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Algebra Difficulty 3.7 AMC 10/12 Prove it Turkey

Find the greatest value of the expression
(xy)(yz)(zx) |(x-y)(y-z)(z-x)|
for all real numbers xx, yy, zz satisfying x+y+z=0x + y + z = 0 and x2+y2+z2=6x^2 + y^2 + z^2 = 6.

Solution

Without the loss of generality we assume that xyzx \ge y \ge z. Let xy=ax-y = a and yz=by-z = b. We have to find the maximum value of ab(a+b)ab(a+b). Since x+y+z=0x+y+z=0 and x2+y2+z2=6x^2+y^2+z^2=6, we get a2+b2+(a+b)2=(xy)2+(yz)2+(xz)2=3(x2+y2+z2)(x+y+z)2=18a^2+b^2+(a+b)^2 = (x-y)^2+(y-z)^2+(x-z)^2 = 3(x^2+y^2+z^2)-(x+y+z)^2 = 18. Thus, a2+ab+b2=9a^2+ab+b^2 = 9. By AM-GM inequality,
ab(a+b)24a2+ab+b23=3 ab \le \frac{(a+b)^2}{4} \le \frac{a^2+ab+b^2}{3} = 3
and hence
ab(a+b)323=63. ab(a+b) \le 3 \cdot 2\sqrt{3} = 6\sqrt{3}.
Equality holds for x=3x = \sqrt{3}, y=0y = 0, z=3z = -\sqrt{3}.

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