2021 AMC 12A Problems/Problem 7

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Problem

What is the least possible value of $(xy-1)^2+(x+y)^2$ for real numbers $x$ and $y$?

$\textbf{(A)} ~0\qquad\textbf{(B)} ~\frac{1}{4}\qquad\textbf{(C)} ~\frac{1}{2} \qquad\textbf{(D)} ~1 \qquad\textbf{(E)} ~2$

Solution

Expanding, we get that the expression is $x^2+2xy+y^2+x^2y^2-2xy+1$ or $x^2+y^2+x^2y^2+1$. By the trivial inequality(all squares are nonnegative) the minimum value for this is $\boxed{(D) 1}$, which can be achieved at $x=y=0$. ~aop2014

See also

2021 AMC 12A (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 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
All AMC 12 Problems and Solutions

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