Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /1048 of 1394

, 2020

Algebra Difficulty 5.5 AIME, harder Prove it United States

Problem:
There exist several solutions to the equation
1+sinxsin4x=sin3xsin2x 1 + \frac{\sin x}{\sin 4x} = \frac{\sin 3x}{\sin 2x}
where xx is expressed in degrees and 0<x<1800^{\circ} < x < 180^{\circ}. Find the sum of all such solutions.

Solution

Solution:
We first apply sum-to-product and product-to-sum:
sin4x+sinxsin4x=sin3xsin2x \frac{\sin 4x + \sin x}{\sin 4x} = \frac{\sin 3x}{\sin 2x}
2sin(2.5x)cos(1.5x)sin(2x)=sin(4x)sin(3x) 2 \sin(2.5x) \cos(1.5x) \sin(2x) = \sin(4x) \sin(3x)
Factoring out sin(2x)=0\sin(2x) = 0,
sin(2.5x)cos(1.5x)=cos(2x)sin(3x) \sin(2.5x) \cos(1.5x) = \cos(2x) \sin(3x)
Factoring out cos(1.5x)=0\cos(1.5x) = 0 (which gives us 6060^{\circ} as a solution),
sin(2.5x)=2cos(2x)sin(1.5x)sin(2.5x)=sin(3.5x)sin(0.5x) \begin{gathered} \sin(2.5x) = 2 \cos(2x) \sin(1.5x) \\ \sin(2.5x) = \sin(3.5x) - \sin(0.5x) \end{gathered}
Convert into complex numbers, we get
(x3.5x3.5)(x0.5x0.5)=(x2.5x2.5)x7x6x4+x3+x1=0(x1)(x6x3+1)=0 \begin{gathered} \left(x^{3.5} - x^{-3.5}\right) - \left(x^{0.5} - x^{-0.5}\right) = \left(x^{2.5} - x^{-2.5}\right) \\ x^{7} - x^{6} - x^{4} + x^{3} + x - 1 = 0 \\ (x-1)\left(x^{6} - x^{3} + 1\right) = 0 \end{gathered}
We recognize the latter expression as x9+1x3+1\frac{x^{9} + 1}{x^{3} + 1}, giving us
x=0, 20, 100, 140, 220, 260, 340. x = 0^{\circ},\ 20^{\circ},\ 100^{\circ},\ 140^{\circ},\ 220^{\circ},\ 260^{\circ},\ 340^{\circ}.
The sum of the solutions is
20+60+100+140=320. 20^{\circ} + 60^{\circ} + 100^{\circ} + 140^{\circ} = 320^{\circ}.

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