Let a,b,c be not necessarily distinct integers between 1 and 2011, inclusive. Find the smallest possible value of a+b+cab+c.
A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.
Solution
We have a+b+cab+c=a+b+cab−a−b+1 We note that a+b+cab−a−b<0⇔(a−1)(b−1)<1, which only occurs when either a=1 or b=1. Without loss of generality, let a=1. Then, we have a value of b+c+a−1+1 We see that this is minimized when b and c are also minimized (so b=c=1 ), for a value of 32.
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