Arithmetic, Geometric, Harmonic Means: Definition and Key Theorems
Arithmetic, Geometric, Harmonic Means
Arithmetic, Geometric, Harmonic Means are fundamental concepts in Mathematics used extensively in various domains. These means represent ways to summarize sets of numbers and hold significant importance in analytical studies, finance, and statistics.
What You Will Learn?
- Definition: Arithmetic Mean
- Definition: Geometric Mean
- Definition: Harmonic Mean
- Theorem-1: \( \pmb{A.M.\geq G.M.} \)
- Theorem-2: \( \pmb{G.M.\geq H.M.} \)
Things to Remember
- Inequlities
Arithmetic, Geometric, Harmonic Means
Arithmetic, Geometric, Harmonic Means have been integral to Mathematics since ancient times. Their roots can be traced to ancient Greek mathematicians, where these means were studied to understand ratios and proportions in geometry. These concepts play a vital role in modern-day problem-solving, offering techniques to compare and analyze numerical data effectively. Understanding these means aids in solving real-world problems ranging from engineering to economics.
Arithmetic Mean
Definition:
Let \(\pmb{a_{1},a_{2},…,a_{n}} \) be \(\pmb{n} \) positive real numbers. Then the Arithmetic Mean (A.M) of \(\pmb{a_{1},a_{2},…,a_{n}} \) is defined by \(\pmb{\frac{a_{1}+a_{2}+…+a_{n}}{n} } \).
Geometric Mean
Definition:
Let \(\pmb{a_{1},a_{2},…,a_{n}} \) be \(\pmb{n} \) positive real numbers. Then the Geometric Mean (G.M) of \(\pmb{a_{1},a_{2},…,a_{n}} \) is defined by \(\pmb{\sqrt[n]{a_{1}a_{2}…a_{n}} } \).
Harmonic Mean
Definition:
Let \(\pmb{a_{1},a_{2},…,a_{n}} \) be \(\pmb{n} \) positive real numbers. Then the Harmonic Mean (H.M) of \(\pmb{a_{1},a_{2},…,a_{n}} \) is defined by \(\pmb{\frac{n}{\frac{1}{a_{1}}+\frac{1}{a_{2}}+…+\frac{1}{a_{n}}} } \).
Theorem-1: \( \pmb{A.M.\geq G.M.} \)
Statement:
Let \(\pmb{a_{1},a_{2},…,a_{n}} \) be \(\pmb{n} \) positive real numbers then \(\pmb{ \frac{a_{1}+a_{2}+…+a_{n}}{n}\geq \sqrt[n]{a_{1}a_{2}…a_{n}} }\). The equality occurs when \(\pmb{a_{1}=a_{2}=…=a_{n}} \).
Proof:
Let \(\pmb{a_{1},a_{2},…,a_{n}} \) be \(\pmb{n} \) positive real numbers.
- Case-1: Let \(\pmb{n=2^{k} }\) where \(\pmb{k }\) is positive integers.
For any two positive real numbers \(\pmb{p,q }\)
\begin{align} &\pmb{pq=\left(\frac{p+q}{2} \right)^{2}-\left(\frac{p-q}{2} \right)^{2}}\nonumber\\ \implies & \pmb{pq \leq \left(\frac{p+q}{2} \right)^{2}} \end{align} Since \(\pmb{ \left(p-q\right)^{2}\geq 0 } \). The equalily occurs if \(\pmb{ p=q } \).
Putting \( \pmb{ p=a_{1},~q=a_{2}} \) in (1), we have \begin{align} &\pmb{a_{1}a_{2} \leq \left(\frac{a_{1}+a_{2}}{2} \right)^{2}} \\ \implies & \pmb{ \frac{a_{1}+a_{2}}{2}\geq \sqrt[2]{a_{1}a_{2}} } \end{align} The equality occurs when \(\pmb{a_{1}=a_{2}} \).
Therefore the statement is true for \(\pmb{n=2 }\).
