Maths Olympiad Prep

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Algebra Difficulty 5.1 AIME, harder Find the answer Italy

Problem:

How many real solutions does the system
{x2y=150x3y2=4500 \left\{\begin{array}{l} x^{2} y=150 \\ x^{3} y^{2}=4500 \end{array} \right.
have?

Pick one

Solution

Solution:

From the first equation x2y=150x^{2} y = 150 we obtain y=150x2y = \dfrac{150}{x^{2}} (with x0x \neq 0).

We substitute into the second equation:
x3y2=4500 x^{3} y^{2} = 4500
Substituting yy:
x3(150x2)2=4500 x^{3} \left( \dfrac{150}{x^{2}} \right)^{2} = 4500
x322500x4=4500 x^{3} \cdot \dfrac{22500}{x^{4}} = 4500
22500x3x4=4500 \dfrac{22500 x^{3}}{x^{4}} = 4500
22500x=4500 \dfrac{22500}{x} = 4500
x=225004500=5 x = \dfrac{22500}{4500} = 5

Now we compute yy:
y=150x2=15025=6 y = \dfrac{150}{x^{2}} = \dfrac{150}{25} = 6

Let us check whether there are other solutions:

We assumed x0x \neq 0. Let us also consider x<0x < 0:
x=5 x = -5
y=150(5)2=15025=6 y = \dfrac{150}{(-5)^{2}} = \dfrac{150}{25} = 6

Let us check whether the pair (x,y)=(5,6)(x, y) = (-5, 6) satisfies the second equation:
x3y2=(5)362=(125)36=4500 x^{3} y^{2} = (-5)^{3} \cdot 6^{2} = (-125) \cdot 36 = -4500
This is not equal to 45004500, so it is not a solution.

Let us consider y<0y < 0:
From the first equation x2y=150x^{2} y = 150, if y<0y < 0 then x2<0x^{2} < 0, which is impossible.

Therefore the only real solution is (x,y)=(5,6)(x, y) = (5, 6).

Correct answer: (B) one.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement translated into English from it; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.