AlgebraDifficulty 6.7National olympiadFind the answer
25 Let n⩾2, find the maximum and minimum value of the product x1x2⋯xn under the conditions xi⩾n1(i=1,2,⋯,n) and x12+x22+⋯+xn2=1.
A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.
Solution
25. First, find the maximum value. By the AM-GM inequality, we have nx12x22⋯xn2⩽nx12+x22+⋯+xn2=n1. The equality holds when x1=x2=⋯=xn=n1>n1(n⩾2). Therefore, the maximum value is n−2n. Next, find the minimum value. Let y1=x1,⋯,yn−2=xn−2,yn−1=xn−12+xn2−n21,yn=n1, then yi⩾n1,i=1,2,⋯,n, and y12+⋯+yn2=x12+⋯+xn2=1. Since yn−12yn2−xn−12xn2=−(xn−12−n21)(xn2−n21)⩽0, we have y1y2⋯yn−2yn−1yn⩽x1x2⋯xn−2xn−1xn. Repeating this process n−1 times, we get x1x2⋯xn⩾(n1)n−11−n2n−1=nnn2−n+1. The equality holds when x1=⋯=xn−1=n1, xn=nn2−n+1. Therefore, the minimum value is nnn2−n+1.
Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track
puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.
Source: NuminaMath-1.5,
licensed Apache-2.0.
Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.