Maths Olympiad Prep

Track / Stage 6 / 103 of 400 #1103 of 1964

Problem 1103

National Olympiad, first round
Algebra Difficulty 6.1 Find the answer

The 10 complex roots of the equation x10+(13x−1)10=0x^{10}+(13 x-1)^{10}=0 are r1,r1‾,r2,r2‾,r3,r3‾,r4r_{1}, \overline{r_{1}}, r_{2}, \overline{r_{2}}, r_{3}, \overline{r_{3}}, r_{4}, r4‾,r5,r5‾\overline{r_{4}}, r_{5}, \overline{r_{5}}. Find the value of the algebraic expression 1r1r1‾+1r2r2‾+⋯+1r5r5‾\frac{1}{r_{1} \overline{r_{1}}}+\frac{1}{r_{2} \overline{r_{2}}}+\cdots+\frac{1}{r_{5} \overline{r_{5}}}.

A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.

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Official solution

Analysis Note that x≠0x \neq 0, so the original equation can be transformed into (13−1x)10=−1\left(13-\frac{1}{x}\right)^{10}=-1. Let y=13−1xy=13-\frac{1}{x}, converting the problem into studying the complex roots of the equation y10=−1y^{10}=-1.

Solution Clearly, x≠0x \neq 0, so the original equation can be transformed into (13−1x)10=−1\left(13-\frac{1}{x}\right)^{10}=-1. Let y=13−1xy=13-\frac{1}{x}, then y10=−1y^{10}=-1. Suppose the 10 complex roots of the equation y10=−1y^{10}=-1 are εk,εk‾(k=1,2,3,4,5)\varepsilon_{k}, \overline{\varepsilon_{k}}(k=1,2,3,4,5), where εk=cos⁡(2k−1)π10+isin⁡(2k−1)π10,k=1,2,3,4,5\varepsilon_{k}=\cos \frac{(2 k-1) \pi}{10} + \mathrm{i} \sin \frac{(2 k-1) \pi}{10}, k=1,2,3,4,5. Without loss of generality, let 13−1rk=εk13-\frac{1}{r_{k}}=\varepsilon_{k}, then 1rk=13−εk,k=1,2,3,4,5\frac{1}{r_{k}}=13-\varepsilon_{k}, k=1,2,3,4,5. Therefore, ∑k=151rkrk‾=∑k=15(13−εk)(13−εk‾)=∑k=15[170−13(εk+εk‾)]\sum_{k=1}^{5} \frac{1}{r_{k} \overline{r_{k}}}=\sum_{k=1}^{5}\left(13-\varepsilon_{k}\right)\left(13-\overline{\varepsilon_{k}}\right)=\sum_{k=1}^{5}\left[170-13\left(\varepsilon_{k}+\overline{\varepsilon_{k}}\right)\right] =850−26(cos⁡π10+cos⁡3π10+cos⁡5π10+cos⁡7π10+cos⁡9π10)=850=850-26\left(\cos \frac{\pi}{10}+\cos \frac{3 \pi}{10}+\cos \frac{5 \pi}{10}+\cos \frac{7 \pi}{10}+\cos \frac{9 \pi}{10}\right)=850. Thus, the value of the required algebraic expression is 850.

Source: NuminaMath-1.5, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty, ordering) added by this project.