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Algebra Difficulty 3.2 AMC 10/12 Find the answer

The parabola y=ax2+bx+cy=ax^2+bx+c has vertex (p,p)(p,p) and yy-intercept (0,p)(0,-p), where p0p\ne 0. What is bb?

Pick one

Solution

Substituting (0,p)(0,-p), we find that y=p=a(0)2+b(0)+c=cy = -p = a(0)^2 + b(0) + c = c, so our parabola is y=ax2+bxpy = ax^2 + bx - p.
The x-coordinate of the vertex of a parabola is given by x=p=b2aa=b2px = p = \frac{-b}{2a} \Longleftrightarrow a = \frac{-b}{2p}. Additionally, substituting (p,p)(p,p), we find that y=p=a(p)2+b(p)pap2+(b2)p=(b2p)p2+(b2)p=p(b22)=0y = p = a(p)^2 + b(p) - p \Longleftrightarrow ap^2 + (b-2)p = \left(\frac{-b}{2p}\right)p^2 + (b-2)p = p\left(\frac b2-2\right) = 0. Since it is given that p0p \neq 0, then b2=2b=4 (D)\frac{b}{2} = 2 \Longrightarrow b = 4\ \mathrm{(D)}.

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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.