Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /3 of 48

, 1992

Geometry Difficulty 4.3 AIME Prove it Baltic Way

Problem:

Show that in a non-obtuse triangle the perimeter of the triangle is always greater than two times the diameter of the circumcircle.

Solution

Solution:

Let KK, LL, MM be the midpoints of the sides ABAB, BCBC, ACAC of a non-obtuse triangle ABCABC (see Figure 2). Note that the centre OO of the circumcircle is inside the triangle KLMKLM (or at one of its vertices if ABCABC is a right-angled triangle). Therefore AK+KL+LC>AO+OC|AK| + |KL| + |LC| > |AO| + |OC| and hence AB+AC+BC>2(AO+OC)=2d|AB| + |AC| + |BC| > 2(|AO| + |OC|) = 2d, where dd is the diameter of the circumcircle.

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