Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /3 of 39

Geometry Difficulty 4.5 AIME Prove it Ireland

Suppose aa, bb, cc are the side lengths of a triangle. Prove that
a1+a,b1+b,c1+c \frac{a}{1+a}, \frac{b}{1+b}, \frac{c}{1+c}
are also the side lengths of a triangle.

Solution

First of all, if xx, y>1y > -1, then
x1+x<y1+yx+xy<y+yx, \frac{x}{1+x} < \frac{y}{1+y} \Leftrightarrow x+xy < y+yx,
i.e., iff 1<x<y-1 < x < y. Hence, since a<b+ca < b + c, and bb, c>0c > 0,
a1+a<b+c1+b+c=b1+b+c+c1+b+c<b1+b+c1+c, \frac{a}{1+a} < \frac{b+c}{1+b+c} = \frac{b}{1+b+c} + \frac{c}{1+b+c} < \frac{b}{1+b} + \frac{c}{1+c},
as required.

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.

Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.