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Algebra Difficulty 5.8 AIME, harder Prove it India

Problem:

Do there exist three distinct positive real numbers a,b,ca, b, c such that the numbers a,b,c,b+ca,c+ab,a+bca, b, c, b+c-a, c+a-b, a+b-c and a+b+ca+b+c form a 7-term arithmetic progression in some order?

Solution

Solution:

We show that the answer is NO. Suppose, if possible, let a,b,ca, b, c be three distinct positive real numbers such that a,b,c,b+ca,c+ab,a+bca, b, c, b+c-a, c+a-b, a+b-c and a+b+ca+b+c form a 7-term arithmetic progression in some order. We may assume that a<b<ca < b < c. Then there are only two cases we need to check:

(I) a+bc<a<c+ab<b<c<b+ca<a+b+ca+b-c < a < c+a-b < b < c < b+c-a < a+b+c

and

(II) a+bc<a<b<c+ab<c<b+ca<a+b+ca+b-c < a < b < c+a-b < c < b+c-a < a+b+c.

Case I. Suppose the chain of inequalities a+bc<a<c+ab<b<c<b+ca<a+b+ca+b-c < a < c+a-b < b < c < b+c-a < a+b+c holds. Let dd be the common difference. Thus we see that
c=a+b+c2d,b=a+b+c3d,a=a+b+c5d c = a + b + c - 2d, \quad b = a + b + c - 3d, \quad a = a + b + c - 5d
Adding these, we see that a+b+c=5da + b + c = 5d. But then a=0a = 0, contradicting the positivity of aa.

Case II. Suppose the inequalities a+bc<a<b<c+ab<c<b+ca<a+b+ca+b-c < a < b < c+a-b < c < b+c-a < a+b+c are true. Again we see that
c=a+b+c2d,b=a+b+c4d,a=a+b+c5d c = a + b + c - 2d, \quad b = a + b + c - 4d, \quad a = a + b + c - 5d
We thus obtain a+b+c=112da + b + c = \frac{11}{2} d. This gives
a=12d,b=32d,c=72d a = \frac{1}{2} d, \quad b = \frac{3}{2} d, \quad c = \frac{7}{2} d
Note that a+bc=a+b+c6d=12da + b - c = a + b + c - 6d = -\frac{1}{2} d. However, we also get a+bc=(12+3272)d=32da + b - c = \left(\frac{1}{2} + \frac{3}{2} - \frac{7}{2}\right) d = -\frac{3}{2} d. It follows that 3e=e3e = e giving d=0d = 0. But this is impossible.

Thus there are no three distinct positive real numbers a,b,ca, b, c such that a,b,c,b+ca,c+ab,a+bca, b, c, b+c-a, c+a-b, a+b-c and a+b+ca+b+c form a 7-term arithmetic progression in some order.

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