June 9, 2023

1 Greatest integer function

For a real number x there is a unique integer n such that n ≤ x < n + 1. We
say that n is the greatest integer less than or equal to x, or the floor of x. We
write n = [x]. The difference x − [x] is called the fractional part of x and is
denoted by {x}. The least integer greater than or equal to x is called the ceiling
of x and is denoted by dxe. If x is an integer, then[x] = dxe = xand {x} = 0; if
x is not an integer, then dxe = [x] + 1. We start with four (algebraic) examples
to get familiar with these functions.

Properties
1. [x] = x iff x ∈ Z iff {x} = 0
2. 0 ≤ {x} < 1

3. [x] ≤ x < [x] + 1

4. x − 1 ≤ [x] ≤ x and 0 ≤ x − [x] = {x} < 1

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 5. [x + m] = [x] + m if m is an integer.
6. [x] + [y] ≤ [x + y] ≤ [x] + [y] + 1
(
[x] + [y] if {x} +{y} <1
7. [x + y] =
[x] + [y] + 1 if {x} +{y} ≥1
( (
0 if x ∈ Z − [x] if x ∈ Z
8. [x] + [−x] = ∴ [−x] =
−1 otherwise −1 − [x] otherwise
h i  
9. [x]
m = m if m ∈ Z
x

10. For n, a ∈
 nZ , the number of integers divisible by a, less than n will be
+

equal to a .

11. x + 12 rounds x to it’s nearest integer for x ∈

 
/ N.
12. [x] [y] ≤ [xy] for nonnegative real numbers x and y.
13. (Hermit Identity) Let
 x bea real number and let n be a positive integer.
Then [x] + x + n1 + x + n2 + ... + x + n−1
 
n = [nx].
14. [Gauss] Let p and q be relatively prime integers, then,
     
p p (q − 1)p (p − 1)(q − 1)
+ 2 +···+ =
q q q 2

1.1 Legendre’s Function

Let m be a prime. For any positive integer n, let ep (n) be the exponent of p in
the prime factorization of n!. The arithmetic function ep is called the Legendre
function associated with the prime p. The following result gives a formula for
the computation of ep (n).
For any prime p and any positive integer n, the highest power ep (n) of prime
h i h i h i ∞ h i
p that divides n is given by ep (n) = np + pn2 + pn3 + ... = pi .
n
P
i=1
If n = ai pi = a0 + a1 p + · · · + ak pk ,then,
P
ep (n) = (a1 + a2 p + · · · + ak−1 pk−1 ) + (a2 + a3 p + · · · + ak P k−1 ) + · · ·
= a1 + a2 (1 + p) + a3 (1 + p + p2 ) + · · · + ak (1 + p + p2 + · · · + pk−1 )

Problem solving strategies

• [x] = n =⇒ n ≤ x < n + 1
• x = n + f and 0 ≤ f < 1
• Use estimation
√
• If b nc = k then , take n = k 2 + c and use k 2 ≤ n < (k + 1)2

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 • Use graphs
• Do not forget to check whether the values of f you got lies between [0, 1)
• Condition on {x} like in problem Solve for real x: 1
[x] + 1
[2x] = (9x) + 1,.
Cases depends on f < 21 or f ≥ 12

Problems
1. Find the number of zeros at the end of 100!
2. Find the largest n such that 12n |533!
3. Let s and t be largest positive integers such that 7s |400! and 3t |((3!)!)!.
Compute s + t.

4. Show that there is a natural number n such that decimal reprsentation of

n! ends with 1993 zeros.
5. [HMMT 2003] Find the smallest n such that n! ends in 290 zeros.
6. Solve the equation 4 [x] = 3x.

7. Solve the equation [9x] = 9.

8. Find the number of integers 0 < x < 1000 such that 5 .
x x x 31x
2 + 3 + 5 =

9. [Australia 1999] Solve the following system of equations:

[x] + y + {z} = 200.0

{x} + [y] + z = 190.1

x + {y} + [z] = 178

10. Solve the equation x2 − 6 [x] + 6 = 0.

11. Find all solutions to 4x2 − 40 [x] + 51 = 0

12. (PreRMO 2012) What is the sum of squares of roots of the equation
x2 − 7 [x] + 5 = 0?
Where [x] denotes the greatest integer less than or equal to x .

13. Solve the equation x + 21 + x − 21 = [2x].

   

14. (PreRMO 2012) How many non-negative integral values of x satisfy the
equation
hxi hxi
= ?
5 7
Where [x] denotes the greatest integer less than or equal to x .

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 15. (RMO) Find
 x the number of positive integers x which satisfy the condition
101 . (Here [z] denotes, for any real z, the largest integer not
x

99 =
exceeding z; e.g. [7/4] = 1.)
16. (ASUMO/1992) Solve the equation x + 92
x = bxc + 92
bxc .

