Maths Olympiad Prep

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Algebra Difficulty 5.6 AIME, harder Prove it Philippines

Problem:
The quotient of the sum and difference of two integers is 33, while the product of their sum and difference is 300300. What are the integers?

Solution

Solution:
Let the two integers be aa and bb with a>ba > b.

Let S=a+bS = a + b and D=abD = a - b.

We are told:

SD=3 \frac{S}{D} = 3

and

SD=300. S \cdot D = 300.

From the first equation, S=3DS = 3D.

Substitute into the second equation:

(3D)D=3003D2=300D2=100D=10 or D=10. (3D) \cdot D = 300 \\ 3D^2 = 300 \\ D^2 = 100 \\ D = 10 \text{ or } D = -10.

If D=10D = 10, then S=3×10=30S = 3 \times 10 = 30.
If D=10D = -10, then S=3×(10)=30S = 3 \times (-10) = -30.

Recall a=S+D2a = \frac{S + D}{2}, b=SD2b = \frac{S - D}{2}.

Case 1: D=10D = 10, S=30S = 30

a=30+102=20b=30102=10 a = \frac{30 + 10}{2} = 20 \\ b = \frac{30 - 10}{2} = 10

Case 2: D=10D = -10, S=30S = -30

a=30+(10)2=402=20b=30(10)2=202=10 a = \frac{-30 + (-10)}{2} = \frac{-40}{2} = -20 \\ b = \frac{-30 - (-10)}{2} = \frac{-20}{2} = -10

Thus, the integers are 2020 and 1010, or 20-20 and 10-10.

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