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[[Category:Introductory Algebra Problems]]
 
[[Category:Introductory Algebra Problems]]

Latest revision as of 19:25, 2 October 2018

Problem

For each positive number $x$, let $f(x)=\frac{\left(x+\frac{1}{x}\right)^6-\left(x^6+\frac{1}{x^6}\right)-2} {\left(x+\frac{1}{x}\right)^3+\left(x^3+\frac{1}{x^3}\right)}$. The minimum value of $f(x)$ is

$\textbf{(A) }1\qquad \textbf{(B) }2\qquad \textbf{(C) }3\qquad \textbf{(D) }4\qquad \textbf{(E) }6$

Solution

Let $a = \left( x + \frac{1}{x} \right)^3$ and $b = x^3 + \frac{1}{x^3}$. Then \begin{align*} f(x) &= \frac{\left( x + \frac{1}{x} \right)^6 - (x^6 + \frac{1}{x^6}) - 2}{\left( x + \frac{1}{x} \right)^3 + (x^3 + \frac{1}{x^3})} \\ &= \frac{\left( x + \frac{1}{x} \right)^6 - (x^6 + 2 + \frac{1}{x^6})}{\left( x + \frac{1}{x} \right)^3 + (x^3 + \frac{1}{x^3})} \\ &= \frac{\left( x + \frac{1}{x} \right)^6 - (x^3 + \frac{1}{x^3})^2}{\left( x + \frac{1}{x} \right)^3 + (x^3 + \frac{1}{x^3})} \\ &= \frac{a^2 - b^2}{a + b}. \end{align*}

By difference of squares, \begin{align*} f(x) &= \frac{(a - b)(a + b)}{a + b} \\ &= a - b \\ &= \left( x + \frac{1}{x} \right)^3 - \left( x^3 + \frac{1}{x^3} \right) \\ &= \left( x^3 + 3x + \frac{3}{x} + \frac{1}{x^3} \right) - \left( x^3 + \frac{1}{x^3} \right) \\ &= 3x + \frac{3}{x} \\ &= 3 \left( x + \frac{1}{x} \right). \end{align*}

By the AM-GM inequality, \[x + \frac{1}{x} \ge 2,\] so $f(x) \ge 6$. Furthermore, when $x = 1$, $f(1) = 6$, so the minimum value of $f(x)$ is $\boxed{6}$.

See also

1979 AHSME (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by
Problem 28 		Followed by
Problem 30
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
All AHSME Problems and Solutions
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