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Algebra Difficulty 6.3 National olympiad Find the answer

Let a,b,ca, b, c be positive real numbers such that: abc=3ab - c = 3 abc=18abc = 18 Calculate the numerical value of abc\frac{ab}{c}

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

Solution

1. We start with the given equations:
abc=3 ab - c = 3
abc=18 abc = 18

2. From the first equation, we can express ab ab in terms of c c :
ab=3+c ab = 3 + c

3. Substitute ab=3+c ab = 3 + c into the second equation:
abc=18 abc = 18
c(3+c)=18 c(3 + c) = 18

4. Simplify the equation:
3c+c2=18 3c + c^2 = 18

5. Rearrange the equation to form a standard quadratic equation:
c2+3c18=0 c^2 + 3c - 18 = 0

6. Solve the quadratic equation using the quadratic formula c=b±b24ac2a c = \frac{-b \pm \sqrt{b^2 - 4ac}}{2a} , where a=1 a = 1 , b=3 b = 3 , and c=18 c = -18 :
c=3±3241(18)21 c = \frac{-3 \pm \sqrt{3^2 - 4 \cdot 1 \cdot (-18)}}{2 \cdot 1}
c=3±9+722 c = \frac{-3 \pm \sqrt{9 + 72}}{2}
c=3±812 c = \frac{-3 \pm \sqrt{81}}{2}
c=3±92 c = \frac{-3 \pm 9}{2}

7. This gives us two potential solutions for c c :
c=62=3 c = \frac{6}{2} = 3
c=122=6 c = \frac{-12}{2} = -6

8. Since c c must be a positive real number, we discard c=6 c = -6 and keep c=3 c = 3 .

9. Substitute c=3 c = 3 back into the expression for ab ab :
ab=3+c=3+3=6 ab = 3 + c = 3 + 3 = 6

10. Finally, calculate abc \frac{ab}{c} :
abc=63=2 \frac{ab}{c} = \frac{6}{3} = 2

The final answer is 2 \boxed{2} .

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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.