1984 USAMO Problems/Problem 1

1984 USAMO Problem #1

Problem:

In the polynomial $x^4 - 18x^3 + kx^2 + 200x - 1984 = 0$ , the product of $2$ of its roots is $- 32$ . Find $k$ .

Solution:

Let the four roots be $a,b,c,d$ . By Vieta's Formulas, we have the following:

$ab = - 32$ $abcd = - 1984$ $cd = 62$ $a + b + c + d = 18$ * $ab + ac + ad + bc + bd + cd = k$ $abc + abd + acd + bcd = - 200$

Substituting given values obtains the following:

$ac + ad + bc + bd = k - 62 + 32 = k - 30$ $(a + b)(c + d) = k - 30$ $- 32c + 62b + 62a - 32d = - 200$ $31(a + b) - 16(c + d) = - 100$

$16(a + b) + 16(c + d) = 288$ . Adding it to the previous equation gives

$47(a + b) = 188$ $a + b = 4$ $c + d = 18 - 4 = 14$ $(a + b)(c + d) = 4(14) = 56 = k - 30$ $k = \boxed{86}$

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