Important Inequalities

Beckman Math Club

The Arithmetic Mean – Geometric Mean (AM-GM) Inequality

x+y √ a1 + a2 + a3 + · · · + an √
≥ xy and in general, ≥ n a1 a2 a3 · · · an
2 n

Example 1

18 n
Question: What is the minimum value of + for positive values of n?
n 2

18 n
q
n +2 18
Solution: By the AM-GM inequality, we know that 2 ≥ n · n2 . This implies 18 n
n +2 ≥
q q √
2 18
n · n
2 , so that 18
n + n
2 ≥ 2 18
2 =2 9= 6 .

Equality in the AM-GM Inequality: Equality in the AM-GM holds if and only √ if all
members of a1 , a2 , . . . , an are equal. In the simple two element case, clearly x+x
2 = x · x.

Example 2

Question: In triangle ABC, 2a2 + 4b2 + c2 = 4ab + 2ac. Compute the numerical value of
cos B. (Old ARML Indiv.)

√
2 2 2 2
Solution: By√ the AM-GM inequality, we know that a + 4b ≥ 2 4a b = 4ab. Likewise,
a + c ≥ 2 a c = 2ac. Thus, adding the two inequalities, we find that 2a2 + 4b2 + c2 ≥
2 2 2 2

4ab + 2ac. But in the question, we are given that the quantities are exactly equal. Thus we
are in the equality case of AM-GM for both inequalities. This implies that a2 = 4b2 and
a2 = c2 =⇒ a = c, since side lengths are positive. Then we can use the law of cosines to
a2 + c2 − b2 4b2 + 4b2 − b2 7b2 7
find that cos B = = 2
= 2
= .
2ac 2a 8b 8

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Example 3

Question: Show that the equilateral triangle has the most area for any triangle with a fixed
perimeter.

Solution: Suppose that the triangle has side lengths a, b, c and a fixed perimeter, hence a
fixed semipermieter s.
p
Heron’s formula gives us the area of the triangle as A = s(s − a)(s − b)(s − c). As
s is a constant, we wish to maximize A by maximizing the quantity (s − a)(s − b)(s − c).
(s−a)+(s−b)+(s−c)
p
By the AM-GM inequality, we know that 3 ≥ 3
(s − a)(s − b)(s − c).

Doing algebraic manipulations we find that

 3
3s − (a + b + c)
(s − a)(s − b)(s − c) ≤
3
s3
=
27
3
s
The product (s − a)(s − b)(s − c) has the constant 27 as its upper bound, so the maximum
value for this product is indeed the above value. This maximum is reached in the equality
case, i.e, when s − a = s − b = s − c, which happens only when a = b = c.

An extension: The AM-GM-HM Inequality

x+y √ 2
≥ xy ≥ 1 1 and in general,
2 x + y

a1 + a2 + a3 + · · · + an √ n
≥ n a1 a2 a3 · · · an ≥ 1 1 1
n a1 + a2 + + · · · + + a1n
a3

Example 4
a b c 3
Question: Prove Nesbitt’s Inequality: b+c + a+c + a+b ≥ 2 for a, b, c > 0.

Solution: We first start by combining the numerators on the fractions, by adding 1 to

each of the fractions, yielding the inequality a+b+c a+b+c
b+c + a+c + a+b
a+b+c
≥ 29 . Then we can
 
1 1 1
factor: (2a + 2b + 2c) b+c + a+b + a+c ≥ 9. Now, dviding both sides of the inequality
 
by 3 b+c1 1
+ a+b 1
+ a+c we obtain that (a+b)+(a+c)+(b+c)
3 ≥ 1 + 13 + 1 , which is simply
b+c a+b a+c
the AM-HM inequality applied to a + b, a + c, b + c. Since each step in the proof above was
reversible, we have shown the desired result.

