Maths Olympiad Prep

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Algebra Difficulty 5.0 AIME Prove it JBMO

Problem:
Let xx, yy, zz be positive real numbers. Prove that:
x+2yz+2x+3y+y+2zx+2y+3z+z+2xy+2z+3x32 \frac{x+2y}{z+2x+3y} + \frac{y+2z}{x+2y+3z} + \frac{z+2x}{y+2z+3x} \leq \frac{3}{2}

Solution

Solution:
Notice that cycx+2yz+2x+3y=cyc(1x+y+zz+2x+3y)=3(x+y+z)cyc1z+2x+3y\sum_{cyc} \frac{x+2y}{z+2x+3y} = \sum_{cyc} \left(1 - \frac{x+y+z}{z+2x+3y}\right) = 3 - (x+y+z) \sum_{cyc} \frac{1}{z+2x+3y}.

We have to prove that 3(x+y+z)cyc1z+2x+3y323 - (x+y+z) \sum_{cyc} \frac{1}{z+2x+3y} \leq \frac{3}{2} or 32(x+y+z)cyc1z+2x+3y\frac{3}{2(x+y+z)} \leq \sum_{cyc} \frac{1}{z+2x+3y}.

By Cauchy-Schwarz we obtain cyc1z+2x+3y(1+1+1)2cyc(z+2x+3y)=32(x+y+z)\sum_{cyc} \frac{1}{z+2x+3y} \geq \frac{(1+1+1)^2}{\sum_{cyc}(z+2x+3y)} = \frac{3}{2(x+y+z)}.

Because the inequality is homogeneous, we can take x+y+z=1x+y+z=1.

Denote x+2y=ax+2y = a, y+2z=by+2z = b, z+2x=cz+2x = c. Hence, a+b+c=3(x+y+z)=3a+b+c = 3(x+y+z) = 3.

We have (k1)20(k+1)24kk+14kk+1(k-1)^2 \geq 0 \Leftrightarrow (k+1)^2 \geq 4k \Leftrightarrow \frac{k+1}{4} \geq \frac{k}{k+1} for all k>0k > 0.

Hence cycx+2yz+2x+3y=a1+aa+14=a+b+c+34=32\sum_{cyc} \frac{x+2y}{z+2x+3y} = \sum \frac{a}{1+a} \leq \sum \frac{a+1}{4} = \frac{a+b+c+3}{4} = \frac{3}{2}.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.