1987 AHSME Problems/Problem 28

Problem

Let $a, b, c, d$ be real numbers. Suppose that all the roots of $z^4+az^3+bz^2+cz+d=0$ are complex numbers lying on a circle in the complex plane centered at $0+0i$ and having radius $1$ . The sum of the reciprocals of the roots is necessarily

$\textbf{(A)}\ a \qquad \textbf{(B)}\ b \qquad \textbf{(C)}\ c \qquad \textbf{(D)}\ -a \qquad \textbf{(E)}\ -b$

Solution

Let's denote the roots of the polynomial as $z_1, z_2, z_3, z_4$ . We know that the magnitudes of these 4 roots are 1 as given in the problem statement. Therefore, we have $z_1 \overline{z_1}, z_2 \overline{z_2}, z_3 \overline{z_3}, z_4 \overline{z_4} = 1$ . We want to find $\frac{1}{z_1} + \frac{1}{z_2} + \frac{1}{z_3} + \frac{1}{z_4}$ which is $\overline{z_1} + \overline{z_2} + \overline{z_3} + \overline{z_4}$ . Remember that these are the roots of polynomials. Whenever complex numbers are the roots of a polynomial with real coefficients, we know they come in complex-conjugate pairs. Therefore, $\overline{z_1} + \overline{z_2} + \overline{z_3} + \overline{z_4} = z_1 + z_2 + z_3 + z_4$ . However, by Vieta's, $z_1 + z_2 + z_3 + z_4 = -a$ . Thus, the answer is $\boxed{\textbf{(D) } -a }$ . -- $\text{lucasxia01}$

1987 AHSME (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by Problem 27	Followed by Problem 29
1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30
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1987 AHSME Problems/Problem 28

Problem

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