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Algebra Difficulty 5.4 AIME, harder Prove it North Macedonia

Find the value of yy so that y2+2y+1\sqrt{y^2 + 2y + 1}, y2+3y13\frac{y^2 + 3y - 1}{3}, y1y-1 are consecutive terms in the arithmetic progression.

Solution

If p,q,rp, q, r are consecutive terms in the arithmetic progression, then p+r=2qp + r = 2q. Because of this, we have
y2+2y+1+y1=2y2+3y13 \sqrt{y^2 + 2y + 1} + y - 1 = 2 \frac{y^2 + 3y - 1}{3}
3((y+1)2+y1)=2(y2+3y1) 3(\sqrt{(y+1)^2} + y - 1) = 2(y^2 + 3y - 1)

Since (y+1)2=y+1\sqrt{(y+1)^2} = |y+1|, we have
3(y+1+y1)=2(y2+3y1)2y2+3y3=y+1+1=0 \begin{aligned} 3(|y+1| + y - 1) &= 2(y^2 + 3y - 1) \\ 2y^2 + 3y - 3 &= |y+1| + 1 = 0 \end{aligned}
The last equation is equivalent with
{y+10y2+3y3(y+1)+1=0 \begin{cases} y + 1 \ge 0 \\ y^2 + 3y - 3(y+1) + 1 = 0 \end{cases}
{y+1<0y2+3y+3(y+1)+1=0 \begin{cases} y + 1 < 0 \\ y^2 + 3y + 3(y+1) + 1 = 0 \end{cases}
{y1y21=0 or {y<1y2+3y+2=0 \begin{cases} y \ge -1 \\ y^2 - 1 = 0 \end{cases} \text{ or } \begin{cases} y < -1 \\ y^2 + 3y + 2 = 0 \end{cases}
The solution of the first system is y=1y = 1 or y=1y = -1, and for the second one is y=2y = -2. Finally y{2,1,1}y \in \{-2, -1, 1\}.

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