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Find all integers a, b, c such that a2 = bc + 4, b2 = ca + 4. |
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Answer» Suppose a = b. Then we get one equation: a2 = ac + 4. This reduces to a(a - c) = 4. Therefore a = 1, a - c = 4, a = -1, a - c = -4, a = 4, a - c = 1, a = -4, a - c = -1, a = 2, a - c = 2, a = -2, a - c = -2. Thus we get (a, b, c) = (1, 1,-3), (-1,-1, 3), (4, 4, 3), (-4, -4,-3), (2, 2, 0), (-2, -2, 0). If a ≠ b, subtracting the second relation from the first we get a2 - b2 = c(b - a). This gives a + b = -c. Substituting this in the first equation, we get a2 = b(-a - b) + 4. Thus a2 + b2 + ab = 4. Multiplication by 2 gives (a + b)2 + a2 + b2 = 8. Thus (a, b) = (2, -2), (-2, 2), (2, 0), (-2, 0), (0, 2), (0, -2). We get respectively c = 0; 0, -2, 2, -2, 2. Thus we get the triples: (a, b, c) = (1, 1, -3), (-1,-1, 3), (4, 4, 3), (-4, -4, -3), (2, 2, 0),(-2,-2, 0), (2,-2, 0), (-2, 2, 0), (2, 0,-2), (-2, 0, 2), (0, 2,-2), (0,-2, 2). |
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