by Gus123456789 » Fri Nov 18, 2011 11:43 am
Let's see, I think the key to this is the fact that we can rewrite this as a more general inequality.
[tex]6^{\frac{1}{3}}+6^{\frac{-1}{3}}>2[/tex]
[tex]6^{x}+6^{-x}>2[/tex] (provided variable x such that x is not zero)
Notice that the let side has the form of a function f(x). I think there is an absolute minimum at the limit near x=0. We can prove that with minimal calculus. There can only be a minimum or maximum of a function where the first derivative is 0 or undefined. Our function f(x) is undefined or zero only at x=0, so the only possible minimum is there. Because it is undefined, so is its derivative. We need 3 points to confirm a minimum. We need the limit of f(x) at the point of interest, and 2 values of f(x) close to the point of interest on opposite sides. If both side values are greater than our point of interest value, then it is a minimum. Our point of interest limit value is
[tex]6^{0}+6^{0}=2[/tex]
We pick x=1 and x=-1 for the side values.
[tex]6^{1}+6^{-1}=6^{(-1)}+6^{-(-1)}=6+\frac{1}{6}[/tex] which confirms that the limit near x=0 is a minimum.
Because this minimum is not actually a pat of the function, just a limit, we can say for certain that for every possible x, f(x)>2. And that includes our original inequality. Therefore, [tex]6^{\frac{1}{3}}+6^{\frac{-1}{3}}>2[/tex]