Maximum and Minimum Roots

Algebra Level 5

Consider all polynomials P c ( x ) = x 3 2 x 2 4 x + c P_c (x) = x^3 - 2x^2 - 4x + c which have 3 real roots. The difference between the maximum possible root of such a polynomial, and the minimum possible roots of such a polynomial, can be expressed as a b \frac{a}{b} for positive coprime integers. Find a + b a + b .

Note: The value of c c need not be identical in the maximum and minimum cases.


The answer is 19.

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2 solutions

Manuel Kahayon
Mar 11, 2016

The maximum and minimum values can be attained by changing the value of c such that one of the turning points on the graph is on the x-axis. That is to say, the graph is tangent to the x-axis and two of the roots are equal.

So, let x , x x, x and y y be the roots of the equation for local minima and maxima. (Maxima and minima are attained when two of the roots are equal. By vieta's formulas,

2 x + y = 2 2x+y=2

Then, by Newton's Sums,

2 x 2 + y 2 = 12 2x^2+y^2=12

Solving the systems gives us y = ( 10 3 , 2 ) y = (\frac{10}{3}, -2) So, the minimum is 2 -2 and the maximum is 10 3 \frac{10}{3}

So, 10 3 ( 2 ) = 16 3 \frac{10}{3}-(-2) = \frac{16}{3}

So, our answer is 16 + 3 = 19 16+3 = \boxed{19}

Mehul Chaturvedi
Mar 11, 2016

Rearranging the equation c = x 3 2 x 2 4 x -c=x^3-2x^2-4x ,now we can easily plot RHS

As c c is real, It can easily be seen from graph,that the maximum value of x x for 3 3 solutions Not necessarily distinct \text{{Not necessarily distinct}} is 10 3 \dfrac{10}{3} and minimum value is 2 -2

Therefore 10 3 + 2 = 16 9 \Large{\dfrac{10}{3}+2=\color{#D61F06}{\boxed{\color{skyblue}{\boxed{\color{#EC7300}{\dfrac{16}{9}}}}}}}

Moderator note:

The problem doesn't make it clear that c c is allowed to vary between finding the maximum and the minimum. If the problem was written as P c P_c , then I would be inclined to agree with your approach.

The problem doesn't make it clear that c c is allowed to vary between finding the maximum and the minimum. If the problem was written as P c P_c , then I would be inclined to agree with your approach.

Calvin Lin Staff - 5 years, 3 months ago

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