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Algebra Difficulty 5.8 AIME, harder Prove it Romania

Determine the positive real numbers a,b,c,da, b, c, d such that a+b+c+d=80a + b + c + d = 80 and
a+b1+a+c1+a+b+d1+a+b+c=8. a + \frac{b}{1+a} + \frac{c}{1+a+b} + \frac{d}{1+a+b+c} = 8.

Solution

Adding 44 to both sides of the second equation, we write:
1+a+1+a+b1+a+1+a+b+c1+a+b+1+a+b+c+d1+a+b+c=12. 1 + a + \frac{1+a+b}{1+a} + \frac{1+a+b+c}{1+a+b} + \frac{1+a+b+c+d}{1+a+b+c} = 12.
Applying the AM-GM inequality successively, we obtain:
1+a+1+a+b1+a2(1+a)1+a+b1+a=21+a+b;1+a+b+c1+a+b+1+a+b+c+d1+a+b+c21+a+b+c1+a+b1+a+b+c+d1+a+b+c=2811+a+b. \begin{aligned} 1 + a + \frac{1+a+b}{1+a} &\ge 2\sqrt{(1+a) \cdot \frac{1+a+b}{1+a}} = 2\sqrt{1+a+b}; \\ \frac{1+a+b+c}{1+a+b} + \frac{1+a+b+c+d}{1+a+b+c} &\ge 2\sqrt{\frac{1+a+b+c}{1+a+b} \cdot \frac{1+a+b+c+d}{1+a+b+c}} = \\ &\ge 2\sqrt{\frac{81}{1+a+b}}. \end{aligned}
By adding these two inequalities and applying the AM-GM inequality again, we have:
12=1+a+1+a+b1+a+1+a+b+c1+a+b+1+a+b+c+d1+a+b+c21+a+b+181+a+b12. \begin{aligned} 12 &= 1 + a + \frac{1+a+b}{1+a} + \frac{1+a+b+c}{1+a+b} + \frac{1+a+b+c+d}{1+a+b+c} \\ &\ge 2\sqrt{1+a+b} + \frac{18}{\sqrt{1+a+b}} \ge 12. \end{aligned}

From this, we obtain a+b=8a + b = 8 and
1+a=1+a+b1+a=1+a+b+c1+a+b=1+a+b+c+d1+a+b+c=3. 1 + a = \frac{1 + a + b}{1 + a} = \frac{1 + a + b + c}{1 + a + b} = \frac{1 + a + b + c + d}{1 + a + b + c} = 3.
Therefore, the desired numbers are a=2a = 2, b=6b = 6, c=18c = 18, d=54d = 54.

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