2018 AMC 10A Problems/Problem 21

Which of the following describes the set of values of $a$ for which the curves $x^2+y^2=a^2$ and $y=x^2-a$ in the real $xy$ -plane intersect at exactly $3$ points?

$\textbf{(A) }a=\frac14 \qquad \textbf{(B) }\frac14 < a < \frac12 \qquad \textbf{(C) }a>\frac14 \qquad \textbf{(D) }a=\frac12 \qquad \textbf{(E) }a>\frac12 \qquad$

Solution

Substituting $y=x^2-a$ into $x^2+y^2=a^2$ , we get $x^2+(x^2-a)^2=a^2 \implies x^2+x^4-2ax^2=0 \implies x^2(x^2-(2a-1))=0$ Since this is a quartic, there are 4 total roots (counting multiplicity). We see that $x=0$ always at least one intersection at $(0,-a)$ (and is in fact a double root).

The other two intersection points have $x$ coordinates $\sqrt{2a-1}$ . We must have $2a-1> 0,$ otherwise we are in the case where the parabola lies entirely above the circle (tangent to it at the point $(0,a)$ ). This only results in a single intersection point in the real coordinate plane. Thus, we see $a>\frac{1}{2}$ .

Page

Toolbox

Search

2018 AMC 10A Problems/Problem 21

Solution