Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /38 of 348

Algebra Difficulty 4.6 AIME Find the answer

If x,y,zx, y, z are real numbers such that xy=6,xz=2xy=6, x-z=2, and x+y+z=9x+y+z=9, compute xyzxz2xy\frac{x}{y}-\frac{z}{x}-\frac{z^{2}}{xy}.

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

Solution

Let k=xyzxz2xy=x2yzz2xyk=\frac{x}{y}-\frac{z}{x}-\frac{z^{2}}{xy}=\frac{x^{2}-yz-z^{2}}{xy}. We have k+1=x2+xyyzz2xy=x2xz+xyyz+zxz2xy=(x+y+z)(xz)xy=926=3k+1=\frac{x^{2}+xy-yz-z^{2}}{xy}=\frac{x^{2}-xz+xy-yz+zx-z^{2}}{xy}=\frac{(x+y+z)(x-z)}{xy}=\frac{9 \cdot 2}{6}=3 so k=2k=2.

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.