Olympiad Maths Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 5.6 AIME, harder Prove it Czech Republic

Prove that if positive numbers a,b,ca, b, c satisfy the inequality 5abc>a3+b3+c35abc > a^3 + b^3 + c^3, then there is a triangle with sides a,b,ca, b, c.

Solution

Let positive numbers a,b,ca, b, c satisfy the inequality 5abc>a3+b3+c35abc > a^3 + b^3 + c^3. Let us show that there exists a triangle with the sides a,b,ca, b, c. On the contrary, suppose that there is no such triangle. Then for a,b,ca, b, c at least one of the triangle inequalities is not valid. Let, e.g. ca+bc \ge a+b, i.e. c=a+b+xc = a+b+x, where x0x \ge 0. Then from the initial inequality it follows that
5ab(a+b+x)>a3+b3+(a+b)3+3(a+b)2x+e(a+b)x2+x3 5ab(a + b + x) > a^3 + b^3 + (a + b)^3 + 3(a + b)^2 x + e(a + b)x^2 + x^3
or
2a2b+2ab2>2a3+2b3+(a+b)3+abx+3(a2+b2)x+3(a+b)x2+x3 2a^2b + 2ab^2 > 2a^3 + 2b^3 + (a+b)^3 + abx + 3(a^2+b^2)x + 3(a+b)x^2 + x^3
Since the last four summands at the left side are nonnegative, we have
2a2b+2ab2>2a3+2b3a3+b3a2bab2<0(a+b)(ab)2<0 \begin{aligned} 2a^2b + 2ab^2 &> 2a^3 + 2b^3 & \Leftrightarrow \\ a^3 + b^3 &- a^2b - ab^2 < 0 & \Leftrightarrow \\ (a+b)(a-b)^2 &< 0 \end{aligned}
which is impossible.

In fact, assume the contrary: Assume that there are three positive reals a,b,ca, b, c satisfying 5abc>a3+b3+c35abc > a^3 + b^3 + c^3, but they are not the sidelengths of a triangle. Since everything is symmetric, we can WLOG assume that abca \ge b \ge c. Then, c+a>bc+a > b (since aba \ge b) and a+b>ca+b > c (since aca \ge c), so that we must have b+cab+c \le a (else, the positive reals a,b,ca, b, c would be the sidelengths of a triangle). Hence, c+ab>0c+a-b > 0, a+bc>0a+b-c > 0 and b+ca0b+c-a \le 0, so that
(b+ca)(c+ab)(a+bc)0 (b+c-a)(c+a-b)(a+b-c) \le 0
Thus,
5abc(b+ca)(c+ab)(a+bc)5abc 5abc - (b+c-a)(c+a-b)(a+b-c) \ge 5abc
On the other hand, 5abc>a3+b3+c35abc > a^3 + b^3 + c^3. Thus,
5abc(b+ca)(c+ab)(a+bc)>a3+b3+c310abc+(a3+b3+c3)(a+b+c)(bc+ca+ab)>a3+b3+c310abc>(a+b+c)(bc+ca+ab) \begin{aligned} 5abc - (b+c-a)(c+a-b)(a+b-c) &> a^3 + b^3 + c^3 & \Leftrightarrow \\ 10abc + (a^3 + b^3 + c^3) - (a+b+c)(bc+ca+ab) &> a^3 + b^3 + c^3 & \Leftrightarrow \\ 10abc &> (a+b+c)(bc+ca+ab) & \Leftrightarrow \end{aligned}
Division by abcabc yields
10>(a+b+c)(1a+1b+1c) 10 > (a+b+c) \left( \frac{1}{a} + \frac{1}{b} + \frac{1}{c} \right)
Now, since 10=32+110 = 3^2 + 1, the IMO 2004 problem 4 yields that a,b,ca, b, c are the sidelengths of a triangle, contradicting our assumption. Thus, our assumption was wrong, and we are done. ☐

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