Proving Inequality for Convex Functions with Given Conditions

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Homework Statement


Givens: \forall x\ge 0:\quad f^{ \prime \prime }\left( x \right) \ge 0;\quad f\left( 0 \right) =0
Prove: \forall a,b\ge 0:\quad f\left( a+b \right) \ge f\left( a \right) +f\left( b \right)

Homework Equations


By definition, f is convex iff \forall x,y\in \Re \quad \wedge \quad \forall \lambda :\quad 0\le \lambda \le 1\quad \Rightarrow \quad f\left( \lambda x+(1-\lambda )y \right) \le \lambda f\left( x \right) +(1-\lambda )f\left( y \right)

The Attempt at a Solution


Intuition-wise I see that a convex function's values increase at an increasing rate, but that's equivalent to f^{ \prime \prime }\left( x \right) \ge 0
I also see that f\left( 0 \right) =0 is necessary for the inequality to hold, but I can't find any tools with which I can work on proving the inequality.
Also I figure \forall x\ge 0:\quad f^{ \prime }\left( x \right) \ge 0 and also monotonously increasing.
 
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OK, so we wish to prove that a convex function is "superadditive".

First, can you prove that if t\in [0,1], that then

f(tx)\leq tf(x)

Just apply convexity and use that f(0)=0.
 
alright, that's immediate from taking y=0.
So I now know that f(\lambda x)\leq \lambda f(x)
 
Now write

f(a)+f(b)=f\left(\frac{a}{a+b}(a+b)\right)+f\left(\frac{b}{a+b}(a+b) \right)

and apply that inequality you just obtained.
 
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just figured that bit out
thanks alot!
 
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There are two things I don't understand about this problem. First, when finding the nth root of a number, there should in theory be n solutions. However, the formula produces n+1 roots. Here is how. The first root is simply ##\left(r\right)^{\left(\frac{1}{n}\right)}##. Then you multiply this first root by n additional expressions given by the formula, as you go through k=0,1,...n-1. So you end up with n+1 roots, which cannot be correct. Let me illustrate what I mean. For this...
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