17. (USSR/1991) Solve the equation bxc{x} + x = 2{x} + 10.

j 20000 k
18. (PUTNAM/1986) What is the units digit of 1010
100 +3 ?
h 93 k
19. (CHNMOL/1993) Find the last two digits of the number 1010 31 +3 (Write
down the tens digit first, then write down the units digit).

20. (Hermit Identity) Let x be areal number and let n be a positive integer.
Then [x] + x + n1 + x + n2 + ... + x + n−1
 
n = [nx]
∞ h i
x+2k
21. (IMO 1968) Let x ∈ R . Prove that
P
2k+1
= [x].
k=0

22. Show that the product of n consecutive integers is divisible by n!.

23. (a) Find the number of natural numbers n ≤ 900 such that n = [x] +
[2x] + [4x] + [8x] for some x ∈ R.
(b) Find the number of natural numbers n ≤ 1000 such that n = [2x] +
[4x] + [6x] + [8x] for some x ∈ R.

Past PreRMO, IOQM, RMO

1. (PreRMO 2012) How many non-negative integral values of x satisfy the
equation
hxi hxi
= ?
5 7
Where [x] denotes the greatest integer less than or equal to x .

2. (PreRMO 2012) What is the sum of squares of roots of the equation

x2 − 7 [x] + 5 = 0?
Where [x] denotes the greatest integer less than or equal to x .
3. (PreRMO 2017)Suppose x is a positive real number such that {x} , [x]and
x are in a geometric progression. Find the least positive integer n such
that xn > 100. (Here [x] denotes the integer part of x and {x} = x − [x])
4. (PreRMO 2017)Suppose x is a positive real number such that {x} , [x]and
x are in a geometric progression. Find the least positive integer n such
that xn > 100. (Here [x] denotes the integer part of x and {x} = x − [x])

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 5. (PreRMO 2019 P1)What is the greatest integer not exceeding the sum
1599
P 1
√ ?
n=1 n
√
6. (PreRMO 2019 P1) Consider the sequence of numbers [n + 2n + 21 ] for
where [x] denotes the greatest integer not exceeding x. If the missing
integers in the sequence are n1 < n2 < · · ·then find n12 .
7. (PreRMO 2019 P2)For any real number x, let bxc denote the integer part
of x; {x} be the fractional part of x ({x} = x− bxc). Let A denote the
set of all real numbers x satisfying
x + bxc + bx + (1/2)c
{x} =
20
If S is the sum of all numbers in A, find bSc
8. Find the number of positive integers x which satisfy the condition 99
x
=
101 (Here [z] denotes, for any real z, the largest integer not exceeding
x

z; e.g. [7/4] = 1.) (RMO 2001)

Past AMC , AIME

1. (AIME 1991) Suppose that r ∈ R for which r + 10019 20
   
+ r + 100 + ... +
91
= 546. Find [100r]

r + 100
P10
2. (AMC 10B, 2016, P 25) Let f (x) = k=2 (bkxc−kbxc), where brc denotes
the greatest integer less than or equal to r. How many distinct values does
f (x) assume for x ≥ 0 ?
(A) 32 (B) 36 (C) 45 (D) 46 (E) infinitely many
3. (2018 AMC 10B / 25)Let bxc denote the greatest integer less than or equal
to x. How many real numbers x satisfy the equation x2 + 10, 000bxc =
10, 000x ?
(A) 197 (B) 198 (C) 199 (D) 200 (E) 201
4. (2020 AMC12A/25)The number a = pq , where p and q are relatively prime
positive integers, has the property that the sum of all real numbers x
satisfying
bxc · {x} = a · x2
is 420 , where bxc denotes the greatest integer less than or equal to x and
{x} = x − bxc denotes the fractional part of x. What is p + q ?
5. (AMC 12/AHSME 2017)Real numbers x and y are chosen independently
and uniformly at random from the interval (0, 1). What is the probability
that blog2 xc = blog2 yc, where brc denotes the greatest integer less than
or equal to the real number r?
(A) 81 (B) 16 (C) 14 (D) 13 (E) 12

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6. (AMC 10B, 2020,√ P 24/AMC12B/P21) How many positive integers n sat-
isfy n+1000
70 = [ n]?
(A) 2 (B) 4 (C) 6 (D) 30 (E) 32

7. (AMC 10A, 2016, P4) The remainder can be defined for all real numbers
x and y with y 6= 0 by
 
x
rem(x, y) = x − y
y
h i
where xy denotes the greatest integer less than or equal to xy . What is
the value of rem 38 , − 25 ?

(A) − 83 (B) − 40
1
(C) 0 (D) 38 (E) 3140