It is known that a positive real number exists such that:
If can be expressed as , where and are rational numbers , find the value of .
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We can immediately spot lots of powers of 3 in the coefficients. Also, some coefficients involve a 6 , and some don't.
Rearranging, the equation is ( 2 4 3 x 6 − 1 8 x 2 − 3 ) 6 = − 2 x ( 2 7 x 4 + 9 x 2 + 1 )
Now, let u = 3 x : ( 3 1 u 6 − 2 u 2 − 3 ) 6 = − 3 2 u ( 3 1 u 4 + u 2 + 1 )
Clearing fractions: 3 ( u 6 − 6 u 2 − 9 ) 6 = − 2 u ( u 4 + 3 u 2 + 3 )
Noting that u 2 − 3 is a factor of the left-hand side, 3 ( u 2 − 3 ) ( u 4 + 3 u 2 + 3 ) 6 = − 2 u ( u 4 + 3 u 2 + 3 )
For real u , the expression u 4 + 3 u 2 + 3 is always positive; hence we can divide through leaving 3 ( u 2 − 3 ) 6 = − 2 u
This is just a quadratic in u : 3 6 u 2 + 2 u − 9 6 = 0
Solving, u = 6 6 − 2 ± 4 + 6 4 8 = 3 6 − 1 ± 1 6 3
To get a positive result, we need to take the positive root; finally x = 3 1 u = 9 6 − 1 + 1 6 3
This can be rewritten as x = 4 8 6 1 6 3 − 4 8 6 1
so the final answer is 1 6 3 .