Let a,b,c be real numbers such that 0≤a≤b≤c. Prove that if a+b+c=ab+bc+ca>0, then bc(a+1)≥2. When does the equality hold?
Solution
Let a+b+c=ab+bc+ca=k. Since (a+b+c)2≥3(ab+bc+ca), we get that k2≥3k. Since k>0, we obtain that k≥3. We have bc≥ca≥ab, so from the above relation we deduce that bc≥1. By AM-GM, b+c≥2bc and consequently b+c≥2. The equality holds iff b=c. The constraint gives us a=b+c−1b+c−bc=1−b+c−1bc−1≥1−2bc−1bc−1=2bc−1bc(2−bc). For bc=2 condition a≥0 gives bc(a+1)≥2 with equality iff a=0 and b=c=2. For bc<2, taking into account the estimation for a, we get abc≥2bc−1bc(2−bc)=2bc−1bc(2−bc). Since 2bc−1bc≥1, with equality for bc=1, we get bc(a+1)≥2 with equality iff a=b=c=1. For bc>2 we have bc(a+1)>2(a+1)≥2. The proof is complete. The equality holds iff a=b=c=1 or a=0 and b=c=2. □
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