Browse · MATH
Printjmc
algebra senior
Problem
Two positive numbers and have the property that their sum is equal to their product. If their difference is , what is ? Your answer will be of the form , where and don't both share the same common factor with and has no square as a factor. Find .
Solution
Let . Then . We subtract from both sides to find We are given that the difference between and is , so , and , so our equation becomes or . We can solve for using the quadratic formula: Since and are positive, we know is positive, so we take the positive solution, .
Now we must find . We can combine the fractions in the denominator by finding a common denominator: We know from above that , and , so we must find Rationalizing the denominator gives . Thus in the form requested, , , , and , so
Now we must find . We can combine the fractions in the denominator by finding a common denominator: We know from above that , and , so we must find Rationalizing the denominator gives . Thus in the form requested, , , , and , so
Final answer
\frac{2\sqrt{53}+53}{53}