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Ukrainian National Mathematical Olympiad

Algebra Difficulty 5.7 AIME, harder Prove it Ukraine

Find all real values of kk, such that all solutions of the equation k(2−k)x2−(k+4)x+6=0k(2-k)x^2 - (k+4)x + 6 = 0 are positive integers.

Solution

First, we go through cases when this equation is not quadratic.
For k=0k=0, equation becomes −4x+6=0-4x+6=0, and has a non-integer solution.
For k=2k=2, equation becomes −6x+6=0-6x+6=0, and has a single solution x=1x=1, which satisfies the statement.

Now, suppose k(2−k)≠0k(2-k) \neq 0. We find the discriminant of this quadratic equation:
D=(k2+8k+16)−24(2k−k2)=25k2−40k+16=(5k−4)2 D = (k^2 + 8k + 16) - 24(2k - k^2) = 25k^2 - 40k + 16 = (5k - 4)^2
So the roots are:
x1,x2=(k+4)±(5k−4)2k(2−k) x_1, x_2 = \frac{(k+4) \pm (5k-4)}{2k(2-k)}
Calculating both roots:
x1=(k+4)+(5k−4)2k(2−k)=6k2k(2−k)=32−k x_1 = \frac{(k+4) + (5k-4)}{2k(2-k)} = \frac{6k}{2k(2-k)} = \frac{3}{2-k}
x2=(k+4)−(5k−4)2k(2−k)=−4k+82k(2−k)=2k x_2 = \frac{(k+4) - (5k-4)}{2k(2-k)} = \frac{-4k+8}{2k(2-k)} = \frac{2}{k}
We must find all cases when this is a positive integer. Let 2k=m\frac{2}{k} = m be a positive integer, then k=2mk = \frac{2}{m}.

Then:
32−k=32−2m=3m2(m−1) \frac{3}{2-k} = \frac{3}{2-\frac{2}{m}} = \frac{3m}{2(m-1)}
We require 3m2(m−1)\frac{3m}{2(m-1)} to be a positive integer. Since mm is a positive integer, mm and m−1m-1 are coprime.
Hence, the last condition is only possible for m−1=1⇒k=1m-1=1 \Rightarrow k=1 or m−1=3⇒k=12m-1=3 \Rightarrow k=\frac{1}{2}.

Therefore, the real values of kk are k=2k=2, k=1k=1, and k=12k=\frac{1}{2}.

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