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Printjmc
algebra intermediate
Problem
Suppose and . What is the smallest possible value of ?
Solution
Minimizing is equivalent to minimizing Note that and are always positive, so to minimize this expression, we take the largest possible value of
Then minimizing is equivalent to minimizing Note that is always positive, so to minimize this expression, we take Hence, the minimum value is
Then minimizing is equivalent to minimizing Note that is always positive, so to minimize this expression, we take Hence, the minimum value is
Final answer
-\frac{1}{7}