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smc

counting and probability senior

Problem

The function satisfies the functional equation for every pair of real numbers. If , then the number of integers for which is
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
Solution
We are given that and , so we can let . Thus we have: Rearranging gives a recursive formula for : We notice that this is the recursive form for a quadratic, so f(x) must be of the form . To solve for and , we can first work backwards to solve for the values of f(0) and f(-1): Since : Since : Similarly, since : Thus we have the system of equations: Which can be solved to yield , . Therefore, . Since we are searching for values for which , we have the equation . Subtracting yields , which we can simplify by dividing both sides by : . This factors into , so therefore there are two solutions to : and . Since the problem asks only for solutions that do not equal , the answer is .
Final answer
B