Find the maximal value of x 4 + y 4 + z 4 when x 2 + y 2 + z 2 = 1 , where x , y , z are real numbers.
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Clear, systematic solution (+1)... thank you!
We have x 2 ≤ 1 so x 4 ≤ x 2 . Likewise, y 4 ≤ y 2 and z 4 ≤ z 2 so x 4 + y 4 + z 4 ≤ x 2 + y 2 + z 2 = 1 . The maximum is attained when x = 1 and y = z = 0 , for example.
Nice observation with x 4 ≤ x 2 .
To generalize this approach to x 2 + y 2 + z 2 = k , we can use the substitution x ∗ = k x .
This might not be a proper approach. But it helps me many times.
l e t f : x 4 + y 4 + z 4 F o r m a x v a l u e , ( x 2 + y 2 + z 2 = 1 ) ∂ x ∂ f = 0 ⇒ x = 0 S i m i l a r l y y = z = 0 . B u t t h i s i s m i n i m a . U s i n g t h e b i n d i n g p r o v i d e d , a n y 2 v a r i a b l e s , s a y x = y = 0 a n d z = 1 . ∴ m a x { x 4 + y 4 + z 4 } = 1
Please correct me
When you have constraints, you cannot simply set the partial derivatives equal to zero to find the extrema... see our discussion of Lagrange multipliers elsewhere. For example, how would you find the MINIMUM of x 4 + y 4 + z 4 when x 2 + y 2 + z 2 = 1 ?
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x 4 + y 4 + z 4 ⇒ x 4 + y 4 + z 4 = ( x 2 + y 2 + z 2 ) 2 − 2 ( x 2 y 2 + y 2 z 2 + z 2 x 2 ) Since x 2 + y 2 + z 2 = 1 = 1 − 2 ( x 2 y 2 + y 2 z 2 + z 2 x 2 ) Note that x 2 y 2 + y 2 z 2 + z 2 x 2 ≥ 0 ≤ 1
Maximum value of x 4 + y 4 + z 4 is 1 if and when x 2 y 2 + y 2 z 2 + z 2 x 2 = 0 . We note that when x = y = 0 and z = 1 , then x 2 + y 2 + z 2 = 1 and x 2 y 2 + y 2 z 2 + z 2 x 2 = 0 .