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Printjmc
algebra senior
Problem
Find all positive integer values of such that the equation only has roots that are real and rational. Express them in decreasing order, separated by commas.
Solution
For the roots to be real and rational, the discriminant must be a perfect square. Therefore, must be a perfect square. The only positive perfect squares less than 49 are , , , , , and . The perfect squares that give a integer value of are , , and . Thus, we have the equations , , and . Solving, we get that the positive integer values of c are .
Final answer
12, 10, 6