Difference between revisions of "2021 AMC 12B Problems/Problem 16"

(Created page with "==Problem 16== Let <math>g(x)</math> be a polynomial with leading coefficient <math>1,</math> whose three roots are the reciprocals of the three roots of <math>f(x)=x^3+ax^2+b...")
 
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==Solution==
 
==Solution==
Note that <math>f(1/x)</math> is very close to <math>g(x)</math>, it just needs to be multiplied by something so that the leading term is <math>x^3</math>. We have
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Note that <math>f(1/x)</math> has the same roots as <math>g(x)</math>, if it is multiplied by some monomial so that the leading term is <math>x^3</math> they will be equal. We have
 
<cmath>f(1/x) = \frac{1}{x^3} + \frac{a}{x^2}+\frac{b}{x} + c</cmath>
 
<cmath>f(1/x) = \frac{1}{x^3} + \frac{a}{x^2}+\frac{b}{x} + c</cmath>
 
so we can see that
 
so we can see that

Revision as of 19:45, 11 February 2021

Problem 16

Let $g(x)$ be a polynomial with leading coefficient $1,$ whose three roots are the reciprocals of the three roots of $f(x)=x^3+ax^2+bx+c,$ where $1<a<b<c.$ What is $g(1)$ in terms of $a,b,$ and $c?$

$\textbf{(A) }\frac{1+a+b+c}c \qquad \textbf{(B) }1+a+b+c \qquad \textbf{(C) }\frac{1+a+b+c}{c^2}\qquad \textbf{(D) }\frac{a+b+c}{c^2} \qquad \textbf{(E) }\frac{1+a+b+c}{a+b+c}$

Solution

Note that $f(1/x)$ has the same roots as $g(x)$, if it is multiplied by some monomial so that the leading term is $x^3$ they will be equal. We have \[f(1/x) = \frac{1}{x^3} + \frac{a}{x^2}+\frac{b}{x} + c\] so we can see that \[g(x) = \frac{x^3}{c}f(1/x)\] Therefore \[g(1) = \frac{1}{c}f(1) = \boxed{\textbf{(A) }\frac{1+a+b+c}c}\]