Putting \( \pmb{ p=a_{3},~q=a_{4}} \) in (1), we have \begin{align} \pmb{a_{3}a_{4} \leq \left(\frac{a_{3}+a_{4}}{2} \right)^{2}} \end{align} Multiplying (2) and (3), we get \begin{align} &\pmb{a_{1}a_{2}a_{3}a_{4} \leq \left(\frac{a_{1}+a_{2}}{2} \right)^{2}\left(\frac{a_{3}+a_{4}}{2} \right)^{2}} \nonumber\\ \implies & \pmb{a_{1}a_{2}a_{3}a_{4} \leq \left[ \left(\frac{a_{1}+a_{2}}{2} \right)\left(\frac{a_{3}+a_{4}}{2} \right)\right]^{2}} \end{align} Putting \( \pmb{ p=\frac{a_{1}+a_{2}}{2} ,~q=\frac{a_{3}+a_{4}}{2}} \) in (1), we get \begin{align} &\pmb{\left(\frac{a_{1}+a_{2}}{2} \right)\left(\frac{a_{3}+a_{4}}{2} \right) \leq \left[\frac{\left(\frac{a_{1}+a_{2}}{2} \right)+\left(\frac{a_{3}+a_{4}}{2} \right)}{2} \right]^{2}} \nonumber\\ \implies & \pmb{\left[\left(\frac{a_{1}+a_{2}}{2} \right)\left(\frac{a_{3}+a_{4}}{2} \right)\right]^{2} \leq \left[\frac{a_{1}+a_{2}+a_{3}+a_{4} }{4} \right]^{4}} \end{align} From (4) and (5), we have \begin{align} & \pmb{a_{1}a_{2}a_{3}a_{4} \leq \left[\frac{a_{1}+a_{2}+a_{3}+a_{4} }{4} \right]^{4} }\nonumber\\ \implies & \pmb{ \frac{a_{1}+a_{2}+a_{3}+a_{4} }{4}\geq \sqrt[4]{a_{1}a_{2}a_{3}a_{4}} } \end{align} The equality occurs when \(\pmb{a_{1}=a_{2}=a_{3}=a_{4}} \).
Therefore the statement is true for \(\pmb{n=2^{2}=4 }\).
Continuing this process, after \(\pmb{ k }\) steps, we have for \(\pmb{n=2^{k} }\) \begin{align} \pmb{ \frac{a_{1}+a_{2}+…+a_{n}}{n}\geq \sqrt[n]{a_{1}a_{2}…a_{n}} } \end{align} The equality occurs when \(\pmb{a_{1}=a_{2}=…=a_{n}} \).
- Case-2: Let \(\pmb{n\ne 2^{k} }\).
Then \(\pmb{2^{k-1} \lt n \lt 2^{k} }\). Let \(\pmb{ 2^{k}=n+t }\) for some positive integers \(\pmb{t} \).
Let \begin{align} \pmb{ m=\frac{a_{1}+a_{2}+…+a_{n}}{n} } \end{align} Consider the \(\pmb{n+t} \) positive real numbers \(\pmb{a_{1},a_{2},…,a_{n}} \) and \(\pmb{m,m,…} \) \(\pmb{t} \)-times
we have for \(\pmb{n+t 2^{k}} \) positive real numbers,
\begin{align} \pmb{ \frac{a_{1}+a_{2}+…+a_{n}+tm}{n+t}\geq \sqrt[n+t]{a_{1}a_{2}…a_{n}.m^{t}} } \end{align} Substituting (9) in (10), we get \begin{align*} &\pmb{ \frac{nm+tm}{n+t}\geq \sqrt[n+t]{a_{1}a_{2}…a_{n}.m^{t}}}\\ \implies & \pmb{ m\geq \sqrt[n+t]{a_{1}a_{2}…a_{n}.m^{t}} }\\ \implies & \pmb{ m^{n+t}\geq a_{1}a_{2}…a_{n}.m^{t} }\\ \implies & \pmb{ m^{n}m^{t}\geq a_{1}a_{2}…a_{n}.m^{t} }\\ \implies & \pmb{ m^{n}\geq a_{1}a_{2}…a_{n} }\\ \implies & \pmb{ m\geq \sqrt[n]{a_{1}a_{2}…a_{n}} }\\ \implies & \pmb{ \frac{a_{1}+a_{2}+…+a_{n}}{n}\geq \sqrt[n]{a_{1}a_{2}…a_{n}} } \end{align*} The equality occurs when \(\pmb{a_{1}=a_{2}=…=a_{n}} \).
