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Algebra Difficulty 5.9 AIME, harder Find the answer

Determine all pairs of positive integers (x,y)(x, y) for which

x3+y3=4(x2y+xy25). x^{3}+y^{3}=4\left(x^{2} y+x y^{2}-5\right) .

A number or a short expression. Spacing and $ signs are ignored.

Solution

We can rewrite the equation as follows:

(x+y)(x2xy+y2)=4xy(x+y)20 (x+y)\left(x^{2}-x y+y^{2}\right)=4 x y(x+y)-20

Now, x+yx+y is a divisor of the left side and of the first term on the right, so it must also divide the second term on the right: x+y20x+y \mid 20. Since x+y2x+y \geq 2, this gives the possibilities for x+yx+y as 2,4,5,10,202,4,5,10,20. If exactly one of xx and yy is even and the other is odd, the left side of the equation is odd and the right side is even, which is a contradiction. Therefore, x+yx+y must be even, ruling out x+y=5x+y=5. If x+y=2x+y=2, then x=y=1x=y=1, and the left side is positive while the right side is negative, so this possibility is also ruled out.
To try the other possibilities, we rewrite the equation slightly differently:

(x+y)((x+y)23xy)=4xy(x+y)20 (x+y)\left((x+y)^{2}-3 x y\right)=4 x y(x+y)-20

If x+y=4x+y=4, we have 4(163xy)=16xy204 \cdot(16-3 x y)=16 x y-20, so 163xy=4xy516-3 x y=4 x y-5, thus 21=7xy21=7 x y, or xy=3x y=3. Therefore, (x,y)=(3,1)(x, y)=(3,1) or (x,y)=(1,3)(x, y)=(1,3). Both pairs satisfy the equation.
If x+y=10x+y=10, we get 1003xy=4xy2100-3 x y=4 x y-2, so 7xy=1027 x y=102. But 102 is not divisible by 7, so this is not possible.
If x+y=20x+y=20, we get 4003xy=4xy1400-3 x y=4 x y-1, so 7xy=4017 x y=401. But 401 is not divisible by 7, so this is not possible.
Having exhausted all possibilities, we conclude that (1,3)(1,3) and (3,1)(3,1) are the only solutions.

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Source: NuminaMath-1.5, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.