Squares and Cubes

Algebra Level 1

I. x 2 = y 2 x = y \text{ I. } \ x^2=y^2 \quad \Rightarrow \quad x=y II. x 3 = y 3 x = y \text{ II. } \ x^3=y^3 \quad \Rightarrow \quad x = y

Which of the above statements is/are true for real x x and y y ?

Both I and II Neither I nor II II only I only

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3 solutions

Siddharth Bhatt
Aug 23, 2015

Statement 1 is false because we could have x = 1 x = 1 and y = 1 y = -1 . While x 2 = y 2 x^2 = y^2 , it does not imply that x = y . x = y.

However, statement 2 is true because the cube root function does not return a ± \pm . x 3 = y 3 x = y x^3=y^3\implies \boxed{x=y}

Correction, statement 2 might be true because cube-function doesn't alter the sign of the input. You still need to prove that there are no such real numbers x y x \neq y where x 3 = y 3 x^3 = y^3 .

Jesse Nieminen - 4 years, 10 months ago

Statement 1 x 2 = y 2 ( x y ) ( x + y ) = 0 x^2=y^2 \Rightarrow (x-y)(x+y)=0

( x y ) = 0 \Rightarrow (x-y)=0 or x = y \boxed{x=y} ( x + y ) = 0 \Rightarrow (x+y)=0 or x = y \boxed{x=-y}

Statement 2

x 3 = y 3 x 3 y 3 = 0 x^3=y^3 \Rightarrow x^3-y^3=0

( x y ) ( x 2 + x y + y 2 ) = 0 \Rightarrow (x-y)(x^2+xy+y^2)=0

( x y ) = 0 \Rightarrow (x-y)=0 or x = y \boxed{x=y}

setment 2: where is the (x^2+xy+y^2) ?????? I don't understand your solution........

Mahfuz Raihan - 5 years ago

You need to prove that x 2 + x y + y 2 0 x^2 + xy + y^2 \neq 0 for real x x and y y .

Jesse Nieminen - 4 years, 10 months ago

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try putting it through the quadratic formula and observe the value under the root, it should be negative, if not reply to me

Oximas omar - 1 month, 3 weeks ago

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Yes, that's one way to prove it, but the answer is still just assuming that non-obvious fact without a proof which is probably what I meant.

Jesse Nieminen - 1 month, 3 weeks ago
Dmytro Veselov
Mar 23, 2021

Statement 1 lacks the ±.

It should have been x 2 = y 2 ± x = ± y x^2=y^2 ⇒ ±x=±y

Always remember the ± when dealing with even powers.

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