Tough Olympiad-like Inequalities question

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SUMMARY

The discussion focuses on solving the inequality problem involving four positive real numbers a, b, c, and d, constrained by the equations a + b + c + d = 12 and abcd = 27 + ab + ac + ad + bc + bd + cd. The application of the Arithmetic Mean-Geometric Mean (AM-GM) inequality is crucial in deriving that abcd is greater than or equal to 27 + 6√(abcd). This leads to the conclusion that both the AM and GM of the numbers must equal 3, confirming that a = b = c = d = 3 is the only solution.

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  • Basic knowledge of symmetric sums in algebra
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  • Study the properties and applications of the AM-GM inequality in depth
  • Explore symmetric sums and their implications in algebraic inequalities
  • Practice solving Olympiad-style inequality problems
  • Learn about other inequalities such as Cauchy-Schwarz and their applications
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Phoenix314
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a, b, c, and d are all positive real numbers.

Given that

a + b + c + d = 12
abcd = 27 + ab +ac +ad + bc + bd + cd

Determine a, b, c, and d.

---

The solution says that using AM - GM on the second equation gives

abcd (is greater than or equal to) 27 + 6*sqrt of (abcd)

From there they rewrite the second equation as:

abcd - 6sqrt(abcd) - 27 (is greater than or equal to) 0, resulting in:

sqrt(abcd) (is greater than or equal to) 9
and thus abcd ^ (1/4), which is the GM, is greater than or equal to 3

But according to AM - GM, the AM of a, b, c, and d, which is equal to 3, is greater than or equal to the GM, (abcd) ^ (1/4)

Therefore:

3 (is greater than or equal to) abcd ^ (1/4), but from previous, the GM is greater than or equal to 3. This can only occur if the AM and GM are both 3.

*The only step that I don't understand is how they applied AM - GM to

abcd = 27 + ab +ac +ad + bc + bd + cd

to obtain

abcd (is greater than or equal to) 27 + 6*sqrt of (abcd)

Any help would be appreciated! Thank you
 
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Phoenix314 said:
*The only step that I don't understand is how they applied AM - GM to

abcd = 27 + ab +ac +ad + bc + bd + cd

to obtain

abcd (is greater than or equal to) 27 + 6*sqrt of (abcd)

Any help would be appreciated! Thank you
Hmm, you should note that:
[tex]ab + cd \geq 2 \sqrt{abcd}[/tex]
[tex]ac + bd \geq 2 \sqrt{abcd}[/tex]
[tex]ad + bc \geq 2 \sqrt{abcd}[/tex]
Adding both sides of the 4 inequalities, we have:
[tex]ab +ac +ad + bc + bd + cd \geq 6 \sqrt{abcd}[/tex]
So that means:
[tex]abcd = 27 + ab +ac +ad + bc + bd + cd \geq 27 + 6\sqrt{abcd}[/tex]
Can you get this? :)
 
I got it in 1 minute by guessing.
 

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