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Algebra Difficulty 4.9 AIME Prove it China

Given function f(x)=2log3xf(x) = |2 - \log_3 x|, positive real numbers a,b,ca, b, c satisfy a<b<ca < b < c and f(a)=2f(b)=2f(c)f(a) = 2f(b) = 2f(c). Find the minimum of acb\frac{ac}{b}.

Solution

Notice that f(x)=log3(x9)f(x) = |\log_3(\frac{x}{9})| is monotonically decreasing on (0,9](0, 9] and monotonically increasing on [9,+)[9, +\infty).

By the conditions satisfied by a,b,ca, b, c, we have 0<a<b<9<c0 < a < b < 9 < c and
log3(9a)=2log3(9b)=2log3(c9). \log_3\left(\frac{9}{a}\right) = 2\log_3\left(\frac{9}{b}\right) = 2\log_3\left(\frac{c}{9}\right).
Therefore,
log3(acb)=log3(9a99bc9)=2log3(9a)+log3(9b)+log3(c9)=2, \log_3\left(\frac{ac}{b}\right) = \log_3\left(9 \cdot \frac{a}{9} \cdot \frac{9}{b} \cdot \frac{c}{9}\right) = 2 - \log_3\left(\frac{9}{a}\right) + \log_3\left(\frac{9}{b}\right) + \log_3\left(\frac{c}{9}\right) = 2,
namely, acb=32=9\frac{ac}{b} = 3^2 = 9. \square

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