Maths Olympiad Prep

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Algebra Difficulty 5.0 AIME Prove it Romania

Find the real numbers xx and yy such that
(x2x+1)(3y22y+3)2=0. (x^2 - x + 1)(3y^2 - 2y + 3) - 2 = 0.

Solution

From x2x+1=(x12)2+3434x^2 - x + 1 = (x - \frac{1}{2})^2 + \frac{3}{4} \ge \frac{3}{4}, 3y22y+3=3(y13)2+83833y^2 - 2y + 3 = 3(y - \frac{1}{3})^2 + \frac{8}{3} \ge \frac{8}{3}
we derive that (x2x+1)(3y22y+3)3483=2(x^2 - x + 1)(3y^2 - 2y + 3) \ge \frac{3}{4} \cdot \frac{8}{3} = 2, for any real numbers xx and yy. Equality holds for (3y1)2=0(3y - 1)^2 = 0 and (x12)2=0(x - \frac{1}{2})^2 = 0, that is x=12x = \frac{1}{2} and y=13y = \frac{1}{3}.

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