I got this problem from the 2008 Harvard-MIT Mathematics tournament:

Given: a + b + c = 0, a 3 + b3 + c 3 = a 5 + b5 + c 5 . Find the value of a 2 + b2 + c 2 .

It took me a while to determine the right approach, (my solution is pretty lengthy still), but I'm
confident that it is correct.

I began by making some observations:

a + b + c = 0 a 2 b + a b2 + a b c = 0 3 a 2 b + 3 a b2 + 3 a b c = 0
a b c + b2 c + b c 2 = 0 3 a b c + 3 b2 c + 3 b c 2 = 0
a2 c + a b c + a c 2 = 0 3 a2 c + 3 a b c + 3 a c 2 = 0

Also,Ha + b + cL3 = 3i=0 Ha + bLi c 3-i = a 3 + b3 + c 3 + 3 a 2 b + 3 a 2 c + 3 b2 c + 6 a b c

3
i

by the binomial theorem. Substituting in the expressions above, we obtain

a 3 + b3 + c 3 - 3 a b c = 0 a 3 + b3 + c 3 = 3 a b c 1
3
Ha 3 + b3 + c 3 L = a b c.

Similarly, Ha + b + cL5 can be expanded- I did so, but it took a while and the factoring I did took
some time, so I'll skip to the important step. I expanded that expression and grouped all the terms
with the same constant together like so:

Ha + b + cL5 = 0 = a 5 + b5 + c 5 + 30 Ha 2 b c 2 + a b2 c 2 + a 2 b2 cL + 20 Ha b c 3 + a 3 b c + a b3 cL + @
10 Ha 2 c 3 + b2 c 3 + a 3 c 2 + b3 c 2 + a 3 b2 + a 2 b3 L + 5 Ha c 4 + b c 4 + a 4 c + b4 c + a 4 b + a b4 LD

This equation is what we will ultimately solve, but there are a few more identities we need to make
use of before it will look useful. First, since a + b + c = 0 we can square to obtain
Ha + b + cL2 = a 2 + b2 + c 2 + 2 Ha b + b c + a cL, or - 12 Ha 2 + b2 + c 2 L = a b + b c + a c.

Multiplying the equation a + b + c = 0 by a c 3 , b c 3 , a 3 b, a 3 c, a b3 and b3 c respectively yields six

equations, all equal to zero, similar to the three we were had before with the cubes: these combined
allow us to reduce the equation considerably. It
becomes:

0 = a 5 + b5 + c 5 + 25 Ha 2 b c 2 + a b2 c 2 + a 2 b2 cL + 10 Ha b c 3 + a 3 b c + a b3 cL =
a 3 + b3 + c 3 + 25 Ha b cL Ha c + a b + b cL + 10 Ha b cL Hc 2 + a 2 + b2 L

Letting a 3 + b3 + c 3 = u and a 2 + b2 + c 2 = x, we can substitute to obtain

0 = u - 25 u * x + 10 u * x
 10 Ha 2 c 3 + b2 c 3 + a 3 c 2 + b3 c 2 + a 3 b2 + a 2 b3 L + 5 Ha c 4 + b c 4 + a 4 c + b4 c + a 4 b + a b4 LD
2 Harvard-MIT Contest Problem.nb
This equation is what we will ultimately solve, but there are a few more identities we need to make
use of before it will look useful. First, since a + b + c = 0 we can square to obtain
Ha + b + cL2 = a 2 + b2 + c 2 + 2 Ha b + b c + a cL, or - 12 Ha 2 + b2 + c 2 L = a b + b c + a c.

Multiplying the equation a + b + c = 0 by a c 3 , b c 3 , a 3 b, a 3 c, a b3 and b3 c respectively yields six

equations, all equal to zero, similar to the three we were had before with the cubes: these combined
allow us to reduce the equation considerably. It
becomes:

0 = a 5 + b5 + c 5 + 25 Ha 2 b c 2 + a b2 c 2 + a 2 b2 cL + 10 Ha b c 3 + a 3 b c + a b3 cL =
a 3 + b3 + c 3 + 25 Ha b cL Ha c + a b + b cL + 10 Ha b cL Hc 2 + a 2 + b2 L

Letting a 3 + b3 + c 3 = u and a 2 + b2 + c 2 = x, we can substitute to obtain

0 = u - 256 u * x + 103 u * x

0 = 1 - 56 x

6
a 2 + b2 + c 2 = 5

And we have our final answer.

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 Harvard-MIT Contest Problem.nb 3

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