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IMC / 2001 / Problems / Day 1, P6

IMC 2001 · Day 1 · P6

very hard

Suppose that the differentiable functions a,b,f,g:RRa, b, f, g : \mathbb{R} \to \mathbb{R} satisfy f(x)0, f(x)0, g(x)>0, g(x)>0for all xR,f(x) \ge 0,\ f'(x) \ge 0,\ g(x) > 0,\ g'(x) > 0 \quad \text{for all } x \in \mathbb{R}, limxa(x)=A>0,limxb(x)=B>0,limxf(x)=limxg(x)=,\lim_{x \to \infty} a(x) = A > 0, \quad \lim_{x \to \infty} b(x) = B > 0, \quad \lim_{x \to \infty} f(x) = \lim_{x \to \infty} g(x) = \infty, and f(x)g(x)+a(x)f(x)g(x)=b(x).\frac{f'(x)}{g'(x)} + a(x) \frac{f(x)}{g(x)} = b(x). Prove that limxf(x)g(x)=BA+1.\lim_{x \to \infty} \frac{f(x)}{g(x)} = \frac{B}{A + 1}.

Solution (official)

Let 0<ε<A0 < \varepsilon < A be an arbitrary real number. If xx is sufficiently large then f(x)>0f(x) > 0, g(x)>0g(x) > 0, a(x)A<ε|a(x) - A| < \varepsilon, b(x)B<ε|b(x) - B| < \varepsilon and Bε<b(x)=f(x)g(x)+a(x)f(x)g(x)<f(x)g(x)+(A+ε)f(x)g(x)<<(A+ε)(A+1)Af(x)(g(x))A+Af(x)(g(x))A1g(x)(A+1)(g(x))Ag(x)==(A+ε)(A+1)A(f(x)(g(x))A)((g(x))A+1),\begin{align*} B - \varepsilon < b(x) &= \frac{f'(x)}{g'(x)} + a(x) \frac{f(x)}{g(x)} < \frac{f'(x)}{g'(x)} + (A + \varepsilon) \frac{f(x)}{g(x)} < \tag{1}\\ &< \frac{(A+\varepsilon)(A+1)}{A} \cdot \frac{f'(x) \bigl( g(x) \bigr)^A + A \cdot f(x) \cdot \bigl( g(x) \bigr)^{A-1} \cdot g'(x)} {(A+1) \cdot \bigl( g(x) \bigr)^A \cdot g'(x)} = \\ &= \frac{(A+\varepsilon)(A+1)}{A} \cdot \frac{\Bigl( f(x) \cdot \bigl( g(x) \bigr)^A \Bigr)'} {\Bigl( \bigl( g(x) \bigr)^{A+1} \Bigr)'}, \end{align*} thus (f(x)(g(x))A)((g(x))A+1)>A(Bε)(A+ε)(A+1).(2)\tag{2} \frac{\Bigl( f(x) \cdot \bigl( g(x) \bigr)^A \Bigr)'} {\Bigl( \bigl( g(x) \bigr)^{A+1} \Bigr)'} > \frac{A (B - \varepsilon)}{(A + \varepsilon)(A + 1)}. It can be similarly obtained that, for sufficiently large xx, (f(x)(g(x))A)((g(x))A+1)<A(B+ε)(Aε)(A+1).(3)\tag{3} \frac{\Bigl( f(x) \cdot \bigl( g(x) \bigr)^A \Bigr)'} {\Bigl( \bigl( g(x) \bigr)^{A+1} \Bigr)'} < \frac{A (B + \varepsilon)}{(A - \varepsilon)(A + 1)}. From ε0\varepsilon \to 0, we have limx(f(x)(g(x))A)((g(x))A+1)=BA+1.\lim_{x \to \infty} \frac{\Bigl( f(x) \cdot \bigl( g(x) \bigr)^A \Bigr)'} {\Bigl( \bigl( g(x) \bigr)^{A+1} \Bigr)'} = \frac{B}{A + 1}. By l'Hospital's rule this implies limxf(x)g(x)=limxf(x)(g(x))A(g(x))A+1=BA+1.\lim_{x \to \infty} \frac{f(x)}{g(x)} = \lim_{x \to \infty} \frac{f(x) \cdot \bigl( g(x) \bigr)^A}{\bigl( g(x) \bigr)^{A+1}} = \frac{B}{A + 1}.

How the field did

contestants scored
182
average (of 20)
5.26
solved (≥ 80%)
10.4%
near-0 (≤ 10%)
44.5%
discrimination
0.44

Score distribution (field cohort)

Computed on contestants with a meaningful total (field cohort); discrimination is the corrected item–total correlation.

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