Maths Olympiad Prep

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, 2014

Algebra Difficulty 5.3 AIME, harder Prove it Ireland

Three different nonzero real numbers aa, bb, cc satisfy the equations
a+2b=b+2c=c+2a=p a + \frac{2}{b} = b + \frac{2}{c} = c + \frac{2}{a} = p
where pp is a real number. Prove that abc+2p=0abc + 2p = 0.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

We eliminate variables to get an equation in bb and pp. First,
a=p2b=bp2b,so that1a=bbp2.Then a = p - \frac{2}{b} = \frac{bp - 2}{b}, \quad \text{so that} \quad \frac{1}{a} = \frac{b}{bp - 2}. \quad \text{Then}
c=p2a=p2bbp2=bp22p2bbp2,so that1c=bp2bp22p2b. c = p - \frac{2}{a} = p - \frac{2b}{bp-2} = \frac{bp^2 - 2p - 2b}{bp-2}, \quad \text{so that} \quad \frac{1}{c} = \frac{bp-2}{bp^2 - 2p - 2b}.
Finally,
b=p2c=p2bp4bp22p2b. b = p - \frac{2}{c} = p - \frac{2bp - 4}{bp^2 - 2p - 2b}.
Rearranging we obtain b2(p22)+b(2pp3)+(2p24)=0b^2(p^2 - 2) + b(2p - p^3) + (2p^2 - 4) = 0 that is
(p22)(b2pb+2)=0. (p^2 - 2)(b^2 - pb + 2) = 0.
If p22p^2 \ne 2, bb must be a root of the quadratic function f(x)=x2px+2f(x) = x^2 - px + 2 and by symmetry so must aa and cc. But this is a contradiction since aa, bb and cc are different numbers. It follows that we must have p2=2p^2 = 2 and so pp must either be equal to +2+\sqrt{2} or to 2-\sqrt{2}.
It is easy to check that both possibilities for pp lead to the solution set
a=pt2t,b=t,c=2ppt2. a = \frac{pt - 2}{t}, \quad b = t, \quad c = -\frac{2p}{pt - 2}.
where t0t \ne 0, 2p\frac{2}{p}. This solution must satisfy abc=2pabc = -2p.

Solution 2

The equation a+2b=b+2ca + \frac{2}{b} = b + \frac{2}{c} implies ab=2c2ba - b = \frac{2}{c} - \frac{2}{b} which can be rewritten as
bc(ab)=2(bc). bc(a - b) = 2(b - c).
Because the given equations are cyclically symmetric, we also obtain
ab(ca)=2(ab)andac(bc)=2(ca). ab(c - a) = 2(a - b) \quad \text{and} \quad ac(b - c) = 2(c - a).
Multiplying these three equations and using that (ab)(bc)(ca)0(a - b)(b - c)(c - a) \ne 0, we obtain
(abc)2=8. (abc)^2 = 8.
From a+2b=p=c+2aa + \frac{2}{b} = p = c + \frac{2}{a} we obtain pb=ab+2pb = ab + 2 and pa=ac+2pa = ac + 2. Subtracting these gives p(ab)=a(cb)p(a - b) = a(c - b). By cyclic symmetry we also get
p(bc)=b(ac)andp(ca)=c(ba). p(b - c) = b(a - c) \quad \text{and} \quad p(c - a) = c(b - a).
Multiplying these three equations and using that (ab)(bc)(ca)0(a - b)(b - c)(c - a) \ne 0, we obtain
p3=abc. p^3 = -abc.
This implies p6=(abc)2=8p^6 = (-abc)^2 = 8, thus p2=2p^2 = 2, and finally abc=p3=2pabc = -p^3 = -2p.

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