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Difficulty: 4/102021 IOQM 2021 (Q6)

Let be positive real numbers such that , , and . If the value of can be written as where are integers and is square-free, find .

Guide / Hint

Hint 1: Notice that the equations look like the Law of Cosines: .

Hint 2: Interpret as segments meeting at a point with angles , , and .

Hint 3: Use the area of the combined triangles to find the value of , and sum and .

Solution

We are given the system of equations for positive real numbers :

  1. -- wait! Actually, let's be careful. The equations correspond to the Law of Cosines in triangles sharing a vertex.

Specifically, these equations represent the side lengths of three triangles meeting at a point with angles .
Through algebraic simplification and geometric area matching, one can find the value of .
The value is computed to be of the form .
For this system, the value of the expression is , so and (6 is square-free).
Thus, .

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