Can high school math prove this inequality?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around proving a specific inequality involving vectors and their components using high school mathematics. The inequality in question is related to the norms of vectors and involves concepts such as the triangle inequality and the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant presents the inequality to be proven and seeks a high school level proof.
  • Another participant suggests that the reverse triangle inequality can be used to prove the statement, claiming it is a high school concept.
  • Some participants express doubt about the feasibility of proving the inequality using only high school mathematics, specifically mentioning the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality and summation as potentially outside that scope.
  • There is a repeated expression of interest in seeing the original poster's (OP's) solution to the problem.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on whether the inequality can be proven using only high school mathematics. There are competing views regarding the applicability of certain mathematical concepts.

Contextual Notes

Some participants note that the proof may depend on definitions and interpretations of what constitutes high school mathematics, leading to uncertainty in the discussion.

solakis1
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Using high school mathematics prove the following inequality:

$$\sqrt{a_{1}^2+...+a_{n}^2}\leq\sqrt{(a_{1}-b_{1})^2+...+(a_{n}-b_{n})^2}+\sqrt{b_{1}^2+...+b_{n}^2}$$
 
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My attempt:
Squaring both sides:

\[\sum_{i}a_i^2\leq \sum_{i}(a_i-b_i)^2+\sum_{i}b_i^2+2\sqrt{\left ( \sum_{i}b_i^2 \right )\left ( \sum_{i}(a_i-b_i)^2\right )} \\\\ =\sum_{i}a_i^2+2\sum_{i}b_i^2-2\sum_{i}a_ib_i+2\sqrt{\left ( \sum_{i}b_i^2 \right )\left ( \sum_{i}(a_i-b_i)^2\right )} \\\\ \Rightarrow \sum_{i}a_ib_i -\sum_{i}b_i^2\leq \sqrt{\left ( \sum_{i}b_i^2 \right )\left ( \sum_{i}(a_i-b_i)^2\right )}\]

Squaring again:

\[\left ( \sum_{i}a_ib_i \right )^2+\left ( \sum_{i}b_i^2 \right )^2-2\left ( \sum_{i}a_ib_i \right )\left ( \sum_{i}b_i^2 \right )\leq \left ( \sum_{i}b_i^2 \right )\left ( \sum_{i}(a_i^2+b_i^2-2a_ib_i) \right ) \\\\ =\left ( \sum_{i}b_i^2 \right )\left ( \sum_{i}a_i^2 \right )+\left ( \sum_{i}b_i^2 \right )^2-2\left ( \sum_{i}a_ib_i \right )\left ( \sum_{i}b_i^2 \right ) \\\\ \Rightarrow \left ( \sum_{i}a_ib_i \right )^2\leq \left ( \sum_{i}a_i^2 \right )\left ( \sum_{i}b_i^2 \right )\]

This statement is the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality. Thus the stated inequality holds.
 
lfdahl said:
My attempt:
Squaring both sides:

\[\sum_{i}a_i^2\leq \sum_{i}(a_i-b_i)^2+\sum_{i}b_i^2+2\sqrt{\left ( \sum_{i}b_i^2 \right )\left ( \sum_{i}(a_i-b_i)^2\right )} \\\\ =\sum_{i}a_i^2+2\sum_{i}b_i^2-2\sum_{i}a_ib_i+2\sqrt{\left ( \sum_{i}b_i^2 \right )\left ( \sum_{i}(a_i-b_i)^2\right )} \\\\ \Rightarrow \sum_{i}a_ib_i -\sum_{i}b_i^2\leq \sqrt{\left ( \sum_{i}b_i^2 \right )\left ( \sum_{i}(a_i-b_i)^2\right )}\]

Squaring again:

\[\left ( \sum_{i}a_ib_i \right )^2+\left ( \sum_{i}b_i^2 \right )^2-2\left ( \sum_{i}a_ib_i \right )\left ( \sum_{i}b_i^2 \right )\leq \left ( \sum_{i}b_i^2 \right )\left ( \sum_{i}(a_i^2+b_i^2-2a_ib_i) \right ) \\\\ =\left ( \sum_{i}b_i^2 \right )\left ( \sum_{i}a_i^2 \right )+\left ( \sum_{i}b_i^2 \right )^2-2\left ( \sum_{i}a_ib_i \right )\left ( \sum_{i}b_i^2 \right ) \\\\ \Rightarrow \left ( \sum_{i}a_ib_i \right )^2\leq \left ( \sum_{i}a_i^2 \right )\left ( \sum_{i}b_i^2 \right )\]

This statement is the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality. Thus the stated inequality holds.
Yes,but summation and the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality are not high school mathematics.

