Tell me more ×
Mathematics Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for people studying math at any level and professionals in related fields. It's 100% free, no registration required.

I need help proving the last two cases for the following inequality: $\bigl|\lvert x\rvert-\lvert y\rvert\bigr| \le \lvert x-y\rvert$.

Case 1: $x > 0$ and $y > 0$: the inequality simplifies to: $|x-y|\le |x-y|$ and we are done this case

Case 2: $x < 0$ and $y < 0$: the inequality simplifies to: $|-x + y| \le |x - y|$. Here we let $z = y-x$ and we see $|z| = |-z|$ and we are done this case

Could somebody help me out with the last two cases and provide a detailed explanation? I have trouble "splitting up" the cases.

share|improve this question
Do you have to split up the cases? Actually, only two or a few more lines are sufficient for the proof if we do not split up! – sos440 Sep 11 '12 at 3:42
Thanks for the great answers! However, Could someone show how it would be done by cases anyway so I can get that experience? – CodeKingPlusPlus Sep 11 '12 at 11:33

2 Answers

up vote 2 down vote accepted

Since both sides are positive, we can square them and still preserve the inequality:

$$(|x|-|y|)^2\leq (x-y)^2$$ $$x^2-2|x||y|+y^2\leq x^2-2xy+y^2$$ $$-2|x||y|\leq -2xy$$ $$xy\leq|x||y|$$

share|improve this answer

for all $x,y \in \mathbb{R}$ $|x-y|+|y| \ge|x-y+y|$(by triangular inequality) and done the proof. In fact, by symmetry, nomatter the case $x>y$ or $y>x$ would also yield the inequality so $|x-y| \ge ||x|-|y||$.

share|improve this answer

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.