Calculus (3rd Edition)

Published by W. H. Freeman
ISBN 10: 1464125260
ISBN 13: 978-1-46412-526-3

Chapter 1 - Precalculus Review - 1.2 Linear and Quadratic Functions - Exercises - Page 19: 50

Answer

The prove is shown below.

Work Step by Step

Let $a, b>0$. Now, the geometric mean of these numbers is $\sqrt{ab}$ while the arithmetic mean is $\dfrac{a+b}{2}$. Note that for any real number $x$, we have $x^2\geq 0$. Thus, $(\sqrt{a}-\sqrt{b})^2\geq 0$ $\Rightarrow (\sqrt{a})^2+(\sqrt{b})^2-2\sqrt{a}\sqrt{b}\geq 0$. $\Rightarrow a+b-2\sqrt{ab}\geq 0$ $\Rightarrow a+b\geq 2\sqrt{ab}$ $\Rightarrow \dfrac{a+b}{2}\geq \sqrt{ab}$ $\Rightarrow \text{Arithmetic Mean of }a\text{ and } b \geq \text{Geometric Mean of } a \text{ and }b$. Therefore, the geometric mean $\sqrt{ab}$ is not larger than the arithmetic mean $\dfrac{a+b}{2}$ always.
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