Algebra 2.

5 AwesomeMath Summer Program 2024

Vieta’s Formulas

1 Problem Set 2
Problem 1: Find the sum of the roots of the equation 4x2 + 5 − 8x = 0.

Problem 2: Let f be a function for which f (x/3) = x2 + x + 1. Find the sum of all values of z
for which f (3z) = 7.

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Problem 3: What is the sum of the reciprocals of the roots of the equation
2003 1
x + 1 + = 0?

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2004 x

Problem 4: For real numbers a, b, and c the polynomial p(x) = 3x7 − 291x6 + ax5 + bx4 + cx2 +
134x − 2 has 7 real roots whose sum is 97. Find the sum of the reciprocals of those 7 roots.

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Problem 5: Given that three roots of f (x) = x4 + ax2 + bx + c are 2, −3, and 5, what is the value
of a + b + c?

Problem 6: The polynomial P (x) = x3 + ax2 + bx + c has the property that the mean of its zeros,
the product of its zeros, and the sum of its coefficients are all equal. If the y-intercept of the graph
of y = P (x) is 2, what is b?
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Problem 7: Let z1 and z2 be the zeros of the polynomial f (x) = x2 + 6x + 11. Compute (1 +
z12 z2 )(1 + z1 z22 ).

Problem 8: Let f (x) = 36x4 − 36x3 − x2 + 9x − 2. Then let the four roots of f (x) be r1 , r2 , r3 ,
and r4 . Find the value of

(r1 + r2 + r3 )(r1 + r2 + r4 )(r1 + r3 + r4 )(r2 + r3 + r4 ).

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Problem 9: Let r, s, t be the solutions to the equation x3 + ax2 + bx + c = 0. What is the value
of (rs)2 + (st)2 + (rt)2 in terms of a, b, and c?
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Problem 10: If p, q and r are distinct roots of x3 − x2 + x − 2 = 0, then find p3 + q 3 + r3 .

Problem 11: The equation x3 − 4x2 + 5x − 1.9 has real roots r, s, and t. Find the area of the
triangle with sides r, s, and t.

Problem 12: The zeros of f (x) = x6 +2x5 +3x4 +5x3 +8x2 +13x+21 are distinct complex numbers.
Compute the average value of A + BC + DEF over all possible permutations (A, B, C, D, E, F ) of
these six numbers.

Problem 13: Let m and n be the roots of x2 − 20x − 19 = 0 with m < n. Compute the value of
2m2 + 5mn − n2 − 20m + 40n + 19.

Problem 14: All the roots of the polynomial z 6 − 10z 5 + Az 4 + Bz 3 + Cz 2 + Dz + 16 are positive
integers, possibly repeated. What is the value of B?

1
Algebra 2.5 AwesomeMath Summer Program 2024
Problem 15: The product of two of the four roots of the quartic equation x4 −18x3 +kx2 +200x−
1984 = 0 is −32. Determine the value of k

Problem 16: Determine the sum of the y-coordinates of the four points of intersection of y =
x4 − 5x2 − x + 4 and y = x2 − 3x.

Problem 17: There are real numbers a, b, c, and d such that −20 is a root of x3 + ax + b and
√
−21 is a root of x3 + cx2 + d. These
√ two polynomials share a complex root m + n · i, where m
and n are positive integers and i = −1. Find m + n.

Problem 18: The polynomial x3 − 3x2 + 1 has three real roots r1 , r2 , and r3 . Compute

h
√3
√ √
3r1 − 2 + 3 3r2 − 2 + 3 3r3 − 2.

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Problem 19: For certain real values of a, b, c, and d, the equation x4 + ax3 + bx2 + cx + d = 0
has four non-real roots. The
√ product of two of these roots is 13 + i and the sum of the other two
roots is 3 + 4i, where i = −1. Find b.

Problem 20: For real numbers α, B, and C, the zeros of T (x) = x3 + x2 + Bx + C are sin2 α,
cos2 α, and − csc2 α. Compute T (5).

