Solution — click to reveal
Let a=2x, b=y, and c=2z. Then x=2a, y=b, and z=2c, so 2x+y4z+y+2z4x+x+zy=a+b2c+b+c2a+2a+2cb=a+b2c+b+c2a+a+c2b=2(b+ca+a+cb+a+bc).Let S=b+ca+a+cb+a+bc.Then S+3=b+ca+1+a+cb+1+a+bc+1=b+ca+b+c+a+ca+b+c+a+ba+b+c=(a+b+c)(b+c1+a+c1+a+b1)=21(2a+2b+2c)(b+c1+a+c1+a+b1)=21[(b+c)+(a+c)+(a+b)](b+c1+a+c1+a+b1).By Cauchy-Schwarz, [(b+c)+(a+c)+(a+b)](b+c1+a+c1+a+b1)≥(1+1+1)2=9,so S≥29−3=23,and 2x+y4z+y+2z4x+x+zy≥2S=3.Equality occurs when a=b=c, or 2x=y=2z, so the minimum value is 3.