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Algebra Difficulty 6.0 AIME, harder Prove it

Three. (15 points) Given απ2+2kπ(kZ)\alpha \neq \frac{\pi}{2}+2 k \pi(k \in \mathbf{Z}). Prove:
that at least one of the following quadratic equations in xx has two distinct real roots:
x2(1cos3α)x+cosα=0,x2(1sin3α)x+sinα=0,x21+cosα1sinαx+14=0 \begin{array}{l} x^{2}-\left(1-\cos ^{3} \alpha\right) x+\cos \alpha=0, \\ x^{2}-\left(1-\sin ^{3} \alpha\right) x+\sin \alpha=0, \\ x^{2}-\sqrt{\frac{1+\cos \alpha}{1-\sin \alpha}} x+\frac{1}{4}=0 \end{array}

Solution

Three discriminants of the equations are denoted as Δ1,Δ2,Δ3\Delta_{1}, \Delta_{2}, \Delta_{3}, respectively, then
Δ1=(1cos3α)24cosα,Δ2=(1sin3α)24sinα,Δ3=(1+cosα1sinα)21. \begin{array}{l} \Delta_{1}=\left(1-\cos ^{3} \alpha\right)^{2}-4 \cos \alpha, \\ \Delta_{2}=\left(1-\sin ^{3} \alpha\right)^{2}-4 \sin \alpha, \\ \Delta_{3}=\left(\sqrt{\frac{1+\cos \alpha}{1-\sin \alpha}}\right)^{2}-1 . \end{array}

Obviously, if cosα>0\cos \alpha > 0, then Δ1>0\Delta_{1} > 0. Therefore, the equation x2(1cos3α)x+cosα=0x^{2}-\left(1-\cos ^{3} \alpha\right) x+\cos \alpha=0 has two distinct real roots.

If sinα>0\sin \alpha > 0, then Δ2>0\Delta_{2} > 0. Therefore, the equation x2x^{2}- (1sin3α)x+sinα=0\left(1-\sin ^{3} \alpha\right) x+\sin \alpha=0 has two distinct real roots.

If cosα0\cos \alpha \geqslant 0 and sinα0\sin \alpha \geqslant 0, by the given απ2+2kπ\alpha \neq \frac{\pi}{2}+2 k \pi (kZ),1sinα0(k \in \mathbf{Z}), 1-\sin \alpha \neq 0, then 1+cosα1sinα>1\sqrt{\frac{1+\cos \alpha}{1-\sin \alpha}}>1. So,
Δ3=(1+cosα1sinα)21>0 \Delta_{3}=\left(\sqrt{\frac{1+\cos \alpha}{1-\sin \alpha}}\right)^{2}-1>0 \text {, }

In this case, the equation x21+cosα1sinαx+14=0x^{2}-\sqrt{\frac{1+\cos \alpha}{1-\sin \alpha}} x+\frac{1}{4}=0 has two distinct real roots.

In summary, at least one of the three given equations has two distinct real roots.

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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.