Mean Root

Algebra Level 3

The harmonic mean of the roots of polynomial 5 x 3 11 x 2 + 7 x 3 5x^3-11x^2+7x-3 can be expressed as m n \dfrac{m}{n} , where m m and n n are relatively prime integers. What is m + n m + n ?


The answer is 16.

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1 solution

Sophie Ho
Apr 3, 2019

If r 1 , r 2 r_{1},r_{2} , and r 3 r_{3} are the roots of the polynomial 5 x 3 11 x 2 + 7 x 3 5x^3-11x^2+7x-3 , then the harmonic mean of the roots is 3 1 r 1 + 1 r 2 + 1 r 3 = 3 r 1 r 2 r 3 r 1 r 2 + r 1 r 3 + r 2 r 3 \frac{3}{\frac{1}{r_{1}}+\frac{1}{r_{2}}+\frac{1}{r_{3}}}=\frac{3r_{1}r_{2}r_{3}}{r_{1}r_{2}+r_{1}r_{3}+r_{2}r_{3}}

By Vieta's formulas , r 1 r 2 r 3 = 3 5 r_{1}r_{2}r_{3}=\frac{3}{5} and r 1 r 2 + r 1 r 3 + r 2 r 3 = 7 5 r_{1}r_{2}+r_{1}r_{3}+r_{2}r_{3}=\frac{7}{5} . Hence the harmonic mean of the root is 9 7 \frac{9}{7} . So m + n = 16

Note that r 1 r 2 r 3 = 3 5 r_1r_2r_3 = \dfrac 35 and r 1 r 2 + r 2 r 3 + r 3 r 1 = 7 5 r_1r_2 + r_2r_3 + r_3r_1 = \dfrac 75

Chew-Seong Cheong - 2 years, 2 months ago

Yes, thank you! I have just amended my solution.

Sophie Ho - 2 years, 2 months ago

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