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Algebra Difficulty 4.9 AIME Prove it Croatia

Let aa be a real number. Determine the sum of all three solutions of the equation
x3a2x+axx+a2a=0. x^3 - a^2x + ax - x + a^2 - a = 0.

Solution

Let us write the equation as:
x3a2x+axx+a2a=0. x^3 - a^2x + ax - x + a^2 - a = 0.
Group the xx terms:
x3+(aa21)x+(a2a)=0. x^3 + (a - a^2 - 1)x + (a^2 - a) = 0.
This is a cubic equation of the form:
x3+px+q=0, x^3 + px + q = 0,
where p=aa21p = a - a^2 - 1 and q=a2aq = a^2 - a.

By Vieta's formulas, the sum of the roots of the cubic equation x3+px+q=0x^3 + px + q = 0 is 00 (since the coefficient of x2x^2 is 00).

Therefore, the sum of all three solutions is 0\boxed{0}.

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