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Squares joining quadratics (Posted on 2010-02-24) Difficulty: 3 of 5
A and B are points on the graph y=x2+8x+7
C and D are points on the graph y=-x2+8x-7
and ABCD is a square.

Find all possible x-coordinates of point A

  Submitted by Jer    
Rating: 4.0000 (1 votes)
Solution: (Hide)
Any square must be centered at the origin. Therefore B is the image of A rotated by 90 degrees about the origin. (C and D will work themselves out.)

A=(x,x2+8x+7)
B=(-x2-8x-7,x)

but since B is also on the first parabola we can substitute this point into the first equation which simplifies into the quartic

0 = x4+16x3+70x2+47x

Which has 4 real roots:
x={0, -.8157899, -7.756981, 7.427229}

Comments: ( You must be logged in to post comments.)
  Subject Author Date
re: Four squares by analysis (spoiler)Jer2011-02-12 19:10:06
Four squares by analysis (spoiler)Harry2010-02-27 02:05:46
re(2): computer exploration (there is a 4th. a hint)Jer2010-02-26 15:01:36
Some Thoughtsre: computer exploration (possible spoiler) -- two more squaresCharlie2010-02-24 18:26:20
Some Thoughtscomputer exploration (possible spoiler)Charlie2010-02-24 13:04:26
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