Olympiad Maths Prep

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, 2010

Algebra Difficulty 5.2 AIME, harder Prove it Ukraine

Solve the equation:
(x+1)5+(x+1)4(x1)+(x+1)3(x1)2++(x+1)2(x1)3+(x+1)(x1)4+(x1)5=0. (x + 1)^5 + (x + 1)^4(x - 1) + (x + 1)^3(x - 1)^2 + \\ + (x + 1)^2(x - 1)^3 + (x + 1)(x - 1)^4 + (x - 1)^5 = 0.

Solution

Answer: x=0x = 0.

Multiplying both sides by 2=((x+1)(x1))2 = ((x + 1) - (x - 1)) yields (x+1)6(x1)6=0(x+1)^6 - (x-1)^6 = 0 or equivalently (x+1)2=(x1)2(x + 1)^2 = (x - 1)^2. Solving this equation, we obtain the unique solution x=0x = 0.

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