A question on inequality equivalence I'm doing a textbook question and I'm stuck in the very last e

Mylee Underwood

Mylee Underwood

Answered question

2022-07-09

A question on inequality equivalence
I'm doing a textbook question and I'm stuck in the very last end...
I got the following function on S:
f ( S ) = S q ( 1 q S ) p + q S c, where p := 1 q and 0 < p , q < 1.
Now the first forward difference of f(S), so Δ ( S ) := f ( S + 1 ) f ( S ) is Δ ( S ) = 1 q S ( p c + q ) and this function is increasing in S.
Now I need to find the value of S that satisfies Δ ( S ) 0.
We can then write an inequality:
q S 1 ( p c + q )
But now when I want to look for S, we can take logarithms and find:
S l n ( p c + q ) l n ( q )
But the textbook says that the equivalent inequality to q S 1 ( p c + q ) is: S l n ( p c + q ) l n ( q )
Why is this?
They also say in the question: "using the fact of ln ( q ) < 0.
Any help is appreciated!

Answer & Explanation

Kaylie Mcdonald

Kaylie Mcdonald

Beginner2022-07-10Added 19 answers

Step 1
The reason why the inequality sign is reversed is because q < 1, so log q ( x ) is actually a decreasing function.
Step 2
Therefore applying log to both sides will reverse the direction of inequality.
EnvivyEvoxys6

EnvivyEvoxys6

Beginner2022-07-11Added 7 answers

Explanation:
When you divide by a negative number the direction of the inequality get reversed. For example: 5 < 10 but when dividing by -1 the inequality we have to change the direction: 5 > 10.

Do you have a similar question?

Recalculate according to your conditions!

New Questions in Discrete math

Ask your question.
Get an expert answer.

Let our experts help you. Answer in as fast as 15 minutes.

Didn't find what you were looking for?