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Problem 21: Suppose f (x) = x3 + x − 1 has roots α, β, and γ. What is

α3 β3
+
1−α 1−β 1−γ
γ3
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Problem 22: Let the roots of

x2022 − 7x2021 + 8x2 + 4x + 2

be r1 , r2 , . . ., r2022 , the roots of

x2022 − 8x2021 + 27x2 + 9x + 3

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be s1 , s2 , . . ., s2022 , and the roots of

x2022 − 9x2021 + 64x2 + 16x + 4

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be t1 , t2 , . . ., t2022 . Compute the value of

X X X
ri sj + si tj + ti rj .
1≤i,j≤2022 1≤i,j≤2022 1≤i,j≤2022

Problem 23: Find the sum of all solutions of the equation

1 2 3 4
+ 2 + 2 + 2 = 2010x − 4.
x2 −1 x −2 x −3 x −4
Problem 24: Let ak = ±1 for all integers 1 ≤ k ≤ 2018. The sum
X
ai aj
1≤i<j≤2018

can take on both positive and negative values. Find the smallest positive value of the sum.

2
Algebra 2.5 AwesomeMath Summer Program 2024
Problem 25: Find nonzero complex numbers a, b, c, d, e such that

a + b + c + d + e = −1
a2 + b2 + c2 + d2 + e2 = 15
1 1 1 1 1
+ + + + = −1
a b c d e
1 1 1 1 1
2
+ 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 15
a b c d e
abcde = −1.

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Problem 26: Let x, y, and z be positive real numbers with 1 < x < y < z such that

logx y + logy z + logz x = 8, and

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25
logx z + logz y + logy x = .
2
√
p+ q
The value of logy z can then be written as r for positive integers p, q, and r such that q is not
divisible by the square of any prime. Compute p + q + r.

Problem 27: Let f (x) be the polynomial 50

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k=1 x − (2k − 1) . Let c be the coefficient of x
f (x). When c is divided by 101, what is the remainder? (The remainder is an integer between 0
and 100.)

Problem 28: For distinct complex numbers z1 , z2 , . . . , z673 , the polynomial

48 in
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(x − z1 )3 (x − z2 )3 · · · (x − z673 )3

can be expressed as x2019 + 20x2018 + 19x2017 + g(x), where g(x) is a polynomial with complex
coefficients and with degree at most 2016. The value of

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zj zk
1≤j<k≤673

m
can be expressed in the form n, where m and n are relatively prime positive integers. Find m + n.
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Problem 29: Find a polynomial P of lowest possible degree such that

(a) P has integer coefficients,

(b) all roots of P are integers,

(c) P (0) = −1,

(d) P (3) = 128.

Problem 30: The equation (x − 1)(x − 2)(x − 4)(x − 5)(x − 7)(x − 8) = (x − 3)(x − 6)(x − 9) has
distinct roots r1 , r2 , . . . , r6 . Evaluate
6
X
(ri − 1)(ri − 2)(ri − 4).
i=1

3
Algebra 2.5 AwesomeMath Summer Program 2024
Problem 31: Find all polynomials of the form

Pn (x) = n!xn + an−1 xn−1 + · · · + a1 x + (−1)n n(n + 1)

with integer coefficients, having n real roots x1 , . . . , xn satisfying k ≤ xk ≤ k + 1 for k = 1, . . . , n.

√ √ √
Problem 32: Let a, b, c be the roots of x3 − 9x2 + 11x − 1 = 0, and let s = a+ b+ c. Find
s4 − 18s2 − 8s.

Problem 33: Let r1 , r2 , . . . , r7 be the distinct complex roots of the polynomial P (x) = x7 − 7.
Let

h
Y
K= (ri + rj ),
1≤i<j≤7

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that is, the product of all numbers of the form ri + rj , where i and j are integers for which
1 ≤ i < j ≤ 7. Determine the value of K 2 .

Problem 34: If a and b are two of the roots of x4 + x3 − 1 = 0, prove that ab is a root of
x6 + x4 + x3 − x2 − 1 = 0.

distinct negative roots. Prove that

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Problem 35: The monic polynomial P (x) = xn + an−1 xn−1 + · · · + a0 of degree n > 1 has n

a1 P (1) > 2n2 a0 .

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