Maths Olympiad Prep

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Algebra Difficulty 5.0 AIME, harder Prove it United States

Problem:
Compute the unique real number x<3x<3 such that
(3x)(4x)+(4x)(6x)+(6x)(3x)=x \sqrt{(3-x)(4-x)}+\sqrt{(4-x)(6-x)}+\sqrt{(6-x)(3-x)}=x

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

Solution:
Answer: 238=2.875\frac{23}{8}=2.875

Let a=3xa=\sqrt{3-x}, b=4xb=\sqrt{4-x}, c=6xc=\sqrt{6-x}, so x=ab+bc+cax=ab+bc+ca.

Then
(a+b)(a+c)=a2+ab+bc+ca=(3x)+x=3(a+b)(a+c)=a^2+ab+bc+ca=(3-x)+x=3
Likewise,
(b+a)(b+c)=4(b+a)(b+c)=4
(c+a)(c+b)=6(c+a)(c+b)=6
By multiplying these equations and taking the square root, we get that
(a+b)(b+c)(c+a)=72=62(a+b)(b+c)(c+a)=\sqrt{72}=6\sqrt{2}
so
b+c=22,c+a=322,a+b=2 b+c=2\sqrt{2}, \quad c+a=\frac{3\sqrt{2}}{2}, \quad a+b=\sqrt{2}
and hence
2a=322+222a=24. 2a=\frac{3\sqrt{2}}{2}+\sqrt{2}-2\sqrt{2} \Longrightarrow a=\frac{\sqrt{2}}{4}.
Since a=3xa=\sqrt{3-x}, it follows that x=238x=\frac{23}{8}.

Solution 2

Solution:
The given equation implies
(3x+4x+6x)2=(3x)+(4x)+(6x)+2((3x)(4x)+(4x)(6x)+(6x)(3x))=133x+2x=13x(\sqrt{3-x}+\sqrt{4-x}+\sqrt{6-x})^{2} = (3-x)+(4-x)+(6-x) + 2(\sqrt{(3-x)(4-x)}+\sqrt{(4-x)(6-x)}+\sqrt{(6-x)(3-x)}) = 13-3x+2x=13-x
As 3x+4x+6x\sqrt{3-x}+\sqrt{4-x}+\sqrt{6-x} is nonnegative,
3x+4x+6x=13x \sqrt{3-x}+\sqrt{4-x}+\sqrt{6-x}=\sqrt{13-x}
We repeatedly rearrange, square both sides, and simplify:
3x+4x=13x6x72x+2(3x)(4x)=192x2(13x)(6x)(3x)(4x)=6(13x)(6x)(3x)(4x)=3612(13x)(6x)+(13x)(6x)2x17=2(13x)(6x)4x268x+289=4(13x)(6x)8x=23x=238. \begin{aligned} \sqrt{3-x}+\sqrt{4-x} &= \sqrt{13-x}-\sqrt{6-x} \\ 7-2x+2\sqrt{(3-x)(4-x)} &= 19-2x-2\sqrt{(13-x)(6-x)} \\ \sqrt{(3-x)(4-x)} &= 6-\sqrt{(13-x)(6-x)} \\ (3-x)(4-x) &= 36-12\sqrt{(13-x)(6-x)}+(13-x)(6-x) \\ 2x-17 &= 2\sqrt{(13-x)(6-x)} \\ 4x^{2}-68x+289 &= 4(13-x)(6-x) \\ 8x &= 23 \Longrightarrow x=\frac{23}{8}. \end{aligned}

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