2021 AIME I Problems/Problem 15

Problem

Let $S$ be the set of positive integers $k$ such that the two parabolas $y=x^2-k~~\text{and}~~x=2(y-20)^2-k$ intersect in four distinct points, and these four points lie on a circle with radius at most $21$ . Find the sum of the least element of $S$ and the greatest element of $S$ .

Solution 1

Make the translation $y \rightarrow y+20$ to obtain $20+y=x^2-k , x=2y^2-k$ . Multiply the first equation by 2 and sum, we see that $2(x^2+y^2)=3k+40+2y+x$ . Completing the square gives us $(y- \frac{1}{2})^2+(x - \frac{1}{4})^2 = \frac{325+24k}{16}$ ; this explains why the two parabolas intersect at four points that lie on a circle*. For the upper bound, observe that $LHS \leq 21^2=441 \rightarrow 24k \leq 6731$ , so $k \leq 280$ .

For the lower bound, we need to ensure there are 4 intersections to begin with. (Here I'm using the un-translated coordinates.) Draw up a graph, and realize that two intersections are guaranteed, on the so called "right branch" of $y=x^2-k$ . As we increase the value of k, two more intersections appear on the "left branch."

$k=4$ does not work because the "leftmost" point of $x=2(y-20)^2-4$ is $(-4,20)$ which lies to the right of $(-\sqrt{24}, 20)$ , which is on the graph $y=x^2-4$ . While technically speaking this doesn't prove that there are no intersections (why?), drawing the graph should convince you that this is the case. Clearly, no k less than 4 works either.

$k=5$ does work because the two graphs intersect at $(-5,20)$ , and by drawing the graph, you realize this is not a tangent point and there is in fact another intersection nearby, due to slope. Therefore, the answer is $5+280=285$ .

In general, (Assuming four intersections exist) when two conics intersect, if one conic can be written as $ax^2+by^2=f(x,y)$ and the other as $cx^2+dy^2=g(x,y)$ for f,g polynomials of degree at most 1, whenever $(a,b),(c,d)$ are linearly independent, we can combine the two equations and then complete the square to achieve $(x-p)^2+(y-q)^2=r^2$ . We can also combine these two equations to form a parabola, or a hyperbola, or an ellipse. When $(a,b),(c,d)$ are not L.I., the intersection points instead lie on a line, which is a circle of radius infinity. When the two conics only have 3,2 or 1 intersection points, the statement that all these points lie on a circle is trivially true.

-Ross Gao

2021 AIME I (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
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2021 AIME I Problems/Problem 15

Problem

Solution 1

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