Algebraic in the AMC and AIME

Problem 1
If x and y are real numbers such that

x + xy + y = 2 + 3 2 and x² + y² = 6 then find x + y + 1

Problem 2
Find all ordered triples of integers (x, y, z) for which

xy + yz + xz = x + y + z + xyz
Problem 3
If x, y, z are positive real numbers such that
⎛ 1⎞ ⎛ 1⎞ ⎛ 1⎞ 7
⎜⎜ x + ⎟⎟ = 4 and ⎜ y + ⎟ = 1 and ⎜ z + ⎟ = then find xyz
⎝ y⎠ ⎝ z⎠ ⎝ x⎠ 3

Problem 4
If x² + xy + y² = 7 and x + y = 4 then find xy

Problem 5
If (y + 4) = (x – 2)² and (x + 4) = (y – 2)² and x ≠ y then find (x² + y²)

Problem 6
If r and s are the roots of the equation x² – 3x + 5 = 0 and the
equation x² + bx + c = 0 has roots r² and s² then find b and c

Problem 7
If a, b, c, d, e are distinct integers such that

(6 – a)(6 – b)(6 – c)(6 – d)(6 – e) = 45 then find (a + b + c + d + e)

Problem 8
Find all real ordered (x, y) pairs such that x(x + y) = 9 and y(x + y) = 16

Problem 9
( π , a) and ( π , b) are two points on the curve y2 + x4 = 2x2y + 1. Find |a – b|
Algebraic Symmetry Answers

Problem 1 3+√2
Problem 2 (x, y, z) = (0, 0, 0)
(0, 2, 2)
(2, 0, 2)
(2, 2, 0)
Problem 3 xyz = 1
Problem 4 √(xy) = 3
Problem 5 x² + y² = 15
Problem 6 b=1, c=25
Problem 7 a+b+c+d+e = 25
Problem 8 (x, y) = (9/5, 16/5)
(-9/5, -16/5)
Problem 9 |a-b| = 2
 Algebraic Symmetry Solutions

Tips on Using Algebraic Symmetry

Algebraic expressions in math and science often exhibit symmetry with respect to the exchange
of pairs of variables, so it’s helpful to know a few basic tips to work efficiently with symmetric
expressions and equations.

Basic Tip 1
If expressions in a set of equations exhibit symmetry, then try to preserve the symmetry
by performing algebra operations such as
1) Add all equations together
2) Subtract pairs of equations
3) Multiply all equations together
4) Square both sides of an equation

Basic Tip 2
If expressions in a set of equations are close to exhibiting a useful symmetry, then try to
manipulate the equations to achieve the full symmetry by either
1) Add all equations together
2) Multiply all equations together

Example 1
Find all ordered triples of real numbers (x, y, z) which satisfy the equations
(x + y)(x + y + z) = 120
(y + z)(x + y + z) = 96
(x + z)(x + y + z) = 72
Solution
Note that the equations are almost symmetric with respect to the exchange of any pair of
variables. Adding or multiplying all equations together will yield a fully symmetric
equation. Adding produces the simpler equation, so let’s try that first:

{(x + y) + (y + z) + (x + z)}•(x + y + z) = 120 + 96 + 72 = 288

2•(x + y + z)(x + y + z) = 288
(x + y + z)² = 144
(x + y + z) = ±12
and we quickly deduce that the sum of the variables must be either +12 or –12, so we can
analyze the original equation set in the two cases:
+12: (x + y) = 10 ~ OR~ –12: (x + y) = –10
( y + z) = 8 (y + z) = –8
( x + z) = 6 (x + z) = –6
↓ ↓
(x, y, z) = (4, 6, 2) (x, y, z) = (–4, –6, –2)
 Basic Tip 3
Symmetric expressions are often factorable. Try to guess the form of possible factor
groups in ways that are consistent with the symmetry of the original expression.

