Maths Olympiad Prep

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Algebra Difficulty 5.5 AIME, harder Prove it Ireland

Suppose xx is a real number and sin3y=sinx\sin 3y = -\sin x. Determine all possible values of siny\sin y.

Solution

Solution 1. Note that
sin3θ=sinθcos2θ+cosθsin2θ=sinθ(12sin2θ)+cosθ(2sinθcosθ)=3sinθ4sin3θ. \sin 3\theta = \sin \theta \cos 2\theta + \cos \theta \sin 2\theta = \sin \theta(1 - 2\sin^2 \theta) + \cos \theta (2\sin \theta \cos \theta) = 3 \sin \theta - 4 \sin^3 \theta.
So
3siny4sin3y=sinx=(3sinz4sin3z),z=x/3. 3 \sin y - 4 \sin^3 y = - \sin x = -(3 \sin z - 4 \sin^3 z), \quad z = x/3.
Or with t=2sinyt = 2 \sin y, s=2sinzs = 2 \sin z,
3tt3=3s+s3,(t+s)(t2ts+s23)=0. 3t - t^3 = -3s + s^3, \quad (t+s)(t^2 - ts + s^2 - 3) = 0.
Thus, either t=st = -s or
t=s±s24(s23)2=s±34s22=sinz±3cosz, t = \frac{s \pm \sqrt{s^2 - 4(s^2 - 3)}}{2} = \frac{s \pm \sqrt{3\sqrt{4-s^2}}}{2} = \sin z \pm \sqrt{3} |\cos z|,
Since
sinz±3cosz1+3(sin2z+cos2z)=2, |\sin z \pm \sqrt{3} |\cos z|| \le \sqrt{1+3(\sin^2 z + \cos^2 z)} = 2,
this means that there are three possible values for siny\sin y, namely
sin(x3),12(sin(x3)±3cos(x3)). -\sin\left(\frac{x}{3}\right), \quad \frac{1}{2}\left(\sin\left(\frac{x}{3}\right) \pm \sqrt{3}\cos\left(\frac{x}{3}\right)\right).

Solution 2. To solve the equation sin(3y)+sinx=0\sin(3y) + \sin x = 0, we use the trigonometric identity that converts a sum of sines to a product to get
2sin(3y+x2)cos(3yx2)=0. 2 \sin \left( \frac{3y+x}{2} \right) \cos \left( \frac{3y-x}{2} \right) = 0.
Therefore, sin((3y+x)/2)=0\sin((3y + x)/2) = 0 or cos((3yx)/2)=0\cos((3y - x)/2) = 0, so
3y+x2=nπor3yx2=(n+12)πfor some nZ. \frac{3y+x}{2} = n\pi \quad \text{or} \quad \frac{3y-x}{2} = \left(n+\frac{1}{2}\right)\pi \quad \text{for some } n \in \mathbb{Z}.
Hence y=13(2nπx)y = \frac{1}{3}(2n\pi - x) or y=13((2n+1)π+x)y = \frac{1}{3}((2n + 1)\pi + x), for some nZn \in \mathbb{Z}. So siny=sin(13(2nπx))\sin y = \sin(\frac{1}{3}(2n\pi - x)) or siny=sin(13((2n+1)π+x))\sin y = \sin(\frac{1}{3}((2n+1)\pi+x)), for some n=0,1,2n = 0, 1, 2. Here we have used the periodicity of sine to restrict the values of nn. Using the identity sin(πα)=sinα\sin(\pi - \alpha) = \sin \alpha, the latter three solutions can be written as siny=sin(π13((2n+1)πx))=sin(13((22n)πx))\sin y = \sin(\pi - \frac{1}{3}((2n+1)\pi - x)) = \sin(\frac{1}{3}((2 - 2n)\pi - x)), for n=0,1,2n = 0, 1, 2. These give the same as the first three solutions. So the three solutions are siny=sin(13(2nπx))\sin y = \sin(\frac{1}{3}(2n\pi - x)), for n=0,1,2n = 0, 1, 2, and this is the same as above.

sin(x3),12(sin(x3)±3cos(x3)). -\sin\left(\frac{x}{3}\right), \quad \frac{1}{2}\left(\sin\left(\frac{x}{3}\right) \pm \sqrt{3}\cos\left(\frac{x}{3}\right)\right).

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