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Algebra Difficulty 4.6 AIME Prove it

Given the function f(x)=xx2+1f(x)=\frac{x}{x^2+1}, x(1,1)x\in \left(-1,1\right).
(1)(1) Prove that f(x)f\left(x\right) is an odd function.
(2)(2) Determine and prove the monotonicity of the function f(x)f\left(x\right) on (1,1)\left(-1,1\right).
(3)(3) Solve the inequality f(2x1)+f(x)<0f\left(2x-1\right)+f\left(x\right) \lt 0.

Solution

### Solution

#### Part (1)(1): Prove that f(x)f\left(x\right) is an odd function
- The domain (1,1)\left(-1,1\right) is symmetric about the origin. Let's check if f(x)=f(x)f(-x) = -f(x):
f(x)=x1+(x)2=x1+x2=f(x) f\left(-x\right) = \frac{-x}{1+(-x)^{2}} = -\frac{x}{1+{x}^{2}} = -f\left(x\right)
- Since f(x)=f(x)f\left(-x\right) = -f\left(x\right) holds true, we conclude that f(x)f(x) is an odd function.

#### Part (2)(2): Determine and prove the monotonicity of the function f(x)f\left(x\right) on (1,1)\left(-1,1\right)
- Consider any two points x1x_1 and x2x_2 such that 1<x1<x2<1-1 \lt x_{1} \lt x_{2} \lt 1. We aim to compare f(x1)f(x_1) and f(x2)f(x_2):
f(x1)f(x2)=x11+x12x21+x22=(x1x2)+x1x2(x2x1)(1+x12)(1+x22) f(x_{1}) - f(x_{2}) = \frac{x_{1}}{1+x_{1}^{2}} - \frac{x_{2}}{1+x_{2}^{2}} = \frac{(x_{1}-x_{2}) + x_{1}x_{2}(x_{2}-x_{1})}{(1+x_{1}^{2})(1+x_{2}^{2})}
=(x1x2)(1x1x2)(1+x12)(1+x22) = \frac{(x_{1}-x_{2})(1-x_{1}x_{2})}{(1+x_{1}^{2})(1+x_{2}^{2})}
- Since x10x_1 0. Thus:
(x1x2)(1x1x2)<0 (x_{1}-x_{2})(1-x_{1}x_{2}) < 0
- This implies f(x1)f(x2)<0f(x_{1}) - f(x_{2}) < 0, or equivalently, f(x1)<f(x2)f(x_{1}) < f(x_{2}). Therefore, f(x)f(x) is monotonically increasing on (1,1)(-1,1).

#### Part (3)(3): Solve the inequality f(2x1)+f(x)<0f\left(2x-1\right)+f\left(x\right) \lt 0
- We have:
f(2x1)<f(x)=f(x) f\left(2x-1\right) < -f\left(x\right) = f\left(-x\right)
- This leads to the inequalities:
1<2x1<x<1 -1 < 2x-1 < -x < 1
- Solving for xx yields:
0<x<13 0 < x < \frac{1}{3}
- Thus, the solution set for the inequality is (0,13)\boxed{(0, \frac{1}{3})}.

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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.