MHB Can this system of equations be solved in real numbers?

anemone
Gold Member
MHB
POTW Director
Messages
3,851
Reaction score
115
Solve in real numbers the system below:

$a(b+c-a^3)=b(c+a-b^3)=c(a+b-c^3)=1$
 
Mathematics news on Phys.org
a=1, b=1, c=1
a=-1, b=-1, c=-1
 
Wilmer said:
a=1, b=1, c=1
a=-1, b=-1, c=-1

Would you mind sharing how you found the solution? :D
 
Lazily, by inspection:
ab + ac - a^4 = 1
ab + bc - b^4 = 1
ac + bc - c^4 = 1
 
Wilmer said:
a=1, b=1, c=1
a=-1, b=-1, c=-1

Hi Wilmer,

Your answer (without the working, hehehe...) is correct, but the question remains on how we are going to prove those are the only solutions.(Nod)
 
Seemingly by some mathematical coincidence, a hexagon of sides 2,2,7,7, 11, and 11 can be inscribed in a circle of radius 7. The other day I saw a math problem on line, which they said came from a Polish Olympiad, where you compute the length x of the 3rd side which is the same as the radius, so that the sides of length 2,x, and 11 are inscribed on the arc of a semi-circle. The law of cosines applied twice gives the answer for x of exactly 7, but the arithmetic is so complex that the...
Is it possible to arrange six pencils such that each one touches the other five? If so, how? This is an adaption of a Martin Gardner puzzle only I changed it from cigarettes to pencils and left out the clues because PF folks don’t need clues. From the book “My Best Mathematical and Logic Puzzles”. Dover, 1994.

Similar threads

Replies
2
Views
1K
Replies
10
Views
1K
Replies
3
Views
2K
Replies
9
Views
2K
Replies
7
Views
2K
Replies
2
Views
1K
Replies
1
Views
1K
Back
Top