IMO 1962 · Problem 2

Determine all real numbers \(x\) which satisfy the inequality: \[ \sqrt{3-x}-\sqrt{x+1}>\frac12. \]

Official text of the problem. Official problem paper (PDF)

Answer

\[ \boxed{x\in\left[-1,\;1-\frac{\sqrt{31}}8\right).} \]

Solution

Both square roots are defined precisely when \(-1\le x\le3\). Set \[ t=\sqrt{x+1},\qquad 0\le t\le2. \] Then \(x=t^2-1\), and the inequality becomes \[ \sqrt{4-t^2}>t+\frac12. \] Both sides are nonnegative, so squaring is reversible. Thus \[ \begin{aligned} \sqrt{4-t^2}>t+\frac12 &\iff 4-t^2>t^2+t+\frac14\\ &\iff 8t^2+4t-15<0. \end{aligned} \] The quadratic has roots \[ \frac{-1-\sqrt{31}}4 \quad\text{and}\quad \frac{-1+\sqrt{31}}4. \] Its leading coefficient is positive, so it is negative exactly between these roots. The first root is negative and the second lies in \((0,2)\). Consequently, for \(t\in[0,2]\), the inequality holds exactly when \[ 0\le t<\frac{\sqrt{31}-1}{4}. \] Since these quantities are nonnegative, this is equivalent to \[ 0\le x+1< \left(\frac{\sqrt{31}-1}{4}\right)^2 =2-\frac{\sqrt{31}}8, \] or \[ -1\le x<1-\frac{\sqrt{31}}8. \] All transformations were equivalences on the domain, so this is the complete solution set.

The solution was checked against John Scholes' IMO solution archive (Kalva).