Maths Olympiad Prep

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Algebra Difficulty 4.7 AIME Prove it United States

Problem:
Find all irrational numbers xx such that x317xx^{3}-17 x and x2+4xx^{2}+4 x are both rational numbers.

Solution

Solution:
Answer: 2±5-2 \pm \sqrt{5}
From x2+4xQx^{2}+4 x \in \mathbb{Q}, we deduce that (x+2)2=x2+4x+4(x+2)^{2}=x^{2}+4 x+4 is also rational, and hence x=2±yx=-2 \pm \sqrt{y}, where yy is rational. Then x317x=(266y)±(y5)yx^{3}-17 x=(26-6 y) \pm (y-5) \sqrt{y}, which forces yy to be 55. Hence x=2±5x=-2 \pm \sqrt{5}. It is easy to check that both values satisfy the problem conditions.

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