Maths Olympiad Prep

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Algebra Difficulty 4.4 AIME Prove it United States

Problem:

The equation x2+2x=ix^{2}+2x=i has two complex solutions. Determine the product of their real parts.

Solution

Solution:

Answer: 122\frac{1-\sqrt{2}}{2}. Complete the square by adding 11 to each side. Then (x+1)2=1+i=eiπ42(x+1)^{2}=1+i=e^{\frac{i \pi}{4}} \sqrt{2}, so x+1=±eiπ824x+1= \pm e^{\frac{i \pi}{8}} \sqrt[4]{2}. The desired product is then
(1+cos(π8)24)(1cos(π8)24)=1cos2(π8)2=1(1+cos(π4))22=122 \left(-1+\cos \left(\frac{\pi}{8}\right) \sqrt[4]{2}\right)\left(-1-\cos \left(\frac{\pi}{8}\right) \sqrt[4]{2}\right)=1-\cos ^{2}\left(\frac{\pi}{8}\right) \sqrt{2}=1-\frac{\left(1+\cos \left(\frac{\pi}{4}\right)\right)}{2} \sqrt{2}=\frac{1-\sqrt{2}}{2}

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