Absolute Value Tangents

Algebra Level pending

If f ( x ) = x 2 + ( 2 a 3 b ) x + ( a + b ) f(x)=x^2+(2a-3b)x+(a+b) touches g ( x ) = a x b + b g(x)=|ax-b|+b at 2 2 points. If A A is the product of all possible values of a a and B B is the product of all possible values of b b , determine the value of 162 ( A + B ) 162(A+B) .


The answer is 80.

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1 solution

Yashas Ravi
Nov 7, 2019

We can split g ( x ) = a x b + b g(x)=|ax-b|+b into the linear functions h ( x ) = a x b + b h(x)=ax-b+b and k ( x ) = a x + b + b k(x)=-ax+b+b . A linear function cannot be tangent to the parabola f ( x ) f(x) at 2 2 points since linear functions do not have turning points, so h ( x ) h(x) and k ( x ) k(x) are tangent to f ( x ) f(x) at seperate points. Setting f ( x ) = h ( x ) f(x)=h(x) and the discriminant to 0 0 yields ( a 3 b ) 2 4 ( a + b ) = 0 (a-3b)^2-4(a+b)=0 and setting f ( x ) = k ( x ) f(x)=k(x) and the discriminant to 0 0 yields 9 ( a b ) 2 4 ( a b ) = 0 9(a-b)^2-4(a-b)=0 . The latter equation is in quadratic form in terms of ( a b ) (a-b) so solving it yields ( a b ) = (a-b)= 4 9 \frac{4}{9} . Substituting this into the former equation and using Vieta's formulas yields 162 B = 64 162B=-64 and 162 A = 144 162A=144 so 162 ( A + B ) = 144 64 = 80 162(A+B)=144-64=80 which is the final answer.

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