Exercise 1012Algebra › InequalitiesL1Added 3 Nov 2026
The arithmetic-harmonic mean inequality
#AM-HM#harmonic mean#inequality
Statement
Let . Prove that
Hint
Apply AM-GM or Cauchy-Schwarz to the sequence and .
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Solution
Cauchy-Schwarz. Apply Cauchy-Schwarz to the vectors and :
The left side is , so
Rearranging.
Conclusion. The harmonic mean is at most the arithmetic mean, with equality iff all are equal.