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Algebra Difficulty 3.2 AMC 10/12 Find the answer

Suppose that a,ba, b and cc are integers with (xa)(x6)+3=(x+b)(x+c)(x-a)(x-6)+3=(x+b)(x+c) for all real numbers xx. What is the sum of all possible values of bb?

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

Solution

We are told that (xa)(x6)+3=(x+b)(x+c)(x-a)(x-6)+3=(x+b)(x+c) for all real numbers xx. In particular, this equation holds when x=6x=6. Substituting x=6x=6 gives (6a)(66)+3=(6+b)(6+c)(6-a)(6-6)+3=(6+b)(6+c) or 3=(6+b)(6+c)3=(6+b)(6+c). Since bb and cc are integers, then 6+b6+b and 6+c6+c are integers, which means that 6+b6+b is a divisor of 3. Therefore, the possible values of 6+b6+b are 3,1,1,33,1,-1,-3. These yield values for bb of 3,5,7,9-3,-5,-7,-9. We need to confirm that each of these values for bb gives integer values for aa and cc. If b=3b=-3, then 6+b=36+b=3. The equation 3=(6+b)(6+c)3=(6+b)(6+c) tells us that 6+c=16+c=1 and so c=5c=-5. When b=3b=-3 and c=5c=-5, the original equation becomes (xa)(x6)+3=(x3)(x5)(x-a)(x-6)+3=(x-3)(x-5). Expanding the right side gives (xa)(x6)+3=x28x+15(x-a)(x-6)+3=x^{2}-8x+15 and so (xa)(x6)=x28x+12(x-a)(x-6)=x^{2}-8x+12. The quadratic x28x+12x^{2}-8x+12 factors as (x2)(x6)(x-2)(x-6) and so a=2a=2 and this equation is an identity that is true for all real numbers xx. Similarly, if b=5b=-5, then c=3c=-3 and a=2a=2. (This is because bb and cc are interchangeable in the original equation.) Also, if b=7b=-7, then c=9c=-9 and we can check that a=10a=10. Similarly, if b=9b=-9, then c=7c=-7 and a=10a=10. Therefore, the possible values of bb are b=3,5,7,9b=-3,-5,-7,-9. The sum of these values is (3)+(5)+(7)+(9)=24(-3)+(-5)+(-7)+(-9)=-24.

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