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3 Answers
Lokesh Verma
·2009-02-11 23:08:23
by symmetry we can say that max min will be when a=c
so we can say that a=c=t and b=2-t
so we have to maximize
t(2-t).2+t2 = 4t-t2 =
for t in real
which is 4 :)
Hari Shankar
·2009-02-11 23:26:55
We are given (a+b)+(b+c) = 4.
from which we get since (x+y)2 ≥ 4xy, 4≥(a+b) (b+c)
Now (a+b)(b+c) = b2+ab+bc+ca
Hence we get ab+bc+ca ≤ 4-b2
Notice that the maximum of (a+b)(b+c) is attained when a=c no matter what the value of b is.
So we can have b = 0.
which means the maximum value of ab+bc+ca is 4