Problem:
Find all ordered triples of real numbers which satisfy the following system of equations:
Solutions — 2
Solution 1
Solution:
Subtracting the second equation from the first gives . Factoring from each side and rearranging gives
so either or .
If , the first equation becomes , or . Substituting , into the third equation gives . Hence either or is , so if , the only solutions are and .
If the first equation becomes , or . If and , the third equation becomes which gives or . If and , the third equation gives . So if , the only solutions are , and .
In summary, there are 5 solutions: , , , and .
Solution 2
Solution:
Adding to both sides of the first equation gives
Similarly manipulating the other two equations and letting , , , we can write the system in the following way.
If any one of is , then it's clear that all three are . So is one solution and now suppose that are all nonzero. Substituting into the second and third equations gives and , respectively. Hence , (since nonzero). This gives 4 more solutions: , , or . Reexpressing in terms of , we obtain the 5 ordered triples listed in Solution 1.