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The complete generalization: The Power Mean Inequality
 p 1/p
a1 + ap2 + ap3 + · · · + apn
Let M (p) = for positive values a1 , a2 , a3 , . . . , an . Then
n
M (p2 ) ≥ M (p1 ) if p2 ≥ p1 , with equality when all ai are equal.

p → −∞ M (p) = min(a1 , a2 , . . . , an )

n
p = −1 M (p) = Harmonic Mean = 1 1 1 1
a1 + a2 + a3 + ··· + an

Some special cases: √

p→0 M (p) = Geometric Mean = n
a1 a2 a3 · · · an

a1 + a2 + a3 + · · · + an
p=1 M (p) = Arithmetic Mean =
n

p→∞ M (p) = max(a1 , a2 , . . . , an )

The Cauchy-Schwarz Inequality

(a1 b1 + a2 b2 + · · · + an bn )2 ≤ (a21 + a22 + · · · a2n )(b21 + b22 + · · · b2n )

a1 a2 an
with equality when b1 = b2 = ··· = bn .

Example 5

Question: Prove the power means inequality for (p1 , p2 ) = (1, 2). This result is also known
as the QM-AM inequality.

q
a21 +a22 +···+a2n
Solution: We need to show that n ≥ a1 +a2 +···+a
n
n
. By applying Cauchy-
Schwarz, we can show that (a1 + a2 + · · · + an ) ≤ (a1 + a2 + · · · + a2n )(12 + 12 + · · · + 12 ),
2 2 2

where there are n 1’s in the sum. So the right hand side is equal to n(a21 + a22 + · · · + a2n ).
Dividing by n2 and taking the square root yields our result.

Example 6

Question: If x1 , x2 , x3 are three positive numbers such that x1 + 2x2 + 3x3 = 60, what is
the smallest possible value of the sum x21 + x22 + x23 ?

Solution: By Cauchy-Schwarz, we know that (x1 +2x2 +3x3 )2 ≤ (x21 +x22 +x23 )(12 +22 +32 )
2
Rearranging we find that x21 + x22 + x23 ≥ 60 1800
14 = 7 .

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Exercises
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1. Show that x + ≥ 2 for all x > 0.
x
2. Demonstrate that if a1 a2 · · · an = 1, then a1 + a2 + · · · + an ≥ n.

3. Prove that for a, b, c > 0, (a + b)(a + c)(b + c) ≥ 8abc.

4. Let b and h denote the base of a triangle whose area is 200. Compute the minimum
value of b + h.
9x2 sin2 x + 4
5. Find the minimum value of for 0 < x < π.
x sin x
a b c
6. (Mandlebrot 1998/2) Determine the minimum value of the sum + + for
2b 4c 8a
positive a, b, c.
r r
x y z
7. Find the minimum value of the function f (x, y, z) = + + 3 .
y z x
8. If a, b, c are positive real numbers, find the minimum value of the quantity
c a b
+ +
a b+c c

9. Prove Titu’s Lemma from the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality:

(a1 + a2 + · · · + an )2 a2 a2 a2
≤ 1 + 2 + ··· + n
b1 + b2 + · · · + bn b1 b2 bn

10. Let a, b, c, d > 0 such that a + b + c + d = 1. Prove that

1 1 1 1
+ + + ≥ 2.
4a + 3b + c 3a + b + 4d a + 4c + 3d 4b + 3c + d

11. Let a, b, c be real numbers. Prove the inequality

2a2 + 3b2 + 6c2 ≥ (a + b + c)2 .

12. Let x, y, z be positive real numbers. Prove the inequality

2 2 2 9
+ + ≥
x+y x+z y+z x+y+z

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Brief Solutions
1. Trivial.
2. Trivial.
3. Apply AM-GM to each term in parentheses on the LHS.
4. Trivial (40).

5. Divide the fraction into two, then AM-GM. (12).

6. Trivial (3/4).
7. Apply AM-GM to x/y, 2 copies of 1/2 sqrt(y/z), and 3 copies of 1/3 cbrt(z/x). (22/3 ∗ 31/2 )

8. Add and subtract 1. Add the one to the last fraction. Then use AM-GM. (2)
√
9. Let ui = √abi , vi = bi . Then CS to ui , vi gives the desired result.
i

10. AM-HM.
11. CS to (1/2,1/3,1/6) and (2a2 , 3b2 , 6c2 )
12. Titu’s.