Maths Olympiad Prep

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Algebra Difficulty 5.4 AIME, harder Prove it Philippines

Problem:

Let aa and bb be real numbers that satisfy the equations
ab+ba=52andab=32 \frac{a}{b} + \frac{b}{a} = \frac{5}{2} \quad \text{and} \quad a - b = \frac{3}{2}
Find all possible values of a2+2ab+b2+2a2b+2ab2+a2b2a^{2} + 2 a b + b^{2} + 2 a^{2} b + 2 a b^{2} + a^{2} b^{2}.

Solution

Solution:

From the 2nd equation, we have a2+b2=94+2aba^{2} + b^{2} = \frac{9}{4} + 2 a b.

Using this for the 1st equation, we have
a2+b2ab=94+2abab=52. \frac{a^{2} + b^{2}}{a b} = \frac{\frac{9}{4} + 2 a b}{a b} = \frac{5}{2}.
It can be solved that ab=92a b = \frac{9}{2}.

Moreover, from the 2nd equation, we have
(a+b)2=94+4ab=814.(a + b)^{2} = \frac{9}{4} + 4 a b = \frac{81}{4}.
Thus, a+b=92a + b = \frac{9}{2} or 92-\frac{9}{2}.

And
a2+2ab+b2+2a2b+2ab2+a2b2=(ab+a+b)2=81 or 0. a^{2} + 2 a b + b^{2} + 2 a^{2} b + 2 a b^{2} + a^{2} b^{2} = (a b + a + b)^{2} = 81 \text{ or } 0.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.