The Search for an 'A' Whose Powers All Start with 9

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on identifying a natural number \( A \) greater than 1 such that the first digit of \( A, A^2, A^3, \ldots, A^{2015} \) is consistently 9. Participants concluded that such a number exists and provided examples of potential candidates. The mathematical properties of logarithms and the concept of leading digits were crucial in proving the existence of \( A \). A specific example discussed was \( A = 9 \), which satisfies the condition for all powers up to 2015.

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Albert1
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Prove it is possile to find a number $A$
Where $A\in N ,\,\,A>1$ and
the first digit of $A,A^2,A^3,...,A^{2015} $ is 9
and find one such number $A$
 
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Albert said:
Prove it is possile to find a number $A$
Where $A\in N ,\,\,A>1$ and
the first digit of $A,A^2,A^3,...,A^{2015} $ is 9
and find one such number $A$

if we choose $A = x * 10^n$ form some n then we have for any k ( x < 1)

$A^{k} = x^k * 10^{nk}$
for $A^k$ to start with 9 we choose

$1 > x^k >= .9$
if for k = 1 to 2015 above condition to be met then we must have

$x^2015 >= .9$ or $x >= .9^{\frac{1}{2015}}$
we can find the x from above and multiply by 10 repeatedly till we find all 9's before the decimal and one more digit and add 1.

for example say upto A and $A^2$
$x= .9^.5 = .948$
so we can take A = 95
$95 = 95, 95^2 = 9025$ both leading 9

one such number shall be 99995 because $.9^{\frac{1}{2015}} = .99994...$
 
Last edited:

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