Problem:
Suppose , , and are real numbers that satisfy , and . Prove that , , and must all be positive.
Problem:
Suppose , , and are real numbers that satisfy , and . Prove that , , and must all be positive.
Solution:
Note that , , and are the roots of the polynomial
We claim that this polynomial has no negative roots. To see this, if we plug in a negative value of , all four terms we are adding are negative, so the sum is negative. If we plug in , the first three terms are negative, and is negative since is positive, so the sum is again negative. Thus, whenever , the sum is negative, so any real root must satisfy . So, since , , and are all roots, they must all be positive.