Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                
Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 156 views

    Simon's Favorite Factoring Trick: Eugenis May 31, 2015

    Uploaded by

    PerepePere
    Simon's Favorite Factoring Trick (SFFT) is a technique for factoring polynomials that involves grouping like terms. The document introduces SFFT through examples of factoring polynomials with one or two variables. It explains that for SFFT to work, the coefficient of the xy term should be 1. More advanced problems from math competitions are listed for readers to attempt on their own, involving areas of triangles, volumes of boxes, equations satisfying certain conditions, and logarithmic equations.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Simon's Favorite Factoring Trick: Eugenis May 31, 2015

    Uploaded by

    PerepePere
    156 views2 pages
    Simon's Favorite Factoring Trick (SFFT) is a technique for factoring polynomials that involves grouping like terms. The document introduces SFFT through examples of factoring polynomials with one or two variables. It explains that for SFFT to work, the coefficient of the xy term should be 1. More advanced problems from math competitions are listed for readers to attempt on their own, involving areas of triangles, volumes of boxes, equations satisfying certain conditions, and logarithmic equations.

    Original Title

    SFFT

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Simon's Favorite Factoring Trick (SFFT) is a technique for factoring polynomials that involves grouping like terms. The document introduces SFFT through examples of factoring polynomials with one or two variables. It explains that for SFFT to work, the coefficient of the xy term should be 1. More advanced problems from math competitions are listed for readers to attempt on their own, involving areas of triangles, volumes of boxes, equations satisfying certain conditions, and logarithmic equations.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    156 views2 pages

    Simon's Favorite Factoring Trick: Eugenis May 31, 2015

    Uploaded by

    PerepePere
    Simon's Favorite Factoring Trick (SFFT) is a technique for factoring polynomials that involves grouping like terms. The document introduces SFFT through examples of factoring polynomials with one or two variables. It explains that for SFFT to work, the coefficient of the xy term should be 1. More advanced problems from math competitions are listed for readers to attempt on their own, involving areas of triangles, volumes of boxes, equations satisfying certain conditions, and logarithmic equations.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    You are on page 1of 2

    Simon’s Favorite Factoring Trick

    Eugenis
    May 31, 2015

    1 Introduction
    Simon’s Favorite Factoring Trick (SFFT) is a direct application of grouping that is used to solve many
    problems. We will begin with some trivial problems that use SFFT directly, into some more advanced
    Olympiad problems. I will leave the Olympiad problems for the reader to solve. Instead of simply explaining
    SFFT in generally terms, I will introduce the technique through an assortment of problems, varying in
    difficulty.

    1.1 Exercises
    Exercise 1. Factor xy + x + y as the product of two binomials ± a constant.
    Solution 1. Let us first pull out a x term out of the first two terms. This factors as

    x(y + 1) + y

    Note that we can factor by grouping if and only if we had another y + 1 term. By wishful thinking, we
    find this is indeed achievable. By adding and subtracting a positive 1 to the expression, we can factor by
    grouping.
    x(y + 1) + 1(y + 1) − 1 = (x + 1)(y + 1) − 1

    Our desired result is (x + 1)(y + 1) − 1 .

    Exercise 2. Factor 4xy + 6x + 10y by Simon’s Favorite Factoring Trick (SFFT).


    Solution 2. As done previously, let us pull out a x term out of the first two terms. This factors as

    x(4y + 6) + 10y

    However note that it is not currently possible to create another 2y + 1 term. Clearly the problem is where
    the xy coefficient was not equal to 1. This is extremely valuable advice when trying to use SFFT; we want
    the coefficient of the xy term to be equal to 1. Using that advice, let us redo the problem. We need to pull
    out a factor of 4 out of all the terms. This yields
     
    3 5
    4 xy + x + y
    2 2

    Using wishful thinking as seen previously, this factors as


       
    5 3 15
    4 x+ y+ −
    2 2 4

    Cleaning the problem up by distributing yields

    (2x + 5)(2y + 3) − 15 .

    1
    Simon’s Favorite Factoring Trick Eugenis Page 2

    2 Challenge Problems
    Problem 1 [2007 AMC 12] How many non-congruent right triangles with positive integer leg lengths have
    areas that are numerically equal to 3 times their perimeters?

    Problem 2 [1998 AIME] An m × n × p rectangular box has half the volume of an (m + 2) × (n + 2) × (p + 2)


    rectangular box, where m, n, and p are integers, and m ≤ n ≤ p. What is the largest possible value of p?

    Problem 3 [2005 BMO] The integer N is positive. There are exactly 2005 ordered pairs (x, y) of posi-
    tive integers satisfying:
    1 1 1
    + =
    x y N
    Prove that N is a perfect square.

    Problem 4 [2003 JBMO] Let n be a positive integer. A number A consists of 2n digits, each of which
    is 4; and a number B consists of n digits, each of which is 8. Prove that A + 2B + 4 is a perfect square.

    Problem 5 [2000 AIME] The system of equations

    log10 (2000xy) − (log10 x)(log10 y) = 4


    log10 (2yz) − (log10 y)(log10 z) = 1
    log10 (zx) − (log10 z)(log10 x) = 0

    has two solutions (x1 , y1 , z1 ) and (x2 , y2 , z2 ). Find y1 + y2 .

    You might also like