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Algebra Difficulty 6.9 National olympiad Prove it

Let the value of the function y=cx2y=c x^{2} at the points

x1=bdh,x2=bd,x3=b+d,x4=b+d+h x_{1}=b-d-h, \quad x_{2}=b-d, \quad x_{3}=b+d, \quad x_{4}=b+d+h

be y1,y2,y3,y4y_{1}, y_{2}, y_{3}, y_{4}, respectively. Show that (y1+y4)(y2+y3)\left(y_{1}+y_{4}\right)-\left(y_{2}+y_{3}\right) is independent of bb. What can we infer from the result when d=0d=0?

Solution

The expression under investigation can be written as

K=(y1+y4)(y2+y3)=(y4y3)(y2y1)=c(x42x32)c(x22x12)=c(x4x3)(x4+x3)c(x2x1)(x2+x1)==ch(2b+2d+h)ch(2b2dh)=ch(4d+2h)=2ch(2d+h) \begin{gathered} K=\left(y_{1}+y_{4}\right)-\left(y_{2}+y_{3}\right)=\left(y_{4}-y_{3}\right)-\left(y_{2}-y_{1}\right)=c\left(x_{4}^{2}-x_{3}^{2}\right)- \\ \quad-c\left(x_{2}^{2}-x_{1}^{2}\right)=c\left(x_{4}-x_{3}\right)\left(x_{4}+x_{3}\right)-c\left(x_{2}-x_{1}\right)\left(x_{2}+x_{1}\right)= \\ =\operatorname{ch}(2 b+2 d+h)-\operatorname{ch}(2 b-2 d-h)=\operatorname{ch}(4 d+2 h)=2 \operatorname{ch}(2 d+h) \end{gathered}

The final form indeed does not contain bb, indicating independence from bb.

!

It is visible that the points A1,A4A_{1}, A_{4} and A2,A3A_{2}, A_{3} on the XX-axis with abscissae x1x_{1} and x4x_{4}, and x2x_{2} and x3x_{3}, respectively, are symmetric pairs with respect to the abscissa bb. Accordingly, the midpoints of the chords F14F_{14} and F23F_{23} connecting the corresponding points P1P_{1} and P4P_{4}, and P2P_{2} and P3P_{3} on the graph of the function y=cx2y=c x^{2}, are also on the abscissa bb, one above the other. The

K2=y1+y42y2+y32=ch(2d+h) \frac{K}{2}=\frac{y_{1}+y_{4}}{2}-\frac{y_{2}+y_{3}}{2}=\operatorname{ch}(2 d+h)

value precisely gives the height difference, and thus the distance, between the two midpoints. The two chords are parallel because

y4y1x4x1=c(x4+x1)=2bc=y3y2x3x2 \frac{y_{4}-y_{1}}{x_{4}-x_{1}}=c\left(x_{4}+x_{1}\right)=2 b c=\frac{y_{3}-y_{2}}{x_{3}-x_{2}}

Accordingly, translating the point system A1,A2,A3,A4A_{1}, A_{2}, A_{3}, A_{4} as a rigid body along the XX-axis changes the slopes of the chords P1P4P_{1} P_{4} and P2P3P_{2} P_{3}, but the distance between their midpoints remains constant.

Another transformation yields

Kh=y4y3hy2y1h=y4y3x4x3y2y1x2x1=2c(2d+h)==2c(x3x1)=2c(x4x2) \begin{gathered} \frac{K}{h}=\frac{y_{4}-y_{3}}{h}-\frac{y_{2}-y_{1}}{h}=\frac{y_{4}-y_{3}}{x_{4}-x_{3}}-\frac{y_{2}-y_{1}}{x_{2}-x_{1}}=2 c(2 d+h)= \\ =2 c\left(x_{3}-x_{1}\right)=2 c\left(x_{4}-x_{2}\right) \end{gathered}

From this, we can read that the change in the slope of the chord P1P2P_{1} P_{2} when the rigid point pair A1,A2A_{1}, A_{2} is translated to A3,A4A_{3}, A_{4} is proportional to the translation x3x1x_{3}-x_{1}. Naturally, the same is given by

K2d+h=y4y2x4x2y3y1x3x1=2ch=2c(x2x1) \frac{K}{2 d+h}=\frac{y_{4}-y_{2}}{x_{4}-x_{2}}-\frac{y_{3}-y_{1}}{x_{3}-x_{1}}=2 c h=2 c\left(x_{2}-x_{1}\right)

for the translation of the point pair A1,A3A_{1}, A_{3} to A2,A4A_{2}, A_{4}.

For d=0d=0, we have x2=x3=b=(x1+x4)/2,y2=y3x_{2}=x_{3}=b=\left(x_{1}+x_{4}\right) / 2, y_{2}=y_{3}, and

K2=y1+y42y2=ch2 \frac{K}{2}=\frac{y_{1}+y_{4}}{2}-y_{2}=c h^{2}

Accordingly, if the midpoint of the segment A1A4A_{1} A_{4} is A2A_{2}, then the distance from the midpoint of the chord P1P4P_{1} P_{4} to P2P_{2} does not change with the translation of the rigid point system A1,A2,A4A_{1}, A_{2}, A_{4}. The distance is proportional to the square of the segment A1A2A_{1} A_{2}.

Alternatively, expressing each yy ordinate in terms of the corresponding abscissa and dividing by cc,

(K2c=)x12+x422x22=h2,x12+x422=(x1+x42)2+(x4+x12)2 \left(\frac{K}{2 c}=\right) \frac{x_{1}^{2}+x_{4}^{2}}{2}-x_{2}^{2}=h^{2}, \quad \frac{x_{1}^{2}+x_{4}^{2}}{2}=\left(\frac{x_{1}+x_{4}}{2}\right)^{2}+\left(\frac{x_{4}+x_{1}}{2}\right)^{2}

the arithmetic mean of the squares of two numbers is greater than the square of their mean by the square of half their difference.

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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.