Maths Olympiad Prep

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Algebra Difficulty 5.3 AIME, harder Prove it Estonia

Find all positive real solutions of the system of equations
x+1xw=2,x + \frac{1}{x} - w = 2,
y+1yw=2,y + \frac{1}{y} - w = 2,
z+1z+w=2,z + \frac{1}{z} + w = 2,
y+1z+w=2.y + \frac{1}{z} + w = 2.

Solution

Subtracting the second equation from the first and multiplying by xyxy we get x2y+yxy2x=0x^2y + y - xy^2 - x = 0, which gives either x=yx = y or x=1yx = \frac{1}{y}.
If x=yx = y, then subtracting the fourth equation from the third and multiplying by xzxz, we similarly get either x=zx = z or x=1zx = -\frac{1}{z}. If x=zx = z, then subtracting the third equation from the first gives 2w=0-2w = 0, hence w=0w = 0, which is not positive. If x=1zx = -\frac{1}{z}, then xx and zz cannot be both positive.
If x=1yx = \frac{1}{y}, then subtracting the fourth equation from the third gives z1z=0z - \frac{1}{z} = 0, hence z=1z = 1. Adding the first equation with the third gives x+2x=3x + \frac{2}{x} = 3, or x23x+2=0x^2 - 3x + 2 = 0. This has a solution x=1x = 1, which leads to x=y=zx = y = z already considered. The second solution x=2x = 2 gives y=12y = \frac{1}{2} and w=12w = \frac{1}{2}.

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