Suppose that x and y are real numbers that satisfy the two equations: x2+3xy+y2=909 and 3x2+xy+3y2=1287. What is a possible value for x+y?
A number or a short expression. Spacing and $ signs are ignored.
Solution
Since x2+3xy+y2=909 and 3x2+xy+3y2=1287, then adding these gives 4x2+4xy+4y2=2196. Dividing by 4 gives x2+xy+y2=549. Subtracting this from the first equation gives 2xy=360, so xy=180. Substituting xy=180 into the first equation gives x2+2xy+y2=729, which is (x+y)2=272. Therefore, x+y=27 or x+y=−27. This also shows that x+y cannot equal any of 39, 29, 92, and 41.
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