If touches at points. If is the product of all possible values of and is the product of all possible values of , determine the value of .
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We can split g ( x ) = ∣ a x − b ∣ + b into the linear functions h ( x ) = a x − b + b and k ( x ) = − a x + b + b . A linear function cannot be tangent to the parabola f ( x ) at 2 points since linear functions do not have turning points, so h ( x ) and k ( x ) are tangent to f ( x ) at seperate points. Setting f ( x ) = h ( x ) and the discriminant to 0 yields ( a − 3 b ) 2 − 4 ( a + b ) = 0 and setting f ( x ) = k ( x ) and the discriminant to 0 yields 9 ( a − b ) 2 − 4 ( a − b ) = 0 . The latter equation is in quadratic form in terms of ( a − b ) so solving it yields ( a − b ) = 9 4 . Substituting this into the former equation and using Vieta's formulas yields 1 6 2 B = − 6 4 and 1 6 2 A = 1 4 4 so 1 6 2 ( A + B ) = 1 4 4 − 6 4 = 8 0 which is the final answer.