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Algebra Difficulty 6.0 National Olympiad Prove it Canada

Problem:
Find all ordered triples (x,y,z)(x, y, z) of real numbers which satisfy the following system of equations:
{xy=zxyxz=yxzyz=xyz \left\{\begin{array}{l} x y = z - x - y \\ x z = y - x - z \\ y z = x - y - z \end{array}\right.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

Solution:
Subtracting the second equation from the first gives xyxz=2z2yx y - x z = 2 z - 2 y. Factoring yzy - z from each side and rearranging gives
(x+2)(yz)=0 (x + 2)(y - z) = 0
so either x=2x = -2 or z=yz = y.

If x=2x = -2, the first equation becomes 2y=z+2y-2 y = z + 2 - y, or y+z=2y + z = -2. Substituting x=2x = -2, y+z=2y + z = -2 into the third equation gives yz=2(2)=0y z = -2 - (-2) = 0. Hence either yy or zz is 00, so if x=2x = -2, the only solutions are (2,0,2)(-2, 0, -2) and (2,2,0)(-2, -2, 0).

If z=yz = y the first equation becomes xy=xx y = -x, or x(y+1)=0x(y + 1) = 0. If x=0x = 0 and z=yz = y, the third equation becomes y2=2yy^2 = -2 y which gives y=0y = 0 or y=2y = -2. If y=1y = -1 and z=y=1z = y = -1, the third equation gives x=1x = -1. So if y=zy = z, the only solutions are (0,0,0)(0, 0, 0), (0,2,2)(0, -2, -2) and (1,1,1)(-1, -1, -1).

In summary, there are 5 solutions: (2,0,2)(-2, 0, -2), (2,2,0)(-2, -2, 0), (0,0,0)(0, 0, 0), (0,2,2)(0, -2, -2) and (1,1,1)(-1, -1, -1).

Solution 2

Solution:
Adding xx to both sides of the first equation gives
x(y+1)=zy=(z+1)(y+1)(x+1)(y+1)=z+1. x(y + 1) = z - y = (z + 1) - (y + 1) \Rightarrow (x + 1)(y + 1) = z + 1.
Similarly manipulating the other two equations and letting a=x+1a = x + 1, b=y+1b = y + 1, c=z+1c = z + 1, we can write the system in the following way.
{ab=cac=bbc=a \left\{\begin{array}{l} a b = c \\ a c = b \\ b c = a \end{array}\right.
If any one of a,b,ca, b, c is 00, then it's clear that all three are 00. So (a,b,c)=(0,0,0)(a, b, c) = (0, 0, 0) is one solution and now suppose that a,b,ca, b, c are all nonzero. Substituting c=abc = a b into the second and third equations gives a2b=ba^2 b = b and b2a=ab^2 a = a, respectively. Hence a2=1a^2 = 1, b2=1b^2 = 1 (since a,ba, b nonzero). This gives 4 more solutions: (a,b,c)=(1,1,1)(a, b, c) = (1, 1, 1), (1,1,1)(1, -1, -1), (1,1,1)(-1, 1, -1) or (1,1,1)(-1, -1, 1). Reexpressing in terms of x,y,zx, y, z, we obtain the 5 ordered triples listed in Solution 1.

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