Friday, 3 June 2016

contest math - 2014 AIME II: Cubic Question




Real numbers r and s are roots of p(x)=x3+ax+b, and r+4 and s3 are roots of q(x)=x3+ax+b+240. Find the sum of all possible values of |b|.



I assumed that the other root of p(x) would be t. From here, I used Vieta's formulas to get rst=b and rs+st+rt=a. Then, I assumed that the third root of q(x) would be y. Then, I used vieta's formulas to get that (r+4)(s3)y=b+240 and that (r+4)(s3)+y(s3)+y(r+4)=a. I am not sure how to proceed from here.


Answer



Let r, s, and rs be the roots of p(x) (per Vieta's). Then r3+ar+b=0 and similarly for s. Also, q(r+4)=(r+4)3+a(r+4)+b+240=12r2+48r+304+4a=0.
Set up a similar equation for s:



q(s3)=(s3)3+a(s3)+b+240=9s2+27s+2133a=0.
Simplifying and adding the equations gives 3r23s2+12r+9s+147=0 and
r2s2+4r+3s+49=0(1)

Plugging the roots r, s, and rs into p(x) yields a long polynomial, and plugging the roots r+4, s3, and 1rs into q(x) yields another long polynomial. Equating the coefficients of x in both polynomials: rs+(rs)(r+s)=(r+4)(s3)+(rs1)(r+s+1), which eventually simplifies to



s=13+5r2
Substitution into (1) should give r=5 and r=1, corresponding to s=6 and s=9, and |b|=330,90, for an answer of 420.


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