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Printjmc
algebra senior
Problem
If , find the smallest possible value of (Note that denotes the greatest integer less than or equal to .)
Solution
Since for all , we have that
But by the AM-GM inequality, each of the first three terms in the last line is at least 2. Therefore, the lefthand side is greater than . Since it is an integer, the smallest value it can be is therefore . This is in fact attainable by letting .
But by the AM-GM inequality, each of the first three terms in the last line is at least 2. Therefore, the lefthand side is greater than . Since it is an integer, the smallest value it can be is therefore . This is in fact attainable by letting .
Final answer
4