Therefore \( \pmb{A.M.\geq G.M.} \)
Theorem-2: \( \pmb{G.M.\geq H.M.} \)
Statement:
Let \(\pmb{a_{1},a_{2},…,a_{n}} \) be \(\pmb{n} \) positive real numbers then \(\pmb{ \sqrt[n]{a_{1}a_{2}…a_{n}} \geq \frac{n}{\frac{1}{a_{1}}+\frac{1}{a_{2}}+…+\frac{1}{a_{n}}} }\). The equality occurs when \(\pmb{a_{1}=a_{2}=…=a_{n}} \).
Proof:
Let \(\pmb{a_{1},a_{2},…,a_{n}} \) be \(\pmb{n} \) positive real numbers.
Then \(\pmb{\frac{1}{a_{1}},\frac{1}{a_{2}},…,\frac{1}{a_{n}}} \) are also \(\pmb{n} \) positive real numbers.
Since \( \pmb{A.M.\geq G.M.} \) then
\begin{align*}
&\pmb{ \frac{\frac{1}{a_{1}}+\frac{1}{a_{2}}+…+\frac{1}{a_{n}}}{n}\geq \sqrt[n]{\frac{1}{a_{1}}.\frac{1}{a_{2}}…\frac{1}{a_{n}} }}\\
\implies & \pmb{ \frac{\frac{1}{a_{1}}+\frac{1}{a_{2}}+…+\frac{1}{a_{n}}}{n}\geq \frac{1}{\sqrt[n]{a_{1}a_{2}…a_{n}}} }\\
\implies & \pmb{ \sqrt[n]{a_{1}a_{2}…a_{n}} \geq \frac{n}{\frac{1}{a_{1}}+\frac{1}{a_{2}}+…+\frac{1}{a_{n}}} }
\end{align*}
The equality occurs when \(\pmb{a_{1}=a_{2}=…=a_{n}} \).
Therefore \( \pmb{G.M.\geq H.M.} \)
Applications
- Arithmetic Mean: Used in statistics for calculating averages and summarizing data sets.
- Geometric Mean: Commonly applied in financial analysis, particularly in compound interest and growth rates.
- Harmonic Mean: Essential in computing average rates, such as speed, or in physics and engineering.
Conclusion
Arithmetic, Geometric, Harmonic Means form the cornerstone of mathematical analysis, providing powerful tools to summarize and analyze data. Mastery of these means not only enhances mathematical skills but also provides insights into real-world phenomena, improving decision-making across disciplines.
References
- Inequalities by G.H. Hardy
- Mathematical Inequalities by Dragoslav Mitrinovic
- The Cauchy-Schwarz Master Class by J. Michael Steele
- Convex Functions and Their Applications by Constantin Niculescu
- Inequalities in Analysis and Probability by Brannan and Hayman
- Advanced Mathematical Inequalities by George A. Anastassiou
- Problem Solving Strategies by Arthur Engel
- Geometric Inequalities by N. D. Kazarinoff
- Introduction to Mathematical Inequalities by Edwin Beckenbach
- Topics in Inequalities by Hojoo Lee
- Algebraic Inequalities by Ji Chen
- Basic Inequalities by V. V. Prasolov
- Inequalities with Applications by Z. Tomovski
- Numerical Inequalities by D.S. Mitrinovic
- Problem-Solving Techniques in Inequalities by Thomas Mildorf
- Convex Optimization by Stephen Boyd
- Schur’s Inequality by Ivan Niven
- Optimization and Inequalities by Stephen Barnett
- Applied Inequalities by Marvin Marcus
- Functional Analysis and Inequalities by Peter Lax
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