Let be odd integers such that, .
True or false?
"There exists a triplet such that the above quadratic equation has rational roots."
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Let us assume the quadratic has rational roots. Thus it's discriminant is a perfect square of a natural number.
∴ b 2 − 4 a c = k 2 ( L e t )
Since b is odd, b 2 is odd.
∴ k 2 is odd ⇒ k is odd
Rearranging the above relation gives us,
b 2 − k 2 = 4 a c
Since b and k are odd integers,
8 ∣ b 2 − k 2
Also 4 ∣ 4 a c . But since a and c are odd integers, 8 ∤ 4 a c
Which is a contradiction to our assumption. Thus, no quadratic with only odd integral coefficients has rational roots.