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Vieta'sFormulaQuadratics
Topics
Vieta'sformularelatesthecoefficientsofpolynomialstothesumand
Algebra
Vieta'sFormulaFormingQuadratics
productsoftheirroots,aswellastheproductstakeningroups.
Vieta'sFormulaHigherDegrees
Geometry
Forexample,ifthereisaquadraticpolynomial
NumberTheory
willhaverootsof
Calculus
and
,it
.Vieta'sformulacandirectly
Combinatorics
findthesumoftheroots(
BasicMathematics
)andtheproductoftheroots
.Whilethisisfairlytrivialinthisspecificexample,
Logic
Vieta'sformulaisextremelyusefulinmorecomplicatedalgebraic
ClassicalMechanics
polynomialswithmanyrootsorwhentherootsofapolynomialarenot
ElectricityandMagnetism
ComputerScience
Vieta'sFormulaProblemSolving
,because
RelevantFor...
Algebra
Vieta'sFormula
easytoderive.Forsomeproblems,Vieta'sformulacanserveasashortcuttofindsolutionsquicklyknowingthesumsor
productsoftheirroots.
QuantitativeFinance
Chemistry
Contents
SATMath
Vieta'sFormulaQuadratics
JEEMath
Vieta'sFormulaFormingQuadratics
GeneralizationtoHigherDegreePolynomials
ProblemSolvingBasic
ProblemSolvingIntermediate
ProblemSolvingAdvanced
VietaRootJumping
SeeAlso
Vieta'sFormulaQuadratics
Edit
Let'sstartwithadefinition.
DEFI NI TI ON
Vieta'sFormulaforQuadratics:
Given
,iftheequation
hasroots
and
,then
Theproofofthisstatementisgivenattheendofthissection.
Weimmediatelyseehowthecoefficientsofaquadratichelptodeterminetherelationshipoftheroots.
EXAMPLE
If and aretherootsofthequadratic
,whatarethevaluesof
1.
2.
3.
1.FromVieta'sformula,werecognizethat
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2.FromVieta'sformula,werecognizethat
3.Vieta'sformuladoesn'ttellusthevalueof
termsof
and/or
directly.Whatweneedtodo,istowrite
in
,andwecanthensubstitutethesevaluesin.Wehave
Note:Inthisquestion,therootsarethecomplexnumbers
.Ifweweretousetheseasthevaluesof and
andthencompute,wehaveahigherchanceofmakingcarelesscalculationmistakes.Vieta'sformulaoffersusa
simplerapproach.
EXAMPLE
Canyouquicklyguesstherootsofthequadratic
If and aretherootsofthegivenequation,thenVieta'sformulatellsus
andit'snothardtoseethat
and
EXAMPLE
Vieta'sformulagivesus
Youmayrecognize
and
,express
intermsof and .
.Substitutingthesein,weget
fromtheQuadraticFormula.Infact,wecanshowthat
whichprovesthequadraticformula.
PROOF
BytheRemainderFactorTheorem,sincethepolynomial
hasroots
and
,itmusthavetheform
forsomeconstant .
Comparingcoefficientswith
,weconcludethat
and
.Hence,weget
Vieta'sFormulaFormingQuadratics
Edit
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Whymonic?Becausewecanalwaysdividethewholeequationbyitsleadingcoefficienttogetamonicversionofit.So
whatcanwesayabout
Expandingtherightsideandrearranging,wefind
Sincetwopolynomialsareequalifandonlyiftheircoefficientsareequal,byequatingthecoefficientsweget
ThisisthesocalledVieta'sformulaforaquadraticpolynomial.Itcanbesimilarlyextendedtopolynomialsofhigher
degree.
Therootscanbegeneralizedtoincludecomplexnumbers.Thatis,giventwocomplexnumbers and ,wecanalways
constructamonicquadraticwhoserootsare and .Morespecifically,thequadraticwillbe
Whenwillboththecoefficientsbereal?Tofindtheanswer,set
and
.Thenthecoefficients
are
For tobereal,weneed
implyingeither
.For tobereal,weneed
or
eachother.
EXAMPLE
Findaquadraticwhoserootsare and .
Letthequadraticbe
Thereforethedesiredquadraticis
EXAMPLE
Findaquadraticwhoserootsare
and
Letthedesiredquadraticbe
Sothedesiredquadraticis
Note:Sincetherootswerecomplexconjugatesofeachother,thecoefficientsofthequadraticbecamereal.
EXAMPLE
Solvethesystemofequations
,wegetthat
https://brilliant.org/wiki/vietasformula/#vietasformulahigherdegrees
.Sincewecanfactorize
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GeneralizationtoHigherDegreePolynomials
Consideraquadraticequationwithcomplexcoefficientsandroots
Edit
Bycomparingcoefficients,wecanseethat
Thisgivesarelationshipbetweentherootsofapolynomialandthecoefficientsofthepolynomial.Generalizingthisidea
forapolynomialofdegree ,wehave
DEFI NI TI ON
Vieta'sFormula:
Let
beapolynomialwithcomplexcoefficientsanddegree ,having
complexroots
.Thenforanyinteger
TheexpressionsonthelefthandsideofVieta'sformulaaretheelementarysymmetricfunctionsof
.The
proofofVieta'sformulafollowsbycomparingcoefficientsintheequation
Asinthequadraticcase,Vieta'sformulagivesanequationtofindthesumofroots:
Similarly,wehavethefollowingequationfortheproductofroots:
Vieta'sformulagivesrelationshipsbetweenpolynomialrootsandcoefficientsthatareoftenusefulinproblemsolving.
