Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 4.8 AIME Prove it United States

Problem:
Find the maximum value of x+yx+y, given that x2+y23y1=0x^{2}+y^{2}-3y-1=0.

Solution

Solution:

We can rewrite x2+y23y1=0x^{2}+y^{2}-3y-1=0 as
x2+(y32)2=134. x^{2} + \left(y - \frac{3}{2}\right)^{2} = \frac{13}{4}.
We then see that the set of solutions to x2+y23y1=0x^{2}+y^{2}-3y-1=0 is the circle of radius 132\frac{\sqrt{13}}{2} and center (0,32)\left(0, \frac{3}{2}\right).

This can be written as
x=132cos(θ),y=132sin(θ)+32. x = \frac{\sqrt{13}}{2} \cos(\theta), \quad y = \frac{\sqrt{13}}{2} \sin(\theta) + \frac{3}{2}.
Thus,
x+y=32+132(cos(θ)+sin(θ))=32+1322sin(θ+45). x + y = \frac{3}{2} + \frac{\sqrt{13}}{2}(\cos(\theta) + \sin(\theta)) = \frac{3}{2} + \frac{\sqrt{13}}{2} \sqrt{2} \sin\left(\theta + 45^{\circ}\right).
This is maximized for θ=45\theta = 45^{\circ} and gives
26+32. \frac{\sqrt{26} + 3}{2}.
(We could also solve this geometrically by noting that if x+yx+y attains a maximum value of ss then the line x+y=sx+y=s is tangent to the circle.)

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