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Algebra Difficulty 5.0 AIME, harder Find the answer

Find all real numbers xx satisfying x9+98x6+2764x3x+219512=0x^{9}+\frac{9}{8} x^{6}+\frac{27}{64} x^{3}-x+\frac{219}{512}=0

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

Solution

Note that we can re-write the given equation as x383=x3+38\sqrt[3]{x-\frac{3}{8}}=x^{3}+\frac{3}{8} Furthermore, the functions of xx on either side, we see, are inverses of each other and increasing. Let f(x)=x383f(x)=\sqrt[3]{x-\frac{3}{8}}. Suppose that f(x)=y=f1(x)f(x)=y=f^{-1}(x). Then, f(y)=xf(y)=x. However, if x<yx<y, we have f(x)>f(y)f(x)>f(y), contradicting the fact that ff is increasing, and similarly, if y<xy<x, we have f(x)<f(y)f(x)<f(y), again a contradiction. Therefore, if f(x)=f1(x)f(x)=f^{-1}(x) and both are increasing functions in xx, we require f(x)=xf(x)=x. This gives the cubic x3x+38=0(x12)(x2+12x34)=0x^{3}-x+\frac{3}{8}=0 \rightarrow\left(x-\frac{1}{2}\right)\left(x^{2}+\frac{1}{2} x-\frac{3}{4}\right)=0 giving x=12,1±134x=\frac{1}{2}, \frac{-1 \pm \sqrt{13}}{4}.

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