2007 iTest Problems/Problem 39
Revision as of 20:27, 4 August 2018 by Rockmanex3 (talk | contribs) (Solution to Problem 39 (credit to grav123 and djmathman))
Problem
Let a and b be relatively prime positive integers such that a/b is the sum of the real solutions to the equation . Find
.
Solution
Let and
With these substitutions, we know that
We can factor the equation with the cubics and do some substitution.
Bringing all the terms into one side results in
By the Zero Product Property, either
or
If then
Cubing both sides yields
so
If then
Dividing both sides by three and cubing both sides yields
Multiplying the binomials results in
and rearranging and factoring leads to
. That means
Since both values of satisfy the original equation,
so
See Also
2007 iTest (Problems, Answer Key) | ||
Preceded by: Problem 38 |
Followed by: Problem 40 | |
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