The Square of

Algebra Level 3

If x x and y y are integers satisfying y = x 2 = ( x + y ) 2 y=x^2 =(x+y)^2 , find the sum of all possible value(s) of y y .


The answer is 4.

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2 solutions

Chew-Seong Cheong
May 30, 2016

y = x 2 = ( x + y ) 2 ( x + y ) 2 = x 2 x 2 + 2 x y + y 2 = x 2 2 x y + y 2 = 0 y = x 2 2 x ( x 2 ) + ( x 2 ) 2 = 0 2 x 3 + x 4 = 0 x 3 ( 2 + x ) = 0 x = { 0 y = 0 2 = 0 2 y = ( 2 ) 2 = 4 \begin{aligned} y = x^2 & = (x+y)^2 \\ \implies (x+y)^2 & = x^2 \\ x^2 + 2xy + y^2 & = x^2 \\ 2x\color{#3D99F6}{y} + \color{#3D99F6}{y}^2 & = 0 \quad \quad \small \color{#3D99F6}{y = x^2} \\ 2x(\color{#3D99F6}{x^2}) + (\color{#3D99F6}{x^2})^2 & = 0 \\ 2x^3 + x^4 & = 0 \\ x^3 (2+x) & = 0 \\ \implies x & = \begin{cases} 0 & \implies y = 0^2 = 0 \\ -2 & \implies y = (-2)^2 = 4 \end{cases} \end{aligned}

The sum of values of y y = 0 + 4 = 4 = 0 + 4 = \boxed{4}

A P
May 30, 2016

First off, let's start with the last 2 parts of the given equality, x 2 x^2 and ( x + y ) 2 (x+y)^2 . Expanding ( x + y ) 2 (x+y)^2 , and simplifying, we have 0 = y ( 2 x + y ) 0=y(2x+y) . Therefore y = 0 y=0 . Then we take the other half, 2 x + y = 0 2x+y=0 , and compare it to y = x 2 y=x^2 . Adding the equations to each other and simplifying, we have x ( x + 2 ) = 0 x(x+2)=0 . If x = 0 x=0 , then we have y = 0 y=0 . If x = 2 x=-2 , then y = 4 y=4 . If we plug these values back into the equation, we can see that all values work, and so the sum of our two answers is equal to 4 4 .

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