Rational solutions

True or False:

The equation 4 x + 6 x = 9 x 4^x +6^x =9^x has no rational solutions.

False True

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2 solutions

Tom Engelsman
Oct 6, 2017

Here's my solution: let u = 2 x , v = 3 x u = 2^x, v = 3^x so that the original equation becomes the quadratic:

( 2 x ) 2 + 2 x 3 x ( 3 x ) 2 = 0 u 2 + u v v 2 = 0 (2^x)^2 + 2^{x}3^{x} - (3^x)^2 = 0 \Rightarrow u^2 + uv - v^2 = 0

which solving for u u becomes u = v ± v 2 4 ( 1 ) ( v 2 ) 2 = ( 1 ± 5 2 ) v . u = \frac{-v \pm \sqrt{v^2 - 4(1)(-v^2)}}{2} = (\frac{-1 \pm \sqrt{5}}{2})v. Since u , v > 0 u,v > 0 we will only admit the positive root, or:

u = ( 1 + 5 2 ) v ( 2 3 ) x = 1 + 5 2 x = l n ( 5 1 ) l n ( 2 ) l n ( 2 ) l n ( 3 ) = 1 l n ( 3 ) + l n ( 5 1 ) l n ( 2 ) l n ( 3 ) . u = (\frac{-1 + \sqrt{5}}{2})v \Rightarrow (\frac{2}{3})^x = \frac{-1 + \sqrt{5}}{2} \Rightarrow x = \frac{ln(\sqrt{5}-1) - ln(2)}{ln(2) - ln(3)} = \boxed{-1 - \frac{ln(3) + ln(\sqrt{5}-1)}{ln(2) - ln(3)}}.

Hence, there are no solutions for x Q . x \in \mathbb{Q}.

Exactly , the same I did however got incorrect I thought it to be irrational number as per question :)

Naren Bhandari - 3 years, 8 months ago
Kenny O.
Oct 6, 2017

Relevant wiki: Fermat's Last Theorem

Because of Fermat's last theorem, x is less than 3. Inserting 1 or 2 makes the equation still false, meaning there isn’t any answer

That is for positive integers value only..what about other rational numbers in context of this question?

Aman thegreat - 3 years, 8 months ago

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