Let and be real numbers. If the roots (in ) of the equation above are equal, then which of the following statements must be correct?
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Let us first expand the terms on the LHS to get a better idea of the coefficients of the quadratic equation.
⟺ x 2 − ( a + b ) x + a b + x 2 − ( b + c ) x + b c + x 2 − ( c + a ) x + c a = 0 3 x 2 − 2 ( a + b + c ) x + ( a b + b c + c a ) = 0
If its roots of this polynomial are equal, then the discriminant of this quadratic equation is equal to zero.
⟺ ⟺ ⟺ ( − 2 ( a + b + c ) ) 2 − 4 × 3 × ( a b + b c + c a ) = 0 4 ( a + b + c ) 2 − 4 × 3 × ( a b + b c + c a ) = 0 ( a + b + c ) 2 − 3 × ( a b + b c + c a ) = 0 a 2 + b 2 + c 2 − ( a b + b c + c a ) = 0
The LHS can be written as 2 1 ( a 2 + b 2 − 2 a b + b 2 + c 2 − 2 b c + c 2 + a 2 − 2 c a ) = 0
This terms on the LHS can be factorized as 2 1 ( ( a − b ) 2 + ( b − c ) 2 + ( c − a ) 2 ) = 0 .
By the trivial inequality , any perfect square is always non-negative. Thus for the LHS to be zero, each of the perfect square should be zero at the same time. This is only possible when a = b = c . □