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Geometry Difficulty 7.8 National olympiad, round 2 Prove it Iran

Suppose SS is a convex figure in plane with area 1010. Consider a chord of length 33 in SS and let AA and BB be two points on this chord which divide it into three equal parts. For a variable point XX in S{A,B}S - \{A, B\}, let AA' and BB' be the intersection points of rays AXAX and BXBX with the boundary of SS. Let SS' be those points of XX for which AA>13BBAA' > \frac{1}{3} BB'. Prove that the area of SS' is at least 66.

Solution

The idea is to remove some neighborhoods of AA and BB, because near these points we cannot bound AABB\frac{AA'}{BB'}. Let ZZ be the intersection of the ray ABAB with the boundary of SS and let ZBZB' intersect AAAA' in AA''. AA'' is between AA and AA' since SS is convex. So, if we let SS'' be the set of those points XX such that AA>13BBAA'' > \frac{1}{3} BB', we have SSS'' \subseteq S'. Hence, it is enough to prove that the area of SS'' is at least 66.
By Menelaus's theorem, we have
AAAXXBBBBZZA=1AAAXXBBB=2. \frac{AA''}{A''X} \cdot \frac{XB'}{B'B} \cdot \frac{BZ}{ZA} = 1 \Rightarrow \frac{AA''}{A''X} \cdot \frac{XB'}{B'B} = 2.
To omit AXA''X, we write AAAX\frac{AA''}{A''X} in terms of AAAA'' and AXAX and we treat BXB'X similarly:
AXAA=12XBBBAXAA=112(1BXBB)AXAA=12BXBB+12. \begin{align*} \Rightarrow \quad \frac{A''X}{AA''} &= \frac{1}{2} \cdot \frac{XB'}{B'B} \\ \Rightarrow \quad \frac{AX}{AA''} &= 1 - \frac{1}{2}\left(1 - \frac{BX}{BB'}\right) \\ \Rightarrow \quad \frac{AX}{AA''} &= \frac{1}{2} \cdot \frac{BX}{BB'} + \frac{1}{2}. \end{align*}
Let D1D_1 be the set of those points XX such that 12BXBB+12αBXBB\frac{1}{2} \cdot \frac{BX}{BB'} + \frac{1}{2} \ge \alpha \frac{BX}{BB'} for some constant α\alpha (for suitable α\alpha, D1D_1 is a neighborhood of BB). If XD1X \notin D_1, then
AXAA<αBXBBAABB>1αAXBX. \begin{array}{l} \frac{AX}{AA''} < \alpha \frac{BX}{BB'} \\ \Rightarrow \quad \frac{AA''}{BB'} > \frac{1}{\alpha} \cdot \frac{AX}{BX}. \end{array}
Let D2D_2 be the set of those points XX in the plane such that AXBX<α3\frac{AX}{BX} < \frac{\alpha}{3} (for suitable α\alpha, D2D_2 is a neighborhood of AA). If XX is not in either of D1D_1 or D2D_2, then
AABB>1αα3=13 \frac{AA''}{BB'} > \frac{1}{\alpha} \cdot \frac{\alpha}{3} = \frac{1}{3}
as desired. So
SD1D2SS. S - D_1 - D_2 \subseteq S'' \subseteq S'.
Now, we calculate the areas of D1D_1 and D2D_2. If α<3\alpha < 3, then D2D_2 is the interior part of the Apollonius circle of AA and BB. Also,
XD112BXBB+12αBXBBBXBB<12α1. X \in D_1 \Leftrightarrow \frac{1}{2} \cdot \frac{BX}{BB'} + \frac{1}{2} \ge \alpha \frac{BX}{BB'} \Leftrightarrow \frac{BX}{BB'} < \frac{1}{2\alpha - 1}.
So, if α>1\alpha > 1 then D1D_1 is a neighborhood of BB similar to SS. Now, we take α=32\alpha = \frac{3}{2}. We conclude that the area of D1D_1 is (12)2\left(\frac{1}{2}\right)^2 times the area of SS which is 104=2.5\frac{10}{4} = 2.5. Also, if CC and DD are the intersection points of the boundary of D2D_2 with the line ABAB and CC is between AA and BB, we have
ADDB=12ADAD+1=12AD=1ACCB=12AC1AC=12AC=13. \begin{align*} \frac{AD}{DB} &= \frac{1}{2} \Rightarrow \frac{AD}{AD+1} = \frac{1}{2} \Rightarrow AD = 1 \\ \frac{AC}{CB} &= \frac{1}{2} \Rightarrow \frac{AC}{1-AC} = \frac{1}{2} \Rightarrow AC = \frac{1}{3}. \end{align*}
So the diameter of D2D_2 is 1+13=431 + \frac{1}{3} = \frac{4}{3} and hence, the area of D2D_2 is (23)2π<1.5\left(\frac{2}{3}\right)^2 \pi < 1.5. So
TXTSD1D22TSTD1TD2>102.51.5=6. \begin{align*} T_X &\ge T_{S-D_1-D_2} \\ &\ge 2T_S - T_{D_1} - T_{D_2} \\ &> 10 - 2.5 - 1.5 = 6. \end{align*}
where TKT_K represents the area of figure KK in the plane. Hence, the assertion is proved. \square

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