Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / CEMC Fermat /408 of 566

CEMC Fermat

Algebra Difficulty 2.8 Junior Find the answer

Suppose that xx and yy satisfy x−yx+y=9\frac{x-y}{x+y}=9 and xyx+y=−60\frac{xy}{x+y}=-60. What is the value of (x+y)+(x−y)+xy(x+y)+(x-y)+xy?

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

Solution

The first equation x−yx+y=9\frac{x-y}{x+y}=9 gives x−y=9x+9yx-y=9x+9y and so −8x=10y-8x=10y or −4x=5y-4x=5y. The second equation xyx+y=−60\frac{xy}{x+y}=-60 gives xy=−60x−60yxy=-60x-60y. Multiplying this equation by 5 gives 5xy=−300x−300y5xy=-300x-300y or x(5y)=−300x−60(5y)x(5y)=-300x-60(5y). Since 5y=−4x5y=-4x, then x(−4x)=−300x−60(−4x)x(-4x)=-300x-60(-4x) or −4x2=−60x-4x^{2}=-60x. Rearranging, we obtain 4x2−60x=04x^{2}-60x=0 or 4x(x−15)=04x(x-15)=0. Therefore, x=0x=0 or x=15x=15. Since y=−45xy=-\frac{4}{5}x, then y=0y=0 or y=−12y=-12. From the first equation, it cannot be the case that x=y=0x=y=0. We can check that the pair (x,y)=(15,−12)(x, y)=(15,-12) satisfies both equations. Therefore, (x+y)+(x−y)+xy=3+27+(−180)=−150(x+y)+(x-y)+xy=3+27+(-180)=-150.

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,604 problems in a working order, from Junior Challenge level to the IMO shortlist.

Source: Omni-MATH, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.