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Algebra Difficulty 4.7 AIME Prove it United States

Problem:
Let a,b,ca, b, c be positive real numbers satisfying abc=1a b c=1. Prove that
a(a1)+b(b1)+c(c1)0. a(a-1)+b(b-1)+c(c-1) \geq 0 .

Solution

Solution:
At least two of a,b,ca, b, c are either not less than 11 or not greater than 11. Assume that aa and bb are on the same side of 11. Next, transform the inequality as follows:
a(a1)+b(b1)+c(c1)?0a(a1)+b(b1)+c2(11c)?0a(a1)+b(b1)+c2(1ab)?0a(a1)+b(b1)c2(a1)c2(aba)?0(ac2)(a1)+(bc2a)(b1)?0(a1a2b2)(a1)+(b1a2b)(b1)?0 \begin{aligned} a(a-1)+b(b-1)+c(c-1) &\stackrel{?}{\geq} 0 \\ a(a-1)+b(b-1)+c^{2}\left(1-\frac{1}{c}\right) &\stackrel{?}{\geq} 0 \\ a(a-1)+b(b-1)+c^{2}(1-a b) &\stackrel{?}{\geq} 0 \\ a(a-1)+b(b-1)-c^{2}(a-1)-c^{2}(a b-a) &\stackrel{?}{\geq} 0 \\ \left(a-c^{2}\right)(a-1)+\left(b-c^{2} a\right)(b-1) &\stackrel{?}{\geq} 0 \\ \left(a-\frac{1}{a^{2} b^{2}}\right)(a-1)+\left(b-\frac{1}{a^{2} b}\right)(b-1) &\stackrel{?}{\geq} 0 \end{aligned}
Using the hypotheses concerning aa and bb, it is not hard to see that the four factors in parentheses are all nonnegative or all nonpositive, and therefore the left side is nonnegative.

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