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Indian National Mathematical Olympiad

Algebra Difficulty 4.7 AIME Prove it India

Problem:
If aa, bb, cc, xx are real numbers such that abc≠0a b c \neq 0 and
xb+(1−x)ca=xc+(1−x)ab=xa+(1−x)bc \frac{x b + (1-x) c}{a} = \frac{x c + (1-x) a}{b} = \frac{x a + (1-x) b}{c}
then prove that either a+b+c=0a + b + c = 0 or a=b=ca = b = c.

Solution

Solution:
Suppose a+b+c≠0a + b + c \neq 0 and let the common value be λ\lambda. Then
λ=xb+(1−x)c+xc+(1−x)a+xa+(1−x)ba+b+c=1 \lambda = \frac{x b + (1-x) c + x c + (1-x) a + x a + (1-x) b}{a + b + c} = 1
We get two equations:
−a+xb+(1−x)c=0,(1−x)a−b+xc=0 -a + x b + (1-x) c = 0, \quad (1-x) a - b + x c = 0
(The other equation is a linear combination of these two.) Using these two equations, we get the relations
a1−x+x2=bx2−x+1=c(1−x)2+x \frac{a}{1-x + x^{2}} = \frac{b}{x^{2} - x + 1} = \frac{c}{(1-x)^{2} + x}
Since 1−x+x2≠01-x + x^{2} \neq 0, we get a=b=ca = b = c.

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