We consider all positive real numbers a,b,c,d for which (a+c)(b+d)=ac+bd holds. Determine the smallest value that S=ba+cb+dc+ad can take.
A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.
Solution
The smallest possible value for S is 8. To show that S≥8 always holds, we apply the AM-GM inequality twice: (ba+dc)+(cb+ad)≥2bdac+2acbd=abcd2(ac+bd)=abcd2(a+c)(b+d)≥2⋅abcd2ac⋅2bd=8. Equality holds at the points of the inequalities when a=c and b=d. This allows us to rewrite (a+c)(b+d)=ac+bd as 4ab=a2+b2. Solving for a yields a=b(2±3), and thus a possible solution S=8 for b=d=1 and a=c=2+3.
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Source: NuminaMath-1.5,
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