Difference between revisions of "1951 AHSME Problems/Problem 20"

m (Created page with "== Problem == When simplified and expressed with negative exponents, the expression <math> (x \plus{} y)^{ \minus{} 1}(x^{ \minus{} 1} \plus{} y^{ \minus{} 1})</math> is equal to...")
 
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== Solution ==  
 
== Solution ==  
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Note that <math>(x + y)^{-1}(x^{-1} + y^{-1}) = \dfrac{1}{x + y}\cdot\left(\dfrac{1}{x} + \dfrac{1}{y}\right) = \dfrac{1}{x + y}\cdot\dfrac{x + y}{xy} = \dfrac{1}{xy} = x^{-1}y^{-1}</math>. The answer is <math>\textbf{(C)}</math>.
  
 
== See Also ==
 
== See Also ==

Revision as of 23:55, 24 April 2013

Problem

When simplified and expressed with negative exponents, the expression $(x \plus{} y)^{ \minus{} 1}(x^{ \minus{} 1} \plus{} y^{ \minus{} 1})$ (Error compiling LaTeX. Unknown error_msg) is equal to:

$\textbf{(A)}\ x^{ \minus{} 2} \plus{} 2x^{ \minus{} 1}y^{ \minus{} 1} \plus{} y^{ \minus{} 2} \qquad\textbf{(B)}\ x^{ \minus{} 2} \plus{} 2^{ \minus{} 1}x^{ \minus{} 1}y^{ \minus{} 1} \plus{} y^{ \minus{} 2} \qquad\textbf{(C)}\ x^{ \minus{} 1}y^{ \minus{} 1}$ (Error compiling LaTeX. Unknown error_msg) $\textbf{(D)}\ x^{ \minus{} 2} \plus{} y^{ \minus{} 2} \qquad\textbf{(E)}\ \frac {1}{x^{ \minus{} 1}y^{ \minus{} 1}}$ (Error compiling LaTeX. Unknown error_msg)

Solution

Note that $(x + y)^{-1}(x^{-1} + y^{-1}) = \dfrac{1}{x + y}\cdot\left(\dfrac{1}{x} + \dfrac{1}{y}\right) = \dfrac{1}{x + y}\cdot\dfrac{x + y}{xy} = \dfrac{1}{xy} = x^{-1}y^{-1}$. The answer is $\textbf{(C)}$.

See Also

1951 AHSC (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 19
Followed by
Problem 21
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All AHSME Problems and Solutions