Maths Olympiad Prep

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Problem 959

AMC 12 late, AIME early
Algebra Difficulty 4.8 Find the answer HMMT February

Reduce the number 2+53+253\sqrt[3]{2+\sqrt{5}}+\sqrt[3]{2-\sqrt{5}}.

A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.

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Official solution

Observe that (2+53+253)3=(2+5)3(2+53)3(253)+(25)=43(2+53+253)(\sqrt[3]{2+\sqrt{5}}+\sqrt[3]{2-\sqrt{5}})^{3}=(2+\sqrt{5})-3(\sqrt[3]{2+\sqrt{5}})-3(\sqrt[3]{2-\sqrt{5}})+(2-\sqrt{5})=4-3(\sqrt[3]{2+\sqrt{5}}+\sqrt[3]{2-\sqrt{5}}) Hence 2+53+253\sqrt[3]{2+\sqrt{5}}+\sqrt[3]{2-\sqrt{5}} is a root of the cubic x3+3x4=(x1)(x2+x+4)x^{3}+3 x-4=(x-1)(x^{2}+x+4). The roots of x2+x+4x^{2}+x+4 are imaginary, so 2+53+253=1\sqrt[3]{2+\sqrt{5}}+\sqrt[3]{2-\sqrt{5}}=\mathbf{1}.

Source: Omni-MATH, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty, ordering) added by this project.