1997 AHSME Problems/Problem 3
Problem 3
If , , and are real numbers such that
then
Solution
If the sum of three squared expressions is zero, then each expression itself must be zero, since with the equality iff .
In this case, , , and . Adding the three equations and moving the constant to the right gives , and the answer is .
See also
1997 AHSME (Problems • Answer Key • Resources) | ||
Preceded by Problem 2 |
Followed by Problem 4 | |
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