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Algebra Difficulty 4.9 AIME Prove it Ireland

Prove that 14t23t32||1-4t^2|-3|t|| \le \frac{3}{2} for real numbers tt that satisfy 1t1-1 \le t \le 1.

Solution

By letting s=ts = |t| we see that it is enough to show 14s23s32|1 - 4s^2 - 3s| \le \frac{3}{2}, for 0s10 \le s \le 1. Now 14s23s=f(s)|1 - 4s^2 - 3s| = |f(s)|, where
f(s)=14s23s={14s23s,if 0s124s23s1,if 12s1={(1+s)(14s),if 0s12(4s+1)(s1),if 12s1={p(s),if 0s12q(s),if 12s1. \begin{aligned} f(s) &= |1 - 4s^2| - 3s \\ &= \begin{cases} 1 - 4s^2 - 3s, & \text{if } 0 \le s \le \frac{1}{2} \\ 4s^2 - 3s - 1, & \text{if } \frac{1}{2} \le s \le 1 \end{cases} \\ &= \begin{cases} (1+s)(1-4s), & \text{if } 0 \le s \le \frac{1}{2} \\ (4s+1)(s-1), & \text{if } \frac{1}{2} \le s \le 1 \end{cases} \\ &= \begin{cases} p(s), & \text{if } 0 \le s \le \frac{1}{2} \\ q(s), & \text{if } \frac{1}{2} \le s \le 1. \end{cases} \end{aligned}
Figure 1
Clearly, p,qp, q are quadratic functions; q(s)=p(s)q(s) = -p(-s); pp cuts crosses the horizontal axis at 1-1 and 1/41/4 and is concave, while qq is convex and crosses the horizontal axis at 1/4-1/4 and 11. Also, pp is decreasing on (0,1/2)(0, 1/2), negative on (1/4,1/2)(1/4, 1/2), while qq is increasing and negative on (1/2,1)(1/2, 1). Thus the graph of ff is a union of two parabolic arcs, which meet at s=1/2s = 1/2 where ff takes its least value, namely 3/2-3/2. It takes its largest value at 00. In other words,
32f(s)1,0s1 -\frac{3}{2} \le f(s) \le 1, \quad 0 \le s \le 1
and so f(s)32|f(s)| \le \frac{3}{2}, with equality when s=1/2s = 1/2.

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