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Algebra Difficulty 4.5 AIME Prove it

Given x>0 x>0 , y>0 y>0 , z>0 z>0 ,
(Ⅰ) Compare the magnitude of x2x+y \frac{x^{2}}{x+y} with 3xy4 \frac{3x-y}{4} ;
(Ⅱ) Using the conclusions from (Ⅰ), prove that:
x3x+y+y3y+z+z3z+xxy+yz+zx2 \frac{x^{3}}{x+y} + \frac{y^{3}}{y+z} + \frac{z^{3}}{z+x} \geq \frac{xy+yz+zx}{2} .

Solution

(Ⅰ) First, we compare the two expressions:
x2x+yand3xy4 \frac{x^{2}}{x+y} \quad \text{and} \quad \frac{3x-y}{4} .
The difference between them is:
x2x+y3xy4=4x2(3xy)(x+y)4(x+y)=4x23x2xy+xy+y24(x+y)=x2+y24(x+y) \frac{x^{2}}{x+y} - \frac{3x-y}{4} = \frac{4x^2 - (3x-y)(x+y)}{4(x+y)} = \frac{4x^2 - 3x^2 - xy + xy + y^2}{4(x+y)} = \frac{x^2 + y^2}{4(x+y)}
Since x2 x^2 and y2 y^2 are both nonnegative because x,y>0 x, y > 0 , and x+y>0 x + y > 0 by the same argument, we have:
x2+y24(x+y)0 \frac{x^2 + y^2}{4(x+y)} \geq 0
Therefore,
x2x+y3xy4 \frac{x^{2}}{x+y} \geq \frac{3x-y}{4} .

(Ⅱ) By applying the result from (Ⅰ), we have:
x3x+y3x2xy4 \frac{x^{3}}{x+y} \geq \frac{3x^{2}-xy}{4}
Similarly, we can derive that:
y3y+z3y2yz4 \frac{y^{3}}{y+z} \geq \frac{3y^{2}-yz}{4}
z3z+x3z2zx4 \frac{z^{3}}{z+x} \geq \frac{3z^{2}-zx}{4}
Now, consider the expression x2+y2+z2(xy+yz+zx) x^2 + y^2 + z^2 - (xy + yz + zx) :
x2+y2+z2(xy+yz+zx)=12[(xy)2+(yz)2+(zx)2]0 x^2 + y^2 + z^2 - (xy + yz + zx) = \frac{1}{2} \left[(x-y)^2 + (y-z)^2 + (z-x)^2\right] \geq 0
This implies that
x2+y2+z2xy+yz+zx x^2 + y^2 + z^2 \geq xy + yz + zx
Hence, combining the inequalities, we get:
x3x+y+y3y+z+z3z+x3x2xy+3y2yz+3z2zx4 \frac{x^{3}}{x+y} + \frac{y^{3}}{y+z} + \frac{z^{3}}{z+x} \geq \frac{3x^{2}-xy+3y^{2}-yz+3z^{2}-zx}{4}
=3(x2+y2+z2)(xy+yz+zx)43(xy+yz+zx)(xy+yz+zx)4=2(xy+yz+zx)4 = \frac{3(x^{2}+y^{2}+z^{2}) - (xy+yz+zx)}{4} \geq \frac{3(xy+yz+zx) - (xy+yz+zx)}{4} = \frac{2(xy+yz+zx)}{4}
Therefore, we have:
x3x+y+y3y+z+z3z+xxy+yz+zx2 \frac{x^{3}}{x+y} + \frac{y^{3}}{y+z} + \frac{z^{3}}{z+x} \geq \frac{xy+yz+zx}{2}
And we conclude with:
x3x+y+y3y+z+z3z+xxy+yz+zx2 \boxed{\frac{x^{3}}{x+y} + \frac{y^{3}}{y+z} + \frac{z^{3}}{z+x} \geq \frac{xy+yz+zx}{2}}

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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.