For how many integer values of b does there exist a polynomial function with integer coefficients such that f(2)=2010 and f(b)=8?
A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.
Solution
We can take f(x)=−d2002(x−b)+2010 for all divisors d of -2002. To see that we can't get any others, note that b−2 must divide f(b)−f(2), so b−2 divides -2002 (this is because b−2 divides bn−2n and hence any sum of numbers of the form bn−2n).
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