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Algebra Difficulty 4.9 AIME Prove it United States

Problem:
Let aa, bb, cc, xx be real numbers such that
ax2bxc=bx2cxa=cx2axb. a x^{2}-b x-c = b x^{2}-c x-a = c x^{2}-a x-b.
Prove that a=b=ca = b = c.

Solution

Solution:
Let u=abu = a - b, v=bcv = b - c, and w=caw = c - a. Then u+v+w=0u + v + w = 0, and we would like to prove that u=v=w=0u = v = w = 0. We have
ax2bxc=bx2cxa(ab)x2+(b+c)x+(c+a)=0ux2vxw=0. \begin{aligned} a x^{2} - b x - c &= b x^{2} - c x - a \\ (a - b) x^{2} + (-b + c) x + (-c + a) &= 0 \\ u x^{2} - v x - w &= 0. \end{aligned}

In a similar manner, we get
vx2wxu=0 v x^{2} - w x - u = 0
and
wx2uxv=0. w x^{2} - u x - v = 0.

Taking vv times (1) minus uu times (2) eliminates the x2x^{2} term; we get
(v2wu)x=u2vw. \left(v^{2} - w u\right) x = u^{2} - v w.

Letting A=u2vwA = u^{2} - v w, B=v2wuB = v^{2} - w u, C=w2uvC = w^{2} - u v, we now have Bx=AB x = A, and analogously Cx=BC x = B and Ax=CA x = C. We see that if any of AA, BB, and CC are zero, then they all are. So we have two cases:

Case 1. A=B=C=0A = B = C = 0, that is, u2=vwu^{2} = v w, v2=wuv^{2} = w u, and w2=uvw^{2} = u v. Clearly if one of uu, vv, and ww is 00, then they all are and we are done. Otherwise, dividing the first equation by the second leads to v3=w3v^{3} = w^{3} and v=wv = w. Similarly u=v=wu = v = w. But since u+v+w=0u + v + w = 0, the only common value that uu, vv, and ww can have is 00 and we are done.

Case 2. AA, BB, and CC are all nonzero. Multiplying the three equations Bx=AB x = A, Cx=BC x = B, and Ax=CA x = C together, we derive that x3=1x^{3} = 1 so x=1x = 1. Plugging x=1x = 1 into the original equations gives
abc=bca=cab, a - b - c = b - c - a = c - a - b,
so a=b=ca = b = c as desired.

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