Find angle!

Geometry Level 3

The equation a x 2 + b x + c = 0 ax^2+bx+c=0 where a a , b b and c c are sides of triangle A B C ABC , and the equation x 2 + 2 x + 1 = 0 x^2+\sqrt2x+1=0 have a common root . Find the measure of angle C C in degrees.

90 None of these 45 60

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1 solution

Marta Reece
Apr 12, 2017

The solutions of x 2 + 2 x + 1 = 0 x^2+\sqrt2x+1=0 are 1 2 + i 2 -\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}+\frac{i}{\sqrt{2}} and 1 2 i 2 -\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}-\frac{i}{\sqrt{2}} .

If an equation with real coefficients, and sides of a triangle should be real, has one of these solutions, it will have the other as well. So the equations will differ from x 2 + 2 x + 1 = 0 x^2+\sqrt2x+1=0 only by a constant coefficient multiplying the left side. All such triangles will be similar, so for calculating the angle we can limit ourselves to the simplest form of the equations with a = 1 , b = 2 , c = 1 a=1, b=\sqrt{2}, c=1 .

Since a 2 + c 2 = b 2 a^2+c^2=b^2 this forms an right isosceles triangle and C = 4 5 . \angle C=45^\circ.

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