2006 Romanian NMO Problems/Grade 8/Problem 4
Problem
Let ![$a,b,c \in \left[ \frac 12, 1 \right]$](http://latex.artofproblemsolving.com/6/1/5/615213db0ab5e339395bf928b755a587570364f8.png)
. Prove that
.selected by Mircea Lascu
Solution
It is easy to see that the function 
is convex in each of the three variables (since each term is linear or of the form 
for each variable 
). Thus, its value is maximized at the endpoints. Checking the values of 
for all possible values of 
such that 
yields a maximum of 
as desired.
As for the minimum, we have
Applying AM-HM to the right hand side yields
Obviously, 
is maximized when are minimized. That is, when 
. Thus, we have that
as desired.
