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Geometry Difficulty 5.1 AIME, harder Prove it Taiwan

Inside square ABCDABCD there is a point PP. Given PA=x\overline{PA} = x, PB=z\overline{PB} = z, PC=y\overline{PC} = y, prove that:
(xy)2<2z2<(x+y)2 (x - y)^2 < 2z^2 < (x + y)^2

Solution

Let the side length of square ABCDABCD be aa, let the projection length of PA\overline{PA} onto BC\overline{BC} be tt, and let the projection length of PB\overline{PB} onto CD\overline{CD} be vv. As shown in the figure
Figure 1
then x,y,zx, y, z can be expressed as follows:
x2=t2+(av)2(1) x^2 = t^2 + (a - v)^2 \qquad (1)
y2=v2+(at)2(2) y^2 = v^2 + (a - t)^2 \qquad (2)
z2=t2+v2(3) z^2 = t^2 + v^2 \qquad (3)

From (1) and (3) we solve for
v=a2+z2x22a v = \frac{a^2 + z^2 - x^2}{2a}
From (2) and (3) we solve for
t=a2+z2y22a t = \frac{a^2 + z^2 - y^2}{2a}
Substituting back into (3) gives
z2=(a2+z2x22a)2+(a2+z2y22a)2 z^2 = \left(\frac{a^2 + z^2 - x^2}{2a}\right)^2 + \left(\frac{a^2 + z^2 - y^2}{2a}\right)^2
After simplification we obtain the equation in aa
2a42a2(x2+y2)+(z2x2)2+(z2y2)2=0 2a^4 - 2a^2(x^2 + y^2) + (z^2 - x^2)^2 + (z^2 - y^2)^2 = 0
Regarding this as a quadratic equation in a2a^2, we solve to get
a2=x2+y2+(x2+y2)22(z2x2)22(z2y2)22 a^2 = \frac{x^2 + y^2 + \sqrt{(x^2 + y^2)^2 - 2(z^2 - x^2)^2 - 2(z^2 - y^2)^2}}{2}
Since a2a^2 has a solution, the discriminant is non-negative. If this equation has a repeated root, that means
a2=x2+y22 a^2 = \frac{x^2 + y^2}{2}
But from (1)+(2) we obtain
x2+y2=2a2+2t2+2v22av2at=2a2+2(t(av)+v(va))<2a2 x^2 + y^2 = 2a^2 + 2t^2 + 2v^2 - 2av - 2at = 2a^2 + 2(t(a - v) + v(v - a)) < 2a^2
which is a contradiction. Therefore the discriminant of this quadratic equation is greater than zero, that is
(x2+y2)22(z2x2)22(z2y2)2>0 (x^2 + y^2)^2 - 2(z^2 - x^2)^2 - 2(z^2 - y^2)^2 > 0
This is equivalent to
((xy)22z2)((x+y)22z2)<0 ((x - y)^2 - 2z^2)((x + y)^2 - 2z^2) < 0
Hence (xy)2<2z2<(x+y)2(x - y)^2 < 2z^2 < (x + y)^2

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement translated into English from the original; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.