TITLE: Proof of an inequality: $\sqrt{n} < \frac{1}{\sqrt{1}} + \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}} + \cdots + \frac{1}{\sqrt{n}}$
QUESTION [10 upvotes]: Possible Duplicate:
Proving $\sum\limits_{k=1}^{n}{\frac{1}{\sqrt{k}}\ge\sqrt{n}}$ with induction 

How do I prove the following?
$$\sqrt{n} < \dfrac{1}{\sqrt{1}} + \dfrac{1}{\sqrt{2}} + \cdots + \dfrac{1}{\sqrt{n}},$$ for all $n \in\mathbb{Z}$, $n\ge 2$.

REPLY [11 votes]: We can even do better:
$$
\sqrt{n}-\sqrt{n-1}=\frac{1}{\sqrt{n}+\sqrt{n-1}}<\frac{1}{2\sqrt{n-1}}\tag{1}
$$
Summing, we get
$$
\sqrt{n}-1<\frac{1}{2}\left(\frac{1}{\sqrt{1}}+\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}+\dots+\frac{1}{\sqrt{n-1}}\right)\tag{2}
$$
So, for $n\ge2$,
$$
\sqrt{n}<1+\frac{1}{2}\left(\frac{1}{\sqrt{1}}+\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}+\dots+\frac{1}{\sqrt{n-1}}\right)\tag{3}
$$
which is a better bound for every $n$.