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Algebra Difficulty 5.6 AIME, harder Find the answer

Compute the unique ordered pair (x,y)(x, y) of real numbers satisfying the system of equations xx2+y21x=7 and yx2+y2+1y=4\frac{x}{\sqrt{x^{2}+y^{2}}}-\frac{1}{x}=7 \text { and } \frac{y}{\sqrt{x^{2}+y^{2}}}+\frac{1}{y}=4

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

Solution

Solution 1: Consider vectors (x/x2+y2y/x2+y2) and (1/x1/y)\binom{x / \sqrt{x^{2}+y^{2}}}{y / \sqrt{x^{2}+y^{2}}} \text { and }\binom{-1 / x}{1 / y} They are orthogonal and add up to (74)\binom{7}{4}, which have length 72+42=65\sqrt{7^{2}+4^{2}}=\sqrt{65}. The first vector has length 1, so by Pythagorean's theorem, the second vector has length 651=8\sqrt{65-1}=8, so we have 1x2+1y2=64x2+y2=±8xy\frac{1}{x^{2}}+\frac{1}{y^{2}}=64 \Longrightarrow \sqrt{x^{2}+y^{2}}= \pm 8 x y However, the first equation indicates that x<0x<0, while the second equation indicates that y>0y>0, so xy<0x y<0. Thus, x2+y2=8xy\sqrt{x^{2}+y^{2}}=-8 x y. Plugging this into both of the starting equations give 18y1x=7 and 18x+1y=4-\frac{1}{8 y}-\frac{1}{x}=7 \text { and }-\frac{1}{8 x}+\frac{1}{y}=4 Solving this gives (x,y)=(1396,1340)(x, y)=\left(-\frac{13}{96}, \frac{13}{40}\right), which works. Solution 2: Let x=rcosθx=r \cos \theta and y=rsinθy=r \sin \theta. Then our equations read cosθ1rcosθ=7sinθ+1rsinθ=4\begin{aligned} & \cos \theta-\frac{1}{r \cos \theta}=7 \\ & \sin \theta+\frac{1}{r \sin \theta}=4 \end{aligned} Multiplying the first equation by cosθ\cos \theta and the second by sinθ\sin \theta, and then adding the two gives 7cosθ+7 \cos \theta+ 4sinθ=14 \sin \theta=1. This means 4sinθ=17cosθ16sin2θ=114cosθ+49cos2θ65cos2θ14cosθ15=04 \sin \theta=1-7 \cos \theta \Longrightarrow 16 \sin ^{2} \theta=1-14 \cos \theta+49 \cos ^{2} \theta \Longrightarrow 65 \cos ^{2} \theta-14 \cos \theta-15=0 This factors as (13cosθ+5)(5cosθ3)=0(13 \cos \theta+5)(5 \cos \theta-3)=0, so cosθ\cos \theta is either 35\frac{3}{5} or 513-\frac{5}{13}. This means either cosθ=35\cos \theta=\frac{3}{5} and sinθ=45\sin \theta=-\frac{4}{5}, or cosθ=513\cos \theta=-\frac{5}{13} and sinθ=1213\sin \theta=\frac{12}{13}. The first case, plugging back in, makes rr a negative number, a contradiction, so we take the second case. Then x=1cosθ7=1396x=\frac{1}{\cos \theta-7}=-\frac{13}{96} and y=14sinθ=1340y=\frac{1}{4-\sin \theta}=\frac{13}{40}. The answer is (x,y)=(1396,1340)(x, y)=\left(-\frac{13}{96}, \frac{13}{40}\right).

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