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Algebra Difficulty 6.4 National olympiad Prove it Czech Republic

**Find all triples of real numbers xx, yy and zz for which**
x(y2+2z2)=y(z2+2x2)=z(x2+2y2). x(y^2 + 2z^2) = y(z^2 + 2x^2) = z(x^2 + 2y^2).

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

If for example x=0x = 0, we get a system 0=yz2=2y2z0 = y z^2 = 2 y^2 z which means that one of the unknowns yy and zz vanishes and the other can be arbitrary. The cases y=0y = 0 or z=0z = 0 are discussed similarly. Thus we have obtained three groups of solutions (x,y,z)(x, y, z) which are formed by triples (t,0,0)(t, 0, 0), (0,t,0)(0, t, 0) and (0,0,t)(0, 0, t) respectively, where tt is any real number. Moreover, we have observed that all the other solutions satisfy the condition xyz0x y z \neq 0, which is supposed to hold in what follows.

Factorizing the equation x(y2+2z2)=y(z2+2x2)x(y^2 + 2z^2) = y(z^2 + 2x^2) yields (2xy)(z2xy)=0(2x - y)(z^2 - x y) = 0. Thus we distinguish two cases (depending on the fact which of the two factors vanishes).

i. 2xy=02x - y = 0. After setting y=2xy = 2x the given system is reduced to the only equation
2x(2x2+z2)=9x2z, 2x(2x^2 + z^2) = 9x^2 z,
which can be simplified (by dividing x0x \neq 0) to
4x2+2z29xz=0or(x2z)(4xz)=0. 4x^2 + 2z^2 - 9x z = 0 \quad \text{or} \quad (x - 2z)(4x - z) = 0.
Thus the case (i) yields exactly two groups of solutions (2t,4t,t)(2t, 4t, t) and (t,2t,4t)(t, 2t, 4t), where tt is any real number.

ii. z2xy=0z^2 - x y = 0. Substituting z2=xyz^2 = x y into the given system, we now get the only equation
xy(2x+y)=z(x2+2y2), x y (2x + y) = z(x^2 + 2y^2),
which is (because of the inequality x2+2y2>0x^2 + 2y^2 > 0) equivalent to
z=xy(2x+y)x2+2y2. z = \frac{x y (2x + y)}{x^2 + 2y^2}.
At this moment we have to find when such a zz obeys the condition z2=xyz^2 = x y. After direct substitution we get the following condition on the unknowns xx and yy:
x2y2(2x+y)2(x2+2y2)2=xy. \frac{x^2 y^2 (2x + y)^2}{(x^2 + 2y^2)^2} = x y.
Dividing by xy0x y \neq 0 and removing the fraction yields
xy(2x+y)2=(x2+2y2)2or(4yx)(x3y3)=0. x y (2x + y)^2 = (x^2 + 2y^2)^2 \quad \text{or} \quad (4y - x)(x^3 - y^3) = 0.
Thus we conclude that either x=4yx = 4y, or x3=y3x^3 = y^3, i.e. x=yx = y. Returning to the formula for zz, we obtain z=2yz = 2y or z=xz = x, according as x=4yx = 4y or x=yx = y. Consequently, there are two groups of solutions in the case (ii), namely triples (4t,t,2t)(4t, t, 2t) and (t,t,t)(t, t, t), where tt is any real number.

*Answer.* All the solutions are (t,0,0)(t, 0, 0), (0,t,0)(0, t, 0), (0,0,t)(0, 0, t), (t,t,t)(t, t, t), (4t,t,2t)(4t, t, 2t), (2t,4t,t)(2t, 4t, t) and (t,2t,4t)(t, 2t, 4t), where tt is any real number.

Solution 2

To avoid unnecessary repetition from the above solution, we will solve the problem under the condition that xyz0x y z \neq 0.

Dividing both sides of the given equations by xyzx y z we obtain
yz+2zy=zx+2xz=xy+2yx,(3) \frac{y}{z} + \frac{2z}{y} = \frac{z}{x} + \frac{2x}{z} = \frac{x}{y} + \frac{2y}{x}, \quad (3)
which can be read as a coincidence of values of a function f(s)=s+2/sf(s) = s + 2/s in three nonzero points s1=y/zs_1 = y/z, s2=z/xs_2 = z/x and s3=x/ys_3 = x/y. Thus we first find when f(s)=f(t)f(s) = f(t) for two nonzero real numbers ss and tt. It follows from the identity
f(s)f(t)=s+2st2t=(st)(st2)st f(s) - f(t) = s + \frac{2}{s} - t - \frac{2}{t} = \frac{(s-t)(s t - 2)}{s t}
that f(s)=f(t)f(s) = f(t) if and only if s=ts = t or st=2s t = 2. Consequently, the system (3) holds if and only if the introduced numbers s1,s2,s3s_1, s_2, s_3 possess the following property: si=sjs_i = s_j or sisj=2s_i s_j = 2, for any indices ii and jj. However, if there exists a permutation (i,j,k)(i, j, k) of (1,2,3)(1, 2, 3) such that sisj=2s_i s_j = 2, then the identity sisjsk=1s_i s_j s_k = 1 implies that sk=12s_k = \frac{1}{2} and hence si{12,4}s_i \in \{\frac{1}{2}, 4\} (because si=sks_i = s_k or sisk=2s_i s_k = 2). Thus the assumption sisj=2s_i s_j = 2 leads to the conclusion that (s1,s2,s3)(s_1, s_2, s_3) is a permutation of (12,12,4)(\frac{1}{2}, \frac{1}{2}, 4). It is easy to check that exactly three such permutations are satisfactory and yield the solutions (4t,t,2t)(4t, t, 2t), (2t,4t,t)(2t, 4t, t) and (t,2t,4t)(t, 2t, 4t) of the given system. In the remaining case when s1=s2=s3s_1 = s_2 = s_3, the identity s1s2s3=1s_1 s_2 s_3 = 1 implies that si=1s_i = 1 for each ii, which yields the solutions (t,t,t)(t, t, t).

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