The idea is to remove some neighborhoods of A and B, because near these points we cannot bound BB′AA′. Let Z be the intersection of the ray AB with the boundary of S and let ZB′ intersect AA′ in A′′. A′′ is between A and A′ since S is convex. So, if we let S′′ be the set of those points X such that AA′′>31BB′, we have S′′⊆S′. Hence, it is enough to prove that the area of S′′ is at least 6.
By Menelaus's theorem, we have
A′′XAA′′⋅B′BXB′⋅ZABZ=1⇒A′′XAA′′⋅B′BXB′=2.
To omit A′′X, we write A′′XAA′′ in terms of AA′′ and AX and we treat B′X similarly:
⇒AA′′A′′X⇒AA′′AX⇒AA′′AX=21⋅B′BXB′=1−21(1−BB′BX)=21⋅BB′BX+21.
Let D1 be the set of those points X such that 21⋅BB′BX+21≥αBB′BX for some constant α (for suitable α, D1 is a neighborhood of B). If X∈/D1, then
AA′′AX<αBB′BX⇒BB′AA′′>α1⋅BXAX.
Let D2 be the set of those points X in the plane such that BXAX<3α (for suitable α, D2 is a neighborhood of A). If X is not in either of D1 or D2, then
BB′AA′′>α1⋅3α=31
as desired. So
S−D1−D2⊆S′′⊆S′.
Now, we calculate the areas of D1 and D2. If α<3, then D2 is the interior part of the Apollonius circle of A and B. Also,
X∈D1⇔21⋅BB′BX+21≥αBB′BX⇔BB′BX<2α−11.
So, if α>1 then D1 is a neighborhood of B similar to S. Now, we take α=23. We conclude that the area of D1 is (21)2 times the area of S which is 410=2.5. Also, if C and D are the intersection points of the boundary of D2 with the line AB and C is between A and B, we have
DBADCBAC=21⇒AD+1AD=21⇒AD=1=21⇒1−ACAC=21⇒AC=31.
So the diameter of D2 is 1+31=34 and hence, the area of D2 is (32)2π<1.5. So
TX≥TS−D1−D2≥2TS−TD1−TD2>10−2.5−1.5=6.
where TK represents the area of figure K in the plane. Hence, the assertion is proved. □