Difference between revisions of "2010 AIME II Problems/Problem 7"

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==Problem==
 
 
== Problem 7 ==
 
== Problem 7 ==
 
<!-- don't remove the following tag, for PoTW on the Wiki front page--><onlyinclude>Let <math>P(z)=z^3+az^2+bz+c</math>, where a, b, and c are real. There exists a complex number <math>w</math> such that the three roots of <math>P(z)</math> are <math>w+3i</math>, <math>w+9i</math>, and <math>2w-4</math>, where <math>i^2=-1</math>. Find <math>|a+b+c|</math>.<!-- don't remove the following tag, for PoTW on the Wiki front page--></onlyinclude>
 
<!-- don't remove the following tag, for PoTW on the Wiki front page--><onlyinclude>Let <math>P(z)=z^3+az^2+bz+c</math>, where a, b, and c are real. There exists a complex number <math>w</math> such that the three roots of <math>P(z)</math> are <math>w+3i</math>, <math>w+9i</math>, and <math>2w-4</math>, where <math>i^2=-1</math>. Find <math>|a+b+c|</math>.<!-- don't remove the following tag, for PoTW on the Wiki front page--></onlyinclude>

Revision as of 17:03, 9 August 2018

Problem 7

Let $P(z)=z^3+az^2+bz+c$, where a, b, and c are real. There exists a complex number $w$ such that the three roots of $P(z)$ are $w+3i$, $w+9i$, and $2w-4$, where $i^2=-1$. Find $|a+b+c|$.

Solution

Set $w=x+yi$, so $x_1 = x+(y+3)i$, $x_2 = x+(y+9)i$, $x_3 = 2x-4+2yi$.

Since $a,b,c\in{R}$, the imaginary part of $a,b,c$ must be $0$.

Start with a, since it's the easiest one to do: $y+3+y+9+2y=0, y=-3$,

and therefore: $x_1 = x$, $x_2 = x+6i$, $x_3 = 2x-4-6i$.

Now, do the part where the imaginary part of c is 0 since it's the second easiest one to do: $x(x+6i)(2x-4-6i)$. The imaginary part is $6x^2-24x$, which is 0, and therefore $x=4$, since $x=0$ doesn't work.

So now, $x_1 = 4, x_2 = 4+6i, x_3 = 4-6i$,

and therefore: $a=-12, b=84, c=-208$. Finally, we have $|a+b+c|=|-12+84-208|=\boxed{136}$.

See also

2010 AIME II (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 6
Followed by
Problem 8
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
All AIME Problems and Solutions

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