2021 AMC 12A Problems/Problem 22

Problem

Suppose that the roots of the polynomial $P(x)=x^3+ax^2+bx+c$ are $\cos \frac{2\pi}7,\cos \frac{4\pi}7,$ and $\cos \frac{6\pi}7$ , where angles are in radians. What is $abc$ ?

$\textbf{(A) }-\frac{3}{49} \qquad \textbf{(B) }-\frac{1}{28} \qquad \textbf{(C) }\frac{^3\sqrt7}{64} \qquad \textbf{(D) }\frac{1}{32}\qquad \textbf{(E) }\frac{1}{28}$

Solution

Part 1: solving for $\cos \frac{6\pi}7 = \cos \frac{8\pi}7$

$c$ is the negation of the product of roots by Vieta's formulas

$c = -\cos \frac{2\pi}7 \cos \frac{4\pi}7 \cos \frac{8\pi}7$

Multiply by $8 \sin{2\pi}7$

$c 8 \sin{2\pi}7 = -8 \sin{2\pi}7 \cos \frac{2\pi}7 \cos \frac{4\pi}7 \cos \frac{8\pi}7$

Then use sine addition formula backwards:

$2 \sin \frac{2\pi}7 \cos \frac{2\pi}7 = \sin \frac{4\pi}7$

$c 8 \sin{2\pi}7 = -4 \sin \frac{4\pi}7 \cos \frac{4\pi}7 \cos \frac{8\pi}7$

$c 8 \sin{2\pi}7 = -2 \sin \frac{8\pi}7 \cos \frac{8\pi}7$

$c 8 \sin{2\pi}7 = -\sin \frac{16\pi}7$

$c 8 \sin{2\pi}7 = -\sin \frac{2\pi}7$

$c = -\frac{1}8$

Part 2: in progress - solving for b

$b$ is the sum of roots two at a time by Vieta's

$b = \cos \frac{2\pi}7 \cos \frac{4\pi}7 + \cos \frac{2\pi}7 \cos \frac{6\pi}7 + \cos \frac{4\pi}7 \cos \frac{6\pi}7$

We know that $\cos \alpha \cos \beta = /frac{ \cos \left(\alpha + \beta\right) + \cos \left(\alpha - \beta\right) }2$

By plugging all the parts in we get:

$\frac{\cos \frac{6\pi}7 + \cos \frac{2\pi}7}2 + \frac{\cos \frac{4\pi}7 + \cos \frac{4\pi}7}2 + \frac{\cos \frac{6\pi}7 + \cos \frac{2\pi}7}2$

Which ends up being:

$\cos \frac{2\pi}7 + \cos \frac{4\pi}7 + \cos \frac{6\pi}7$

Which is shown in the next part to equal $-\frac{1}2$ , so $b = -\frac{1}2$

Part 3: solving for a and b as the sum of roots

$a$ is the negation of the sum of roots

$a = -\cos \frac{2\pi}7 + \cos \frac{4\pi}7 + \cos \frac{6\pi}7$

The real values of the 7th roots of unity are: $1, \cos \frac{2\pi}7, \cos \frac{4\pi}7, \cos \frac{6\pi}7, \cos \frac{8\pi}7, \cos \frac{10\pi}7, \cos \frac{12\pi}7$ and they sum to $0$ .

If we subtract 1, and condense identical terms, we get:

$2\cos \frac{2\pi}7 + 2\cos \frac{4\pi}7 + 2\cos \frac{6\pi}7 = -1$

Therefore, we have $a = -\left(-\frac{1}2\right) = \frac{1}2$

Finally multiply $abc = \frac{1}2 * - \frac{1}2 * -\frac{1}8 = \frac{1}{32}$ or D.

This is in progress - I am working on the solution for b.

~Tucker

2021 AMC 12A (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by Problem 21	Followed by Problem 23
1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25
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2021 AMC 12A Problems/Problem 22

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