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Geometry Difficulty 6.5 National olympiad Prove it Czech Republic

Two circles k1(S1,r1)k_1(S_1, r_1) and k2(S2,r2)k_2(S_2, r_2) are externally tangent and both lie in a square ABCDABCD with side length aa so that k1k_1 touches the sides ADAD and CDCD, while k2k_2 touches the sides BCBC and CDCD. Prove that the area of at least one of the triangles AS1S2AS_1S_2, BS1S2BS_1S_2 is no more than 316a2\frac{3}{16}a^2. (Tomáš Jurík)

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

The line segments AS2AS_2 and BS1BS_1 lie on the diagonals of the given square, so they are perpendicular to each other and intersect at the center PP of the square. We have
DS1=r12,BS1=(ar1)2,PS1=(a2r1)2,CS2=r22,AS2=(ar2)2,PS2=(a2r2)2. \begin{aligned} |DS_1| &= r_1 \cdot \sqrt{2}, & |BS_1| &= (a-r_1)\sqrt{2}, & |PS_1| &= \left(\frac{a}{2} - r_1\right)\sqrt{2}, \\ |CS_2| &= r_2 \cdot \sqrt{2}, & |AS_2| &= (a-r_2)\sqrt{2}, & |PS_2| &= \left(\frac{a}{2} - r_2\right)\sqrt{2}. \end{aligned}
Therefore, the area of the triangle AS1S2AS_1S_2 is
SAS1S2=12AS2PS1=(ar2)(a2r1), S_{AS_1S_2} = \frac{1}{2}|AS_2| \cdot |PS_1| = (a-r_2)\left(\frac{a}{2}-r_1\right),
while the area of the triangle BS1S2BS_1S_2 is
SBS1S2=12BS1PS2=(ar1)(a2r2). S_{BS_1S_2} = \frac{1}{2}|BS_1| \cdot |PS_2| = (a-r_1)\left(\frac{a}{2}-r_2\right).
The sum of these areas is
S=(ar2)(a2r1)+(ar1)(a2r2)=a232a(r1+r2)+2r1r2. S = (a - r_2) \left(\frac{a}{2} - r_1\right) + (a - r_1) \left(\frac{a}{2} - r_2\right) = a^2 - \frac{3}{2}a(r_1 + r_2) + 2r_1r_2.
Let KK denote the point at which the circle k1k_1 touches the side ADAD, HH and LL denote the points at which k2k_2 touches the sides CDCD and BCBC, respectively, and MM be the intersection point of the lines KS1KS_1 and HS2HS_2 (Fig. 1).
Figure 1
Fig. 1
By the Pythagoras' theorem for the triangle S1MS2S_1MS_2, we have
(ar1r2)2+(r1r2)2=(r1+r2)2. (a - r_1 - r_2)^2 + (r_1 - r_2)^2 = (r_1 + r_2)^2.
Hence we obtain
(ar1r2)2=4r1r2,ar1r2=2r1r2,a=r1+r2+2r1r2=(r1+r2)24r1r2, \begin{aligned} (a - r_1 - r_2)^2 &= 4r_1r_2, \\ a - r_1 - r_2 &= 2\sqrt{r_1r_2}, \\ a &= r_1 + r_2 + 2\sqrt{r_1r_2} = (\sqrt{r_1} + \sqrt{r_2})^2 \ge 4\sqrt{r_1r_2}, \end{aligned}
i. e.
r1r2a216. r_1r_2 \le \frac{a^2}{16}.
The length of the segment DCDC cannot be greater than the length of the polygonal chain KS1S2LKS_1S_2L, so
2r1+2r2a. 2r_1 + 2r_2 \ge a.
(This follows from the equality a=r1+r2+2r1r2a = r_1 + r_2 + 2\sqrt{r_1r_2} as well since 2r1r2r1+r22\sqrt{r_1r_2} \le r_1 + r_2, by the AM-GM inequality.) Therefore,
S=a232a(r1+r2)+2r1r2a234a2+18a2=38a2. S = a^2 - \frac{3}{2}a(r_1 + r_2) + 2r_1r_2 \le a^2 - \frac{3}{4}a^2 + \frac{1}{8}a^2 = \frac{3}{8}a^2.
This means that at least one of the areas SAS1S2S_{AS_1S_2}, SBS1S2S_{BS_1S_2} is at most 316a2\frac{3}{16}a^2.

Solution 2

We can set a=1a = 1. The difference of the areas of the triangles AS1S2AS_1S_2 and BS1S2BS_1S_2 is (according to the expression from the original solution)
SAS1S2SBS1S2=(1r2)(12r1)(1r1)(12r2)=12(r2r1). S_{AS_1S_2} - S_{BS_1S_2} = (1 - r_2)\left(\frac{1}{2} - r_1\right) - (1 - r_1)\left(\frac{1}{2} - r_2\right) = \frac{1}{2}(r_2 - r_1).
Without loss of generality, we can assume that r1r2r_1 \ge r_2. Then SAS1S2SBS1S2S_{AS_1S_2} \le S_{BS_1S_2}. Now, let us calculate the area of the triangle AS1S2AS_1S_2. By the Pythagoras' theorem, we have (1r1r2)2+(r1r2)2=(r1+r2)2(1 - r_1 - r_2)^2 + (r_1 - r_2)^2 = (r_1 + r_2)^2, hence r1+r2=1\sqrt{r_1} + \sqrt{r_2} = 1, so r2=(1r1)2r_2 = (1 - \sqrt{r_1})^2. Let us denote x=r1x = \sqrt{r_1}. It follows from the inequalities r1+r212r_1 + r_2 \ge \frac{1}{2} and r1r2r_1 \ge r_2 that r114r_1 \ge \frac{1}{4}, and, on the other hand, we have r112r_1 \le \frac{1}{2} since the circle k1k_1 lies in the square ABCDABCD. Hence it follows that 12x12\frac{1}{2} \le x \le \sqrt{\frac{1}{2}}. The area of the triangle AS1S2AS_1S_2 is
SAS1S2=(1r2)(12r1)=12r1r22+r1r2==12x212(1x)2+x2(1x)2=x42x312x2+x;SAS1S2316=x42x312x2+x316=(x12)(x332x254x+38)==(x12)[x2(x32)54(x310)]0 \begin{aligned} S_{AS_1S_2} &= (1 - r_2)\left(\frac{1}{2} - r_1\right) = \frac{1}{2} - r_1 - \frac{r_2}{2} + r_1r_2 = \\ &= \frac{1}{2} - x^2 - \frac{1}{2}(1-x)^2 + x^2(1-x)^2 = x^4 - 2x^3 - \frac{1}{2}x^2 + x; \\ S_{AS_1S_2} - \frac{3}{16} &= x^4 - 2x^3 - \frac{1}{2}x^2 + x - \frac{3}{16} = (x - \frac{1}{2})(x^3 - \frac{3}{2}x^2 - \frac{5}{4}x + \frac{3}{8}) = \\ &= (x - \frac{1}{2})\left[x^2\left(x - \frac{3}{2}\right) - \frac{5}{4}\left(x - \frac{3}{10}\right)\right] \le 0 \end{aligned}
as we have 310<12x122<32\frac{3}{10} < \frac{1}{2} \le x \le \frac{1}{2}\sqrt{2} < \frac{3}{2}. Therefore, SAS1S2316S_{AS_1S_2} \le \frac{3}{16}.

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