2000 AIME II Problems/Problem 13

Revision as of 11:37, 27 November 2007 by Jam (talk | contribs) (Solution)

Problem

The equation $2000x^6+100x^5+10x^3+x-2=0$ has exactly two real roots, one of which is $\frac{m+\sqrt{n}}r$, where $m$, $n$ and $r$ are integers, $m$ and $r$ are relatively prime, and $r>0$. Find $m+n+r$.

Solution

We may factor the equation as:

$\begin{align*} 2000x^6+100x^5+10x^3+x-2&=0\\ 2(1000x^6-1) + x(100x^4+10x^2+1)&=0\\ 2[(10x^2)^3-1]+x[(10x^2)^2+(10x^2)+1]&=0\\ 2(10x^2-1)[(10x^2)^2+(10x^2)+1]+x[(10x^2)^2+(10x^2)+1]&=0\\ (20x^2+x-2)(100x^4+10x^2+1)&=0\\ \end{align*}$ (Error compiling LaTeX. Unknown error_msg)

Now $100x^4+10x^2+1\ge 1>0$ for real $x$. Thus the real roots must be the roots of the equation $20x^2+x-2=0$. By the quadratic formula the roots of this are: $x=\frac{-1\pm\sqrt{1^2-4(-2)(20)}}{40} = \frac{-1\pm\sqrt{1+160}}{40} = \frac{-1\pm\sqrt{161}}{40}$

Thus $r=\frac{-1+\sqrt{161}}{40}$, and so the final answer is $-1+161+40 = \boxed{200}$

See also

2000 AIME II (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 12
Followed by
Problem 14
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
All AIME Problems and Solutions