2020 AMC 10A Problems/Problem 14

Real numbers $x$ and $y$ satisfy $x + y = 4$ and $x \cdot y = -2$ . What is the value of $x + \frac{x^3}{y^2} + \frac{y^3}{x^2} + y?$ $\textbf{(A)}\ 360\qquad\textbf{(B)}\ 400\qquad\textbf{(C)}\ 420\qquad\textbf{(D)}\ 440\qquad\textbf{(E)}\ 480$

Solution

$x + \frac{x^3}{y^2} + \frac{y^3}{x^2} + y=x+\frac{x^3}{y^2}+y+\frac{y^3}{x^2}=\frac{x^3}{x^2}+\frac{y^3}{x^2}+\frac{y^3}{y^2}+\frac{x^3}{y^2}$

Continuing to combine $\frac{x^3+y^3}{x^2}+\frac{x^3+y^3}{y^2}=\frac{(x^2+y^2)(x^3+y^3)}{x^2y^2}=\frac{(x^2+y^2)(x+y)(x^2-xy+y^2)}{x^2y^2}$ From the givens, it can be concluded that $x^2y^2=4$ . Also, $(x+y)^2=x^2+2xy+y^2=16$ This means that $x^2+y^2=20$ . Substituting this information into $\frac{(x^2+y^2)(x+y)(x^2-xy+y^2)}{x^2y^2}$ , we have $\frac{(20)(4)(22)}{4}=20\cdot 22=\boxed{\textbf{(D)}\ 440}$ .

2020 AMC 10A (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by Problem 13	Followed by Problem 15
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All AMC 10 Problems and Solutions

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2020 AMC 10A Problems/Problem 14

Solution

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