Example 2
Factor terms to help solve the integer equation

8 + xy + yz + xz = xyz + x + y + z x, y, z ∈ Integers

Solution
Move all variable terms to one side

8 = xyz – (xy + yz + xz) + x + y + z

and try to imagine what set of symmetric factors can produce the right hand terms. After
some trial and error you may guess that the group

(x + ?)(y + ?)(z + ?)

might work and has the correct symmetry provided we place the same constant in place
of all the question marks. After a few trials you’ll find that “–1” is the correct
substitution for “?” but produces an extra “–1” that we need to add to both sides,

8 – 1 = 7 = (x – 1)(y – 1)(z – 1)

We can expand 7 into all possible products of three integers to find twelve ordered
solutions in (x, y, z).

(7)(1)(1) = (–7)(–1)(1) = (–7)(1)(–1) = (7)(–1)(–1)

(1)(7)(1) = (–1)(–7)(1) = (–1)(7)(–1) = (1)(–7)(–1)
(1)(1)(7) = (–1)(–1)(7) = (–1)(1)(–7) = (1)(–1)(–7)

Note the 7 in (7)(1)(1) can be distributed three ways, but we also have to consider all
ways that two negative signs can be distributed among the factors.
Example 3
Factor terms to help describe the solution set in real numbers for the equation

1 1 1 1
+ + = x, y, z ∈ Real
x y z x+ y+ z

Solution
Multiple both sides of the equation by xyz(x + y + z) gives

xy(x + y + z) + yz(x + y + z) + xz(x + y + z) = xyz [1]

x²y + xy² + xyz + xyz + y²z + yz² + x²z + xyz + xz² = xyz [2]

2xyz + x²y + xy² + y²z + yz² + x²z + xz² = 0 [3]

The left side is a symmetric polynomial in three variables, as it should be since the
original equation also exhibits this symmetry. It would help to factor this expression, so
it is worth looking for possible factor groups with the same symmetry.
It’s not obvious what to try, but a partial factoring of terms,

2xyz + xy(x + y) + yz(y + z) + xz(x + z) = 0 [4]

suggests that we might try a product of three symmetric sum pairs of the form

(x + y + ?)(y + z + ?)(z + x + ?) [5]

but we don’t need any constants for “?” because eqn. [3] contains only polynomial terms
of order three. This guess works, and the correctly factored version of eqn. [4] is

(x + y)(y + z)(z + x) = 0 [6]

The factor string equals zero when an individual factor equals zero, so the solution set in
real numbers is described simply as

x = –y ~OR~ y = –z ~OR~ z = –x [7]

Example 4
Let x, y and z be the lengths of the sides of a triangle. Show that if

x² + y² + z² = xy + yz + zx

then the triangle is equilateral.

Solution
The equation is fully symmetric with respect to the exchange of any pair of variables, so
it should be possible to express this relation in some other useful way.
Move all variables to one side

x² + y² + z² – xy – yz – zx = 0

and try a few symmetric groupings of factor terms to create the desired terms

(x + y + z) (x + y + z) = x² + y² + z² + 2xy + 2yz + 2zx

(x + y)(y + z)(z + x) = 2xyz + x²y + xy² + y²z + yz² + x²z + xz²

(x – y)(y – z)(z – x) = xy² – x²y + yz² – y²z + zx² – z²x

We notice that the last two factor groups have the correct symmetry but produce third-
order polynomial terms that are not wanted. The first factor group produces the correct
second-order terms but with incorrect signs and coefficients, so perhaps a symmetric sum
of squares might produce the desired terms,

(x – y + ?)² + (y – z + ?)² + (z – x + ?)²

Note that a sum of squares allows for negative signs while still preserving the exchange
symmetry. No constants are needed, so try setting ? = 0 as a first cut,

(x – y)² + (y – z)² + (z – x)² = 2x² + 2y² + 2z² – 2xy – 2yz – 2zx

This produces all the correct terms with the correct ratio of coefficients, so the original
problem statement is equivalent to,
imply
Does (x – y)² + (y – z)² + (z – x)² = 0 ⇒ x=y=z?

We see the statement is true because a sum of squares equals zero only if all of the
individual terms are zero.

This example shows that while a single string of symmetric factors is a primary goal for
algebraic manipulation, sometimes a symmetric sum a squares is also useful.