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Algebra Difficulty 6.3 National Olympiad Prove it United States

Problem:
Suppose a,b,ca, b, c are real numbers such that a+b0a+b \geq 0, b+c0b+c \geq 0, and c+a0c+a \geq 0. Prove that
a+b+ca+b+c3. a+b+c \geq \frac{|a|+|b|+|c|}{3} .

(Note: x|x| is called the absolute value of xx and is defined as follows. If x0x \geq 0 then x=x|x|=x; and if x<0x<0 then x=x|x|=-x. For example, 6=6|6|=6, 0=0|0|=0 and 6=6|-6|=6.)

Solutions — 3

Solution 1

Solution:
The inequality b+c0b+c \geq 0 gives a+b+caa+b+c \geq a. On the other hand, adding up the other two given inequalities yields (a+b)+(c+a)0(a+b)+(c+a) \geq 0, resulting in a+b+caa+b+c \geq -a. Since a=a|a|=a or a-a, we have in any case that
a+b+ca. a+b+c \geq |a| .
Similarly
a+b+cba+b+cc \begin{aligned} & a+b+c \geq |b| \\ & a+b+c \geq |c| \end{aligned}
Now adding these three inequalities and dividing by 3 yields the desired inequality.

Solution 2

Alt Solution 1:
The previous solution used the symmetry of a,ba, b, and cc. We can also use that symmetry to assume without loss of generality that abca \geq b \geq c.
If bb and cc are both negative, then so is b+cb+c, which contradicts the given information. So there can be at most one negative value among the three, which with our ordering must be cc.

In the case where a,ba, b, and cc are all positive or 00, then the positive (or zero) number x=a+b+cx=a+b+c is greater than or equal to x/3x / 3.

Otherwise, since we have assumed that cc is the least of the three, cc is negative while aa and bb are not. Then a+b+c=a+bcaa+b+c=a+b-|c| \geq a since b+c0b+c \geq 0 tells us that bc=cb \geq -c=|c|. On the other hand a+b+c3=a+bc3a\frac{|a|+|b|+|c|}{3}=\frac{a+b-c}{3} \leq a since the average of three numbers is less than or equal to the greatest of the numbers. By transitivity we have a+b+ca+b+c3a+b+c \geq \frac{|a|+|b|+|c|}{3}.

Solution 3

Alt Solution 2:
The case where a,ba, b, and cc are all positive or zero can be handled as before. For the case where a,b0a, b \geq 0 and c<0c<0, a+b+ca+b+c3=a+b+ca+bc3=2a+2b+4c3=2(a+b)+2(b+c)30a+b+c-\frac{|a|+|b|+|c|}{3}=a+b+c-\frac{a+b-c}{3}=\frac{2 a+2 b+4 c}{3}=\frac{2(a+b)+2(b+c)}{3} \geq 0.

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