 2 months ago

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You can find that 1 0 1 1 1 0 2 1 = 0.0909090... \frac{10^1-1}{10^2-1}=0.0909090... , so if the x = 1 0 1 1 1 0 2 1 , x=\frac{10^1-1}{10^2-1}, then the period would be 2. Since 1 0 2 1 1 0 3 1 = 0.099099099... \frac{10^2-1}{10^3-1}=0.099099099... the period in this case would be 3. Since 1 0 3 1 1 0 4 1 = 0.0999099909990... , \frac{10^3-1}{10^4-1}=0.0999099909990..., the period would be 4. Do you see a pattern here?

Arturo Presa - 5 years, 2 months ago

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Got it! Thanks for the great problem and the great solution!

Saurabh Chaturvedi - 5 years, 2 months ago

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