Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 4.7 AIME Prove it Baltic Way

Problem:
Let ABCABC be a triangle such that BCABBC=AB+BCAC\frac{|BC|}{|AB| - |BC|} = \frac{|AB| + |BC|}{|AC|}. Determine the ratio A:C\angle A : \angle C.

Solution

Solution:
Answer: 1:21 : 2.

Denote BC=a|BC| = a, AC=b|AC| = b, AB=c|AB| = c. The condition aca=c+ab\frac{a}{c - a} = \frac{c + a}{b} implies c2=a2+abc^2 = a^2 + ab and
ca+b=ac. \frac{c}{a + b} = \frac{a}{c}.
Let DD be a point on ABAB such that BD=aa+bc|BD| = \frac{a}{a + b} \cdot c (see Figure 5). Then
BDBC=ca+b=ac=BCBA \frac{|BD|}{|BC|} = \frac{c}{a + b} = \frac{a}{c} = \frac{|BC|}{|BA|}
so triangles BCDBCD and BACBAC are similar, implying BCD=BAC\angle BCD = \angle BAC. Also, ACBC=ADBD\frac{|AC|}{|BC|} = \frac{|AD|}{|BD|} yields BCBD=ACAD\frac{|BC|}{|BD|} = \frac{|AC|}{|AD|}, and hence by the bisector theorem CDCD is the bisector of BCA\angle BCA. So the ratio asked for is 1:21 : 2.

Figure 1
Figure 5

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.