Skip to main content
OlympiadHQ

Browse · MathNet

Print

Ireland

Ireland algebra

Problem

Suppose . Express in terms of , , and , the solutions , , , , , of the equations
Solution
Label the equations 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 in the order of their appearance. Using equations 3, 6 eliminate from the system, thereby adding to equations 1, 2, 4, 5 the equation 7: . Next, use this and 5 to eliminate to produce equation 8: . Eliminate from 2, 4 to produce equation 9: . Now eliminate from equations 8, 9 giving . Finally, using this in conjunction with 1, we see that

And so, using 6 and 4, too, Hence, using equations 2, 5, we get that Thus, letting we see that
Final answer
Let α = (b^2 + c^2 − a^2) / (2bc), β = (c^2 + a^2 − b^2) / (2ca), γ = (a^2 + b^2 − c^2) / (2ab). Then x = cβ, y = bγ, z = aγ, u = cα, v = bα, w = aβ.

Techniques

Simple Equations