r is a positive real number less than 1/1000

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Let m be the smallest positive integer whose cube root is of the form n+r, where n is a positive integer & r is a positive real number less than 1/1000. Find n.


The answer is 19.

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1 solution

Jeremy Galvagni
Jul 27, 2018

Since we want m 3 \sqrt[3]{m} to be just a little larger than an integer, m m should be just a bit over a perfect cube. Let m = n 3 + 1 m=n^{3}+1 .

You could use some fancy algebra to find the solution, but 1/1000 isn't really all that small and the answer shows up quickly with a table of n n :

1 9 3 + 1 3 = 19 . 00092332 \sqrt[3]{19^{3}+1}=\boxed{19}.00092332


Edit: ok let's see how the fancy algebra works in case someone decides to redo this with a really small value of r r .

We seek to make n 3 + 1 3 n 3 3 < 0.001 \sqrt[3]{n^{3}+1}-\sqrt[3]{n^{3}}<0.001

n 3 + 1 3 < n + 0.001 \sqrt[3]{n^{3}+1}<n+0.001 cube both sides is ok since n > 1 n>1

n 3 + 1 < n 3 + 3 n 2 0.001 + 3 n 0.00 1 2 + 0.00 1 3 n^{3}+1<n^3+3n^{2}\cdot0.001+3n\cdot0.001^{2}+0.001^{3}

0.003 n 2 + 0.000003 n 0.999999999 > 0 0.003n^{2}+0.000003n-0.999999999>0 and applying the quadratic formula gives

n > 18.2569 n>18.2569 or n 19 n\ge \boxed{19}

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