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Algebra Difficulty 5.6 AIME, harder Find the answer

Let x2+px+q=0x^{2}+p x+q=0 be an equation with roots x1x_{1} and x2x_{2}. Calculate the expressions x12+x22x_{1}^{2}+x_{2}^{2} and x13+x23x_{1}^{3}+x_{2}^{3} without solving the equation. What are these expressions if x1x_{1} and x2x_{2} are the roots of the equation ax2+bx+c=0a x^{2}+b x+c=0?

A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.

Solution

x12+x22=(x1+x2)22x1x2=(p)22q=p22q x_{1}^{2}+x_{2}^{2}=\left(x_{1}+x_{2}\right)^{2}-2 x_{1} x_{2}=(-p)^{2}-2 q=p^{2}-2 q

and

x13+x23=(x1+x2)33x12x23x1x22=(x1+x2)33x1x2(x1+x2)=3pqp3. x_{1}^{3}+x_{2}^{3}=\left(x_{1}+x_{2}\right)^{3}-3 x_{1}^{2} x_{2}-3 x_{1} x_{2}^{2}=\left(x_{1}+x_{2}\right)^{3}-3 x_{1} x_{2}\left(x_{1}+x_{2}\right)=3 p q-p^{3} .

If x1x_{1} and x2x_{2} are the roots of the equation ax2+bx+c=0a x^{2}+b x+c=0, then they are also the roots of the equation x2+bax+ca=0x^{2}+\frac{b}{a} x+\frac{c}{a}=0, thus

x12+x22=(ba)22ca=b22aca2 x_{1}^{2}+x_{2}^{2}=\left(\frac{b}{a}\right)^{2}-2 \frac{c}{a}=\frac{b^{2}-2 a c}{a^{2}}

and

x13+x23=3bca2b3a3=3abcb3a3. x_{1}^{3}+x_{2}^{3}=3 \frac{b c}{a^{2}}-\frac{b^{3}}{a^{3}}=\frac{3 a b c-b^{3}}{a^{3}} .

The problem was also solved by: Auer Gy., Bauer E., Bendl K., Berger J., Cukor G., Csada I., Dénes M., Ehrenfeld N., Erdős V., Fried E., Füstös P., Kelemen E., Kirchknopf E., Kiss J., Kovács Gy., Lengyel P., Paunz A., Petrik S., Rosenthal M., Sárközy P., Spilzer L., Steiner L., Szőke D., Viola R., Wáhl V., Weisz S.

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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.