Problem

Source: Tuymaada 2023 Senior P5

Tags: analytic geometry, polynomial, algebra, Tuymaada



A small ship sails on an infinite coordinate sea. At the moment $t$ the ship is at the point with coordinates $(f(t), g(t))$, where $f$ and $g$ are two polynomials of third degree. Yesterday at $14:00$ the ship was at the same point as at $13:00$, and at $20:00$, it was at the same point as at $19:00$. Prove that the ship sails along a straight line.