Problem:
If the real numbers are such that , show that
, 2008
Solution
Solution:
If then we write the given inequality equivalently as
which is of course true.
If instead , then i.e.
We are going to prove that also
thus adding (1) and (2) together we'll get the desired result in this case too.
For the truth of (2):
If , then we rewrite (2) equivalently as
which is of course true.
If instead , then , i.e.
But it is also true that
because this is equivalent to , i.e. to which holds. Adding (3) and (4) together we get the truth of (2) in this case too and we are done.
You can instead consider the following generalization:
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