EXAMPLE
Suppose isanumbersuchthatthecubicpolynomial
allprimenumbers.Howmanypossibledistinctvaluesaretherefor ?
Let
since
and denotethethreeintegerrootsof
hasthreeintegerrootsthatare
.ThenbyVieta'sformula,wehave
and areprime,eachofthemarestrictlygreaterthan1,andhencenosuch
,but
exists.
EXAMPLE
[1968PutnamExam]Findallpolynomials
satisfyingtheconditionthatallrootsof
If
aretherealrootsof
suchthat
forall
arereal.
,thenVieta'sformulaimplies
whichimplies
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Notethatthisalsoshowsthat
Since
sincethelefthandsideisthesumofsquaresofrealnumbers.
,thisimplies
.AlsobyVieta'sformula,
inequality,wehave
,implying
Searchwikipagesandproblems
solutionsare
,
,and
.ThenbytheAMGM
.Wecanthenenumerateallsuchpolynomialstofindthe
.
EXAMPLE
Let
and
betherootsofthepolynomial
.Evaluate
Inthisproblem,theapplicationofVieta'sformulasisnotimmediatelyobvious,andtheexpressionhastobe
transformed.FromFactorization4,wehave
Nowweonlyneedtoknowhowtocalculate
.Again,fromfactorization,wehave
whichallowsustoconcludethat
ProblemSolvingBasic
Edit
TRY I TYOURSELF
Submityouranswer
.
EXAMPLE
Findalltriplesofcomplexnumberswhichsatisfythefollowingsystemofequations:
Any numbers
canbeconsideredastherootsofthemoniccubicpolynomial
ApplyingVieta'sformulatothepolynomial,weget
multiplicity ),whichimpliesthat
.Hence,theonlyrootof
is
(with
istheonlytripleofcomplexnumbersthatsatisfiesthesystemof
equations.
EXAMPLE
Let
and
betherootsofthepolynomial
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.Evaluate
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Theexpressionisequalto
.ByVieta'sFormula,weknowthat
so
Note:Acommonapproachwouldbetotryandfindeachrootofthepolynomial,especiallysinceweknowthatoneof
therootsmustbereal(why?).However,thisisnotnecessarilyaviableoption,sinceitishardforustodetermine
whattherootsactuallyare.
TRY I TYOURSELF
Ifthesumofthereciprocalsoftherootsofthequadratic
is
Submityouranswer
,whatis ?
ProblemSolvingIntermediate
Edit
EXAMPLE
Let
and
betherootsofthepolynomial
.Evaluate
Inthisproblem,theapplicationofVieta'sformulasisnotimmediatelyobvious,andtheexpressionhastobe
transformed.Fromfactorization,wehave
Nowweonlyneedtoknowhowtocalculate
.Again,fromfactorization,wehave
whichallowsustoconcludethat
EXAMPLE
If
and
aretherootstotheequation
,whatisthequadraticequationwhoserootsare
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EXAMPLE
[ARML2012,TeamProblems,#6]
Thezerosof
aredistinctcomplexnumbers.Computethe
averagevalueof
overallpossiblepermutations
ofthesesixnumbers.
ProblemSolvingAdvanced
Edit
EXAMPLE
[IMOshortlist]Determineallrealvaluesoftheparameter forwhichtheequation
hasexactlyfourdistinctrealrootsthatformageometricprogression.
Supposethat satisfiestherequirementsoftheproblemandthat ,
equation.Then
andwemayassumethat
aretherootsofthegiven
,sothat
.Noticethatthe
coefficientsaresymmetric,namelythefirstcoefficientisthesameasthefifthone,thesecondisthesameasthe
fourthandthethirdisthesameasthethird.Itguaranteesusthatif isaroot,thenitsreciprocal(whichis
)willalsobearoot.Hence,
so
andtherootsare
Now,byVieta'sformulawehave
Onsetting
and
theseequationsbecome
Substituting
inthesecondequationleadsto
thispolynomialfactorsas
is
.Since
.Weobservethat
,theonlyviablevalue
.Consequently
Rearrangingtheequation,weget
andtherefore
whoserootsare and
.Tosimplifyit,wecancall
,thusgettinganewform
.Wehavetoplugthetwobackinto
,leadingustotwomorequadratics,
gettingfinally
EXAMPLE
[CreatedbyMarkHennings]Showthat
foranyinteger
Solution:(ByAdityaSharma)
LetusstartwithDeMoivre'stheoremforanypositiveintegern.
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WecangroupRHSasfollowssincewehave
=
EquaingimaginarypartsonLHS&RHSweget,
Nowwelet
[Sincesin(mx)=
&
forany
.&theequationreducesto:
=0]
Let
Soitisaequationin'u'andit'ssumofrootsisgivenby
asweknowfromthevieta's.
Wehave
EXAMPLE
Whatis
[Needssolution]
[[problemshttps://brilliant.org/problems/rootsinagp2/?group=fqCLeVjFqXCV]]
VietaRootJumping
Edit
MainArticle:VietaRootJumping
Vietajumpingisanicknameforaparticularkindofdescentmethodthathasbecomequitepopularinhigherlevelmath
olympiadnumbertheoryproblems.Likeotherinstancesofdescent,itoccurswhenyouhavetosolveaDiophantine
equation(orsystemofequations,congruencesorinequalities)whosesolutionshavesomerecursivestructure.
SeeAlso
Edit
PolynomialRoots
FactoringPolynomials
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VietaRootJumping
Citeas:Vieta'sFormula.Brilliant.org.Retrieved01:24,March28,2016,fromhttps://brilliant.org/wiki/vietasformula/
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