1997 AIME Problems/Problem 11
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Problem
Let
. What is the greatest integer that does not exceed
?
Contents |
Solution
Solution 1
Using the identity
, that summation reduces to
That fraction is
! Therefore,
Solution 2
A slight variant of the above solution, note that
This is the ratio we are looking for.
reduces to
, and
.
Solution 3
Consider the sum
. The fraction is given by the real part divided by the imaginary part.
The sum can be written
(by De Moivre's Theorem with geometric series)
(after multiplying by complex conjugate)
Using the tangent half-angle formula, this becomes
.
Dividing the two parts and multiplying each part by 4, the fraction is
.
Although an exact value for
in terms of radicals will be difficult, this is easily known: it is really large!
So treat it as though it were
. The fraction is approximated by
.
See also
| 1997 AIME (Problems • Resources) | ||
| Preceded by Problem 10 | Followed by Problem 12 | |
| 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 | ||