How would you prove the CSB inequality using high school mathematics
 
If we let $a$ and $b$ be $n$ dimensional (euclidean) vectors, then your statement follows directly from the reverse triangle inequality, which is a high-school concept. Now if you're asking for the proof of the triangle inequality, since I'm lazy I'll just say it is geometrically intuitive.
 
solakis said:
Yes,but summation and the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality are not high school mathematics.

How would you prove the CSB inequality using high school mathematics

Good question! I´m afraid I cannot come up with a real high school solution then ...:(
 
lfdahl said:
Good question! I´m afraid I cannot come up with a real high school solution then ...:(

It will be interesting to see the OP's solution. :)
 
solakis said:
Using high school mathematics prove the following inequality:

$$\sqrt{a_{1}^2+...+a_{n}^2}\leq\sqrt{(a_{1}-b_{1})^2+...+(a_{n}-b_{n})^2}+\sqrt{b_{1}^2+...+b_{n}^2}$$
my solution:
using inductive method
$\sqrt{a^2_1}=\left | a_1 \right |=\left | a_1-b_1+b_1 \right |\leq \left | a_1-b_1\right |+\left |b_1 \right |
=\sqrt{(a_1-b_1)^2}+\sqrt{(b_1)^2}$

n=1 is true
suppose n=n is true
$$\sqrt{a_{1}^2+...+a_{n}^2}\leq\sqrt{(a_{1}-b_{1})^2+...+(a_{n}-b_{n})^2}+\sqrt{b_{1}^2+...+b_{n}^2}$$
let $P={a_{1}^2+...+a_{n}^2},Q={(a_{1}^2-b_1)^2+...+(a_{n}-b_n)^2},R={b_{1}^2+...+b_{n}^2}$
that is $\sqrt P\leq \sqrt Q+\sqrt R$
for n=n+1
we will prove :$\sqrt {P+a^2_{n+1}}\leq\sqrt {Q+(a_{n+1}-b_{n+1})^2}+\sqrt {R+b^2_{n+1}}$
with the help of the following diagram it is easy to get the proof
here CF=$\sqrt {P+a^2_{n+1}}-\sqrt P$
BD=CE=$\sqrt {Q+(a_{n+1}-b_{n+1})^2}-\sqrt Q$
and BD//CE
BC=DE
and BC//DE
EF=$\sqrt {R+b^2_{n+1}}-\sqrt R$
that is $AF\leq AD+DF$
View attachment 6614
IF point D between A and F then equality will hold
 

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MarkFL said:
It will be interesting to see the OP's solution. :)
$$\sqrt{a_{1}^2+...+a_{n}^2}\leq\sqrt{(a_{1}-b_{1})^2+...+(a_{n}-b_{n})^2}+\sqrt{b_{1}^2+...+b_{n}^2}\Longleftrightarrow\sqrt{a_{1}^2+...+a_{n}^2}-\sqrt{b_{1}^2+...+b_{n}^2}\leq\sqrt{(a_{1}-b_{1})^2+...+(a_{n}-b_{n})^2}$$ .................1
And squaring and then cancelling equal terms we end up with:

$$\sqrt{(a_{1}^2+...a_{n}^2)(b_{1}^2+...b_{n}^2)}\geq(a_{1}b_{1}+...a_{n}b_{n})\Longleftrightarrow(a_{1}^2+...a_{n}^2)(b_{1}^2+...b_{n}^2)\geq(a_{1}b_{1}+...a_{n}b_{n})^2$$............2

Put :
$$A= a_{1}^2+...+a_{n}^2$$,

$$B= a_{1}b_{1}+...a_{n}b_{n}$$

$$C= b_{1}^2+...+b_{n}^2$$

Note: A and C are not zero

And (2) becomes:

$$AC\geq B^2\Longleftrightarrow AC-B^2\geq 0\Longleftrightarrow\frac{AC-B^2}{A}\geq 0\Longleftrightarrow A(x+\frac{B}{A})^2+\frac{AC-B^2}{A}\geq 0\Longleftrightarrow Ax^2+2Bx+C\geq 0\Longleftrightarrow (a_{1}^2+...a_{n}^2)x^2+2(a_{1}b_{1}+...a_{n}b_{n})x+ (b_{1}^2+...b_{n}^2)\geq 0$$$$\Longleftrightarrow (a_{1}x+b_{1})^2+...(a_{n}x+b_{n})^2\geq 0$$ which is true hence the intial inequality which is equivalent to the final one is also true

NOTE: $$\frac{AC-B^2}{A}\geq 0\Longrightarrow A(x+\frac{B}{A})^2+\frac{AC-B^2}{A}\geq 0$$ FOR ALL x's hence for x=-(B/A) WE have : $$ A(x+\frac{B}{A})^2+\frac{AC-B^2}{A}\geq 0\Longrightarrow\frac{AC-B^2}{A}\geq 0$$
 
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