IMO 1962 · Problem 4

Solve the equation \(\cos^2 x+\cos^2 2x+\cos^2 3x=1\).

Official text of the problem. Official problem paper (PDF)

Answer

\[ \boxed{x=\frac{\pi}{4}+\frac{k\pi}{2} \quad\text{or}\quad x=\frac{\pi}{6}+\frac{k\pi}{3}, \qquad k\in\mathbb Z.} \]

Solution

Using the double-angle and sum-to-product identities, \[ \cos^2 x+\cos^2 3x =1+\frac{\cos 2x+\cos 6x}{2} =1+\cos 4x\cos 2x. \] Thus the given equation is equivalent to \[ \cos 2x(\cos 4x+\cos 2x)=0, \] or \[ 2\cos x\cos 2x\cos 3x=0. \]

If \(\cos x=0\), then \(x=\pi/2+n\pi\) for some integer \(n\), which also gives \(\cos 3x=0\). Therefore the equation is equivalent to \[ \cos 2x=0\quad\text{or}\quad\cos 3x=0. \] These conditions yield, respectively, \[ x=\frac{\pi}{4}+\frac{k\pi}{2} \quad\text{or}\quad x=\frac{\pi}{6}+\frac{k\pi}{3}, \qquad k\in\mathbb Z. \] All transformations were equivalences, so every listed value satisfies the original equation and there are no other solutions.

The solution was checked against John Scholes' IMO solution archive (Kalva).