Maths Olympiad Prep

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Algebra Difficulty 5.3 AIME, harder Find the answer

Find two lines of symmetry of the graph of the function y=x+1xy=x+\frac{1}{x}. Express your answer as two equations of the form y=ax+by=a x+b.

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

Solution

The graph of the function y=x+1xy=x+\frac{1}{x} is a hyperbola. We can see this more clearly by writing it out in the standard form x2xy+1=0x^{2}-x y+1=0 or (y2)2(x12y)2=1\left(\frac{y}{2}\right)^{2}-\left(x-\frac{1}{2} y\right)^{2}=1. The hyperbola has asymptotes given by x=0x=0 and y=xy=x, so the lines of symmetry will be the (interior and exterior) angle bisectors of these two lines. This means that they will be y=tan(67.5)xy=\tan \left(67.5^{\circ}\right) x and y=cot(67.5)xy=-\cot \left(67.5^{\circ}\right) x, which, using the tangent half-angle formula tan(x2)=1+cos(x)1cos(x)\tan \left(\frac{x}{2}\right)=\sqrt{\frac{1+\cos (x)}{1-\cos (x)}}, gives the two lines y=(1+2)xy=(1+\sqrt{2}) x and y=(12)xy=(1-\sqrt{2}) x.

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