, and are non-zero real numbers such that .
(1) Prove that .
(2) Determine all possible values of the expression .
Mongolian Mathematical Olympiad
Solution
Answer: .
Let us denote . Then, under the given condition, we have .
(1) If , then . If , then . Hence . This completes the proof of the first part.
(2) Since , the function
is well defined. Given and , the values and are attained because and . Now we show there are no other values of .
Indeed, if , then . If , then , thus .
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