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Algebra Difficulty 4.5 AIME Prove it

Given aa, bb, cRc \in \mathbb{R}, a2+b2+c2=1a^{2}+b^{2}+c^{2}=1.
(I) Prove that a+b+c3|a+b+c| \leq \sqrt{3};
(II) If the inequality x1+x+1(a+b+c)2|x-1|+|x+1| \geq (a+b+c)^{2} is always satisfied for all real numbers aa, bb, cc, determine the range of the real number xx.

Solution

(I) To prove: By using the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality, we have (a+b+c)2(12+12+12)(a2+b2+c2)(a+b+c)^{2} \leq (1^{2}+1^{2}+1^{2})(a^{2}+b^{2}+c^{2}), which simplifies to (a+b+c)23(a+b+c)^{2} \leq 3, and hence a+b+c3|a+b+c| \leq \sqrt{3}. a+b+c3\boxed{|a+b+c| \leq \sqrt{3}}

(II) For the solution: The inequality x1+x+1(a+b+c)2|x-1|+|x+1| \geq (a+b+c)^{2} is always satisfied for all real numbers aa, bb, cc. From part (I), we know that x1+x+13|x-1|+|x+1| \geq 3. We analyze this inequality in three cases depending on the value of xx:

- Case 1: If x1x \geq 1, both x1|x-1| and x+1|x+1| are equal to x1x-1 and x+1x+1, respectively, so the inequality becomes 2x32x \geq 3, which gives us x32x \geq \frac{3}{2}.
- Case 2: If x1x \leq -1, both x1|x-1| and x+1|x+1| are equal to (x1)-(x-1) and (x+1)-(x+1), respectively, so the inequality becomes 2x3-2x \geq 3, leading to x32x \leq -\frac{3}{2}.
- Case 3: If 1<x<1-1 < x < 1, x1=(x1)|x-1| = -(x-1) and x+1=x+1|x+1| = x+1, combining these gives 232 \geq 3, which is not possible.

Combining the results of the valid cases, we find that xx is either 32\geq \frac{3}{2} or 32\leq -\frac{3}{2}. Therefore, the range of the real number xx is (,32][32,+)(-\infty, -\frac{3}{2}] \cup [\frac{3}{2}, +\infty). (,32][32,+)\boxed{(-\infty, -\frac{3}{2}] \cup [\frac{3}{2}, +\infty)}

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Source: NuminaMath-1.5, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.