\( \frac{y}{x-z}=\frac{x+y}{z}=\frac{x}{y} \) then \( x: y: z= \)
Step-by-step Solution:
Correct Answer: D (4:2:3)
To find the ratio $x:y:z$, we can create a system of equations from the given proportions and solve for the relationships between the variables.
The given relation is:
$$ \frac{y}{x-z} = \frac{x+y}{z} = \frac{x}{y} $$We can create two separate equations by pairing up the ratios:
We now have two expressions for $xz$. Let's set them equal to each other:
$xy + y^2 = x^2 - y^2$
Rearrange this into a homogeneous quadratic equation:
$x^2 - xy - 2y^2 = 0$
To find the ratio of $x$ to $y$, we can divide the entire equation by $y^2$ (assuming $y \neq 0$):
$$ \left(\frac{x}{y}\right)^2 - \left(\frac{x}{y}\right) - 2 = 0 $$
Let $k = \frac{x}{y}$. The equation becomes $k^2 - k - 2 = 0$. Factoring this quadratic gives:
$(k-2)(k+1) = 0$
This yields two possible values for the ratio $k$: $k=2$ or $k=-1$. Assuming the variables are positive (as is common in ratio problems), we take the positive solution, $k=2$.
So, $\frac{x}{y} = 2$, which means $x=2y$.
Now that we know $x=2y$, we can use one of the original ratios to find $z$. The common value of the ratios is $k = \frac{x}{y} = 2$.
Let's use the ratio $\frac{x+y}{z} = k = 2$:
$$ \frac{x+y}{z} = 2 $$
Substitute $x=2y$:
$$ \frac{2y+y}{z} = 2 \implies \frac{3y}{z} = 2 $$
$3y = 2z \implies z = \frac{3}{2}y$
We now have all three variables expressed in terms of $y$:
The ratio $x:y:z$ is therefore:
$$ 2y : y : \frac{3}{2}y $$
To express this with integers, we can divide by $y$ and then multiply all parts by 2:
$2 : 1 : \frac{3}{2} \implies 4 : 2 : 3$