2024 AIME I Problems/Problem 12

Problem

Define $f(x)=|| x|-\tfrac{1}{2}|$ and $g(x)=|| x|-\tfrac{1}{4}|$ . Find the number of intersections of the graphs of $y=4 g(f(\sin (2 \pi x))) \quad\text{ and }\quad x=4 g(f(\cos (3 \pi y))).$

Graph

https://www.desmos.com/calculator/wml09giaun

Solution 1 (BASH, DO NOT ATTEMPT IF INSUFFICIENT TIME)

If we graph $4g(f(x))$ , we see it forms a sawtooth graph that oscillates between $0$ and $1$ (for values of $x$ between $-1$ and $1$ , which is true because the arguments are between $-1$ and $1$ ). Thus by precariously drawing the graph of the two functions in the square bounded by $(0,0)$ , $(0,1)$ , $(1,1)$ , and $(1,0)$ , and hand-counting each of the intersections, we get $\boxed{384}$ (and yes, I did use this on the real AIME and it worked)

Note

While this solution might seem unreliable (it probably is), the only parts where counting the intersection might be tricky is near $(1,1)$ . Make sure to count them as two points and not one, or you'll get $383$ .

2024 AIME I (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by Problem 11	Followed by Problem 13
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2024 AIME I Problems/Problem 12

Contents

Problem

Graph

Solution 1 (BASH, DO NOT ATTEMPT IF INSUFFICIENT TIME)

Note

See also