Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /140 of 173

Algebra Difficulty 3.0 AMC 10/12 Find the answer

How many pairs (x,y)(x, y) of non-negative integers with 0xy0 \leq x \leq y satisfy the equation 5x24xy+2x+y2=6245x^{2}-4xy+2x+y^{2}=624?

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

Solution

Starting from the given equation, we obtain the equivalent equations 5x24xy+2x+y2=6245x^{2}-4xy+2x+y^{2}=624. Adding 1 to both sides, we have 5x24xy+2x+y2+1=6255x^{2}-4xy+2x+y^{2}+1=625. Rewriting, we get 4x24xy+y2+x2+2x+1=6254x^{2}-4xy+y^{2}+x^{2}+2x+1=625. Completing the square, we have (2xy)2+(x+1)2=625(2x-y)^{2}+(x+1)^{2}=625. Note that 625=252625=25^{2}. Since xx and yy are both integers, then the left side of the given equation is the sum of two perfect squares. Since any perfect square is non-negative, then each of these perfect squares is at most 625=252625=25^{2}. The pairs of perfect squares from this list that have a sum of 625 are 625=625+0=576+49=400+225625=625+0=576+49=400+225. Therefore, (2xy)2(2x-y)^{2} and (x+1)2(x+1)^{2} equal 25225^{2} and 020^{2} in some order, or 24224^{2} and 727^{2} in some order, or 20220^{2} and 15215^{2} in some order. Thus, 2xy2x-y and x+1x+1 equal ±25\pm 25 and 0 in some order, or ±24\pm 24 and ±7\pm 7 in some order, or ±20\pm 20 and ±15\pm 15 in some order. Since x0x \geq 0, then x+11x+1 \geq 1, so we need to consider the possibilities that x+1=25,24,7,20,15x+1=25,24,7,20,15: - If x+1=25x+1=25, then x=24x=24. If 2xy=02x-y=0 and x=24x=24, then y=48y=48. - If x+1=24x+1=24, then x=23x=23. If 2xy=72x-y=7 and x=23x=23, then y=39y=39; if 2xy=72x-y=-7 and x=23x=23, then y=53y=53. - If x+1=7x+1=7, then x=6x=6. If 2xy=242x-y=24 and x=6x=6, then y=12y=-12; if 2xy=242x-y=-24 and x=6x=6, then y=36y=36. - If x+1=20x+1=20, then x=19x=19. If 2xy=152x-y=15 and x=19x=19, then y=23y=23; if 2xy=152x-y=-15 and x=19x=19, then y=53y=53. - If x+1=15x+1=15, then x=14x=14. If 2xy=202x-y=20 and x=14x=14, then y=8y=8; if 2xy=202x-y=-20 and x=14x=14, then y=48y=48. From this list, the pairs of non-negative integers (x,y)(x, y) that satisfy the condition 0xy0 \leq x \leq y are (x,y)=(24,48),(23,39),(23,53),(6,36),(19,23),(19,53),(14,48)(x, y)=(24,48),(23,39),(23,53),(6,36),(19,23),(19,53),(14,48). There are 7 such pairs.

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.

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