MHB Inequality with area of triangle

AI Thread Summary
The discussion revolves around the inequality relating the area of a triangle (A) to the sum of its sides (2s). The original attempt using Heron's formula and the AM-GM inequality led to a conclusion that A ≤ s²/4, which was incorrect as the correct answer is A ≤ s²/(3√3). The participants explored Weitzenböck's inequality but found it unhelpful for deriving the required relationship in terms of s. A stronger result can be achieved by applying the AM-GM inequality to only three factors of Heron's formula, rather than all four, which clarifies the confusion. The conversation highlights the importance of method selection in mathematical proofs.
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Problem:
If A is the area and 2s the sum of three sides of a triangle, then:

A)$A\leq \frac{s^2}{3\sqrt{3}}$

B)$A=\frac{s^2}{2}$

C)$A>\frac{s^2}{\sqrt{3}}$

D)None

Attempt:
From heron's formula:
$$A=\sqrt{s(s-a)(s-b)(s-c)}$$
From AM-GM:
$$\frac{s+(s-a)+(s-b)+(s-c)}{4}\geq \left(s(s-a)(s-b)(s-c)\right)^{1/4}$$
$$\Rightarrow A \leq \left(\frac{4s-a-b-c}{4}\right)^2$$
$$\Rightarrow A\leq \left(\frac{2s}{4}\right)^2$$
$$\Rightarrow A\leq \frac{s^2}{4}$$
But the correct answer is A. :confused:

Any help is appreciated. Thanks!
 
Mathematics news on Phys.org
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weitzenb%F6ck%27s_inequality
 
Last edited:
Opalg said:
Weitzenböck's_inequality

Edit. For some reason, that link does not seem to work. The url is en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weitzenböck's_inequality.

The inequality says:
$$a^2+b^2+c^2 \geq 4\sqrt{3}A$$
But how to write it in terms of $s$?

I tried
$$a^2+b^2+c^2=(a+b+c)^2-2(ab+bc+ca)=4s^2-2(ab+bc+ca)$$
 
Pranav said:
The inequality says:
$$a^2+b^2+c^2 \geq 4\sqrt{3}A$$
But how to write it in terms of $s$?

I tried
$$a^2+b^2+c^2=(a+b+c)^2-2(ab+bc+ca)=4s^2-2(ab+bc+ca)$$
Sorry, I thought that the inequality that I cited would lead to the one that you want. But in fact it doesn't seem to help.
 
Opalg said:
Sorry, I thought that the inequality that I cited would lead to the one that you want. But in fact it doesn't seem to help.

Ah. How to proceed now? :confused:

I have one more question, why is it wrong to solve the problem the way I did in my attempt. I can't see anything wrong with it.
 
Opalg said:
Sorry, I thought that the inequality that I cited would lead to the one that you want. But in fact it doesn't seem to help.
On second thoughts, I think that it does help. Use the fact that $0\leqslant (b-c)^2 + (c-a)^2 + (a-b)^2 = 2\bigl((a^2+b^2+c^2) - (bc+ca+ab)\bigr)$ to deduce that $(a+b+c)^2 \leqslant 3(a^2+b^2+c^2).$

Pranav said:
I have one more question, why is it wrong to solve the problem the way I did in my attempt.
There is nothing wrong with your proof. It's just that it is not a sufficiently strong result to do what the question asks for.
 
Opalg said:
On second thoughts, I think that it does help. Use the fact that $0\leqslant (b-c)^2 + (c-a)^2 + (a-b)^2 = 2\bigl((a^2+b^2+c^2) - (bc+ca+ab)\bigr)$ to deduce that $(a+b+c)^2 \leqslant 3(a^2+b^2+c^2).$
So I have two inequalities:
$$3(a^2+b^2+c^2)\geq 12\sqrt{3}A$$
$$3(a^2+b^2+c^2)\geq 4s^2$$
I am not sure but subtracting the above two inequalities gives the right answer. But is it ok to subtract the inequalities? :confused:

There is nothing wrong with your proof. It's just that it is not a sufficiently strong result to do what the question asks for.
How do I check if the result is "sufficiently strong" or not? :confused:
 
My suggestion of Weitzenböck's_inequality does not seem to work after all. Here is another method, using Heron's formula. Apply the GM-AM inequality to get $\sqrt[3]{(s-a)(s-b)(s-c)} \leqslant \frac13(s-a + s-b + s-c) = \frac13s.$ Raise both sides to the power $3/2$ to get $\sqrt{(s-a)(s-b)(s-c)} \leqslant \dfrac1{3\sqrt3}s^{3/2}.$ Then all you have to do is to multiply both sides by $\sqrt s.$
 
Opalg said:
My suggestion of Weitzenböck's_inequality does not seem to work after all. Here is another method, using Heron's formula. Apply the GM-AM inequality to get $\sqrt[3]{(s-a)(s-b)(s-c)} \leqslant \frac13(s-a + s-b + s-c) = \frac13s.$ Raise both sides to the power $3/2$ to get $\sqrt{(s-a)(s-b)(s-c)} \leqslant \dfrac1{3\sqrt3}s^{3/2}.$ Then all you have to do is to multiply both sides by $\sqrt s.$

Isn't that what I did in my attempt with $\sqrt{s}$ and then applying AM-GM inequality? Why the two methods give different answers? :confused:
 
  • #10
Pranav said:
Isn't that what I did in my attempt with $\sqrt{s}$ and then applying AM-GM inequality? Why the two methods give different answers? :confused:
Yes, it the same method. The only difference is that you applied AM-GM to the product of all four factors in Heron's formula. It turns out that you get a stronger inequality if you apply it to just three of the four factors, and then multiply by the fourth factor $\sqrt s$ at the end.
 
  • #11
Opalg said:
Yes, it the same method. The only difference is that you applied AM-GM to the product of all four factors in Heron's formula. It turns out that you get a stronger inequality if you apply it to just three of the four factors, and then multiply by the fourth factor $\sqrt s$ at the end.

I see it now, thanks Opalg! :)

$s$ is a constant as per the problem, can I make it as a rule that while applying AM-GM inequality, I should not include the constant factors?
 
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