Maths Olympiad Prep

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Algebra Difficulty 5.2 AIME, harder Prove it United States

Problem:
Let aa, bb, and cc be real numbers such that a2(b+c)=1a^2(b + c) = 1, b2(c+a)=2b^2(c + a) = 2, and c2(a+b)=5c^2(a + b) = 5. Given that there are three possible values for abcabc, compute the minimum possible value of abcabc.

Solution

Solution:
Let x=abcx = abc. Multiplying all equations together and simplifying gives
(abc)2(a+b)(b+c)(c+a)=10,(abc)^2 (a + b)(b + c)(c + a) = 10,
(abc)2(a2(b+c)+b2(c+a)+c2(a+b)+2abc)=10,(abc)^2 \left(a^2(b + c) + b^2(c + a) + c^2(a + b) + 2abc\right) = 10,
x2(1+2+5+2x)=10,x^2 (1 + 2 + 5 + 2x) = 10,
x2(x+4)=5.x^2 (x + 4) = 5.
The resulting cubic factors as (x1)(x2+5x+5)=0(x - 1)(x^2 + 5x + 5) = 0. Therefore, the smallest possible value of abcabc is 552\frac{-5 - \sqrt{5}}{2}.

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