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Algebra Difficulty 5.5 AIME, harder Find the answer

Let w,x,yw, x, y, and zz be positive real numbers such that 0coswcosxcosycosz0 \neq \cos w \cos x \cos y \cos z, 2π=w+x+y+z2 \pi =w+x+y+z, 3tanw=k(1+secw)3 \tan w =k(1+\sec w), 4tanx=k(1+secx)4 \tan x =k(1+\sec x), 5tany=k(1+secy)5 \tan y =k(1+\sec y), 6tanz=k(1+secz)6 \tan z =k(1+\sec z). Find kk.

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

Solution

From the identity tanu2=sinu1+cosu\tan \frac{u}{2}=\frac{\sin u}{1+\cos u}, the conditions work out to 3tanw2=4tanx2=5tany2=6tanz2=k3 \tan \frac{w}{2}=4 \tan \frac{x}{2}=5 \tan \frac{y}{2}=6 \tan \frac{z}{2}=k. Let a=tanw2,b=tanx2,c=tany2a=\tan \frac{w}{2}, b=\tan \frac{x}{2}, c=\tan \frac{y}{2}, and d=tanz2d=\tan \frac{z}{2}. Using the identity tan(M+N)=tanM+tanN1tanMtanN\tan (M+N)=\frac{\tan M+\tan N}{1-\tan M \tan N}, we obtain tan(w+x2+y+z2)=tan(w+x2)+tan(y+z2)1tan(w+x2)tan(y+z2)=a+b1ab+c+d1cd1(a+b1ab)(c+d1cd)=a+b+c+dabcabdbcdacd1+abcdabacadbcbdcd\tan \left(\frac{w+x}{2}+\frac{y+z}{2}\right) =\frac{\tan \left(\frac{w+x}{2}\right)+\tan \left(\frac{y+z}{2}\right)}{1-\tan \left(\frac{w+x}{2}\right) \tan \left(\frac{y+z}{2}\right)} =\frac{\frac{a+b}{1-a b}+\frac{c+d}{1-c d}}{1-\left(\frac{a+b}{1-a b}\right)\left(\frac{c+d}{1-c d}\right)} =\frac{a+b+c+d-a b c-a b d-b c d-a c d}{1+a b c d-a b-a c-a d-b c-b d-c d}. Because x+y+z+w=πx+y+z+w=\pi, we get that tan(x+y+z+w2)=0\tan \left(\frac{x+y+z+w}{2}\right)=0 and thus a+b+c+d=abc+abd+bcd+acda+b+c+d=a b c+a b d+b c d+a c d. Substituting a,b,c,da, b, c, d corresponding to the variable kk, we obtain that k319k=0k^{3}-19 k=0. Therefore, kk can be only 0,19,190, \sqrt{19},-\sqrt{19}. However, k=0k=0 is impossible as w,x,y,zw, x, y, z will all be 0. Also, k=19k=-\sqrt{19} is impossible as w,x,y,zw, x, y, z will exceed π\pi. Therefore, k=19k=\sqrt{19}.

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Source: Omni-MATH, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.