Showing posts with label trial and error. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trial and error. Show all posts

Sunday, May 17, 2015

One Worked Example of Solving Heuristic IMO Math Problem

Olympiad Algebra Problem:

If $a,\,b,\,x,\,y\in R$ such that

$ax +by =7$

$ax^2+by^2=49$

$ax^3+by^3=133$

$ax^4+by^4=406$

Evaluate $ax^5+by^5$.

The solution from the U.K. mathematician: