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algebra intermediate

Problem

Let denote the greatest integer less than or equal to . How many real numbers satisfy the equation ?
Solution
Subtracting from both sides, we get the equation To understand the solutions to this equation, we consider the graphs of and The graph of is the usual parabola; the graph of consists of line segments between the points and for each integer including the left endpoint but not the right endpoint: Note that the graph of passes through both the points and as shown above, so all of the points lie above the parabola. It follows that the parabola intersects only the segments corresponding to those points. There are of these segments, so the number of solutions to the equation is
Final answer
199