Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / Philippine Mathematical Olympiad /71 of 114

Philippine Mathematical Olympiad

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=a−bD = a - b.

We are told:

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

and

S⋅D=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=S−D2b = \frac{S - D}{2}.

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

a=30+102=20b=30−102=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.

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,604 problems in a working order, from Junior Challenge level to the IMO shortlist.

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