AMC10 2013 10B, Problem 19

The real numbers $c,b,a$ form an arithmetic sequence with $a \geq b \geq c \geq 0$. The quadratic $ax^2+bx+c$ has exactly one root. What is this root?

Solution: It is given that $ax^2+bx+c=0$ has 1 real root, so the discriminant is zero, or $b^2=4ac$. Because a, b, c are in arithmetic progression, $b-a=c-b$, or $b=\frac {a+c} {2}$. We need to find the unique root, or $-\frac {b} {2a}$ (discriminant is 0). From $b^2=4ac$, we can get $-\frac {b} {2a} =-\frac {2c} {b}$. Ignoring the negatives(for now), we have $\frac {2c} {b} = \frac {2c} {\frac {a+c} {2}} = \frac {4c} {a+c} = \frac {1} {\frac {1} {\frac {4c} {a+c}}} = \frac {1} {\frac {a+c} {4c}} = \frac {1} {\frac {a} {4c} + \frac {1} {4} }$. Fortunately, finding $\frac {a} {c}$ is not very hard. Plug in $b=\frac {a+c} {2}$ to $b^2=4ac$, we have $a^2+2ac+c^2=16ac$, or $a^2-14ac+c^2=0$, and dividing by $c^2$ gives $\left( \frac {a} {c} \right) ^2-14 \left( \frac {a} {c} \right) +1 = 0$, so $\frac {a} {c} = \frac {14 \pm \sqrt {192} } {2} = 7 \pm 4 \sqrt {3}$. But $7-4\sqrt {3} <1$, violating the assumption that $a \ge c$. Therefore, $\frac {a} {c} = 7 +4\sqrt {3}$. Plugging this in, we have $\frac {1} {\frac {a} {4c} + \frac {1} {4} } = \frac {1} {2+ \sqrt {3} } = 2- \sqrt {3}$. But we need the negative of this, so the answer is $\fbox{-2+\sqrt{3}}.$

Answer: -2+\